Paragin, leading provider of exam & assessment software, completes successful exit to ECI Partners
Paragin Group, a leading provider of exam & assessment software solutions, announces its successful exit to ECI Partners.
This transaction represents a significant milestone for Paragin and acknowledges the strategic evolution of the business over the course of Main’s partnership.
Since Main’s initial investment in 2021, Paragin has developed from a domestic Dutch player, to become the Benelux market leader, with a rapidly expanding international footprint. Located in the Netherlands, the company employs approximately 120 professionals representing more than 20 nationalities, who together serve a loyal and diverse customer base of approximately 1,250 end customers across 20+ countries in Europe and beyond.
Paragin delivers an integrated suite of software solutions that support high-stakes exam & assessment workflows across the entire learner lifecycle, serving a range of end-markets including vocational and higher education, exam institutions and commercial education providers. All solutions have at their core Paragin’s mission to empower learners and educators by providing learning solutions that are accessible to the broadest possible range of people, regardless of their needs, skills, characteristics, or background.
ECI’s investment will support Paragin in accelerating its next phase of international growth in a rapidly expanding digital exams & assessment software market. Having established a proven M&A playbook under Main’s ownership via the successful acquisitions of Sowiso (2022), Coachview (2023), and Xebic (2024), M&A will continue to be a key and important feature of Paragin’s growth strategy.
ECI was advised on the transaction by Arma Partners and De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek.
After five years of a very constructive collaboration with Paragin, we are proud to see the company enter its next phase of growth. Paragin’s journey over the past years is a strong reflection of our strategy to build attractive, scalable market leaders. Working closely together with the management team, we have expanded Paragin into a differentiated exam & assessment platform with a high quality product suite and a loyal customer base. We look forward to following Paragin’s continued growth with the support of ECI.”
Jeroen Bakker, CEO of Paragin Group, added: “With Main as our strategic partner, we have accelerated our growth, expanded our solutions suite, and strengthened our position across the EdTech landscape. We share a clear ambition to support students and educators through innovative, scalable technology that delivers significant value for education and exams. With ECI now joining us, we are excited to build out our ambitions even further, working with partners and customers on reliable and impactful software solutions that benefit millions of learners and professionals across the world.”
Rory Nath, Partner at ECI, added: “Paragin stands out for its sincere commitment to the customers and learners who depend on its exceptional software. Our values align with Jeroen and the team’s, and we are excited to enter this partnership. Paragin is the clear market leader in Benelux, and we are backing the business to continue its international expansion journey. This includes bringing its thoughtful approach to M&A to new geographies. We truly believe Paragin represents the best home for mission driven businesses in the fragmented exam and assessment software market.”
Paragin Group is a leading provider of high-stakes exam and assessment software, supporting organisations that rely on secure, reliable, and scalable digital assessment processes. Its cloud-based solutions underpin mission-critical workflows across the full assessment lifecycle, from test design and delivery to evaluation, certification, and reporting. Paragin’s product suite is used for formative and summative assessments, online admission and placement testing, and professional and vocational examinations. In addition, the platform supports adjacent learning and credentialing workflows, including e-portfolio solutions, internship and work-based learning management, and course management for both educational and commercial organisations. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Paragin serves more than 750 organisations directly and a further 500 indirectly through partners, including vocational education providers, universities, exam institutions, publishers, corporates, and public and semi-public organisations. Its software supports high-stakes assessment processes for millions of learners and professionals across Europe and beyond.
ECI Partners is a UK-headquartered mid-market private equity firm that provides collaborative support to growth-focused management teams. For 50 years and in over 250 deals, ECI has built a reputation for being straightforward to work with and fully aligned with the leadership teams it backs, helping to deliver exceptional results.
Managing funds of approximately £3bn, ECI invests in businesses valued up to £300m, taking either majority or minority positions. Its growth-focused approach is supported by deep in-house capability, helping management teams with areas such as M&A, market entry strategies, employee engagement, and scaling technology platforms.
Nothing contained in this Press Release is intended to project, predict, guarantee, or forecast the future performance of any investment. This Press Release is for information purposes only and is not investment advice or an offer to buy or sell any securities or to invest in any funds or other investment vehicles managed by Main Capital Partners or any other person.
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