NexPhase Capital-Backed KnowFully Learning Group Establishes Growth-Focused Financial Education Business Unit

RADNOR, Pa., Nov. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- KnowFully Learning Group ("KnowFully" or the "Company"), a leading provider of continuing professional education, exam preparation courses, and digital learning solutions to the accounting, finance, and healthcare sectors, today announced the launch of its financial education business unit, KnowFully Financial Education, which will operate under the Company's Surgent brand. In conjunction with this announcement, KnowFully has appointed Liz Kolar, CPA, CGMA, to lead the new business unit as Executive Vice President, Financial Education, and Kurt Mueller as Senior Vice President, Sales. Together, these leaders will support the Company as it unlocks new capabilities and delivers even greater value to both current and future customers within the finance and accounting sectors.

Building on over 35 years of experience, KnowFully's new business unit offers cutting-edge educational solutions to a broader range of individual finance and accounting professionals, as well to institutions including accounting firms, corporations, and educational organizations. Customers will have access to award-winning Surgent Exam Review courses for various exams, including the CPA, EA, and CMA, as well as Surgent CPE, a provider of best-in-class continuing professional education (CPE) for CPAs and other tax and financial professionals. Surgent's new online learning center, Surgent IQ, will round out the new division's portfolio with career-building educational courses that enable lifelong learning.

"This announcement is indicative of an exciting time for KnowFully," said Eric Cantor, Chief Executive Officer of KnowFully. "I look forward to further strengthening our educational offerings that will foster better learning experiences and even more meaningful learning outcomes for our Surgent customers. I couldn't be more pleased to have Liz take on this important new role in the Company and to also welcome Kurt to the KnowFully team. I am confident that they bring the right leadership, experience, and approach to grow our financial education business."

Ms. Kolar is the co-founder of Surgent CPA Review and one of the earliest proponents of adaptive learning technology in the accounting and finance education space. She is often cited as a leading innovator in the industry. She will transition to this new position from her current role as KnowFully's Chief Knowledge Officer, effective immediately.

Ms. Kolar said, "As an educator in the accounting and finance fields for more than three decades, I've seen firsthand how big of an impact the right blend of technology, learning methodologies, and high-quality content can make on a person's education journey and career development. I'm really looking forward to taking on this new role at KnowFully, where I'll be able to expand KnowFully's impact on students, professionals, and organizations at a larger scale."

Mr. Mueller is a highly experienced SaaS and professional services sales leader with experience selling in the commercial technology, non-profit, and higher education markets. Working closely with Ms. Kolar, Mr. Mueller will leverage his experience providing innovative solutions to enterprise and higher education clients at a number of technology-focused organizations including Oracle, Bloomberg BNA, and, most recently, CareerBuilder, where he led a team of 30 salespeople as Vice President of Sales.

"I look forward to advancing KnowFully's mission of offering more finance professionals and organizations technology-driven educational solutions that can help them build new capabilities, better serve their clients, and develop more fulfilling careers," said Mr. Mueller. "I'm confident that I'll be able to utilize the experience I have in technology sales to help KnowFully reach new levels of success, while enabling our customers to do the same."

KnowFully is backed by NexPhase Capital, LP, a thematic and operationally focused private equity firm.

About the KnowFully Learning Group
Founded in 1985 as Surgent McCoy CPE, LLC, the KnowFully Learning Group now provides continuing professional education and exam preparation courses to the accounting, finance, and healthcare sectors. KnowFully's brands help exam takers become credentialed, satisfy required credit hours to maintain credentials, and remain informed on the latest trends in their industries thereafter.

About NexPhase
NexPhase Capital, LP is a thematic and operationally focused private equity firm that invests in lower middle market growth-oriented companies within three distinct sectors: consumer, healthcare, and software & services. The firm partners with companies that have reached a growth inflection point and are seeking a value-added partner to help navigate the company's "next phase." The NexPhase team has extensive industry and operational experience and NexPhase's partners have invested together for nearly a decade. The firm has completed nearly 60 investments including add-ons and targets control equity investments between $25 million and $75 million. For more information, please visit www.NexPhase.com.

SOURCE KnowFully Learning Group