As it prepares to move its tutoring and educational services online, Sylvan Learning Systems Inc. said yesterday that Sylvan Ventures, its new Internet edu- cation incubator, made a $7 million investment in ClubMom Inc., an online community geared toward mothers.
It is Sylvan Ventures' first investment in another consumer-oriented Internet company as its parent, Sylvan Learning, readies its own site, called e-Sylvan, in October.
"This will be a great distribution channel for e-Sylvan once it's launched," said Trace Urdan, senior research analyst for W. R. Hambrecht & Co., an online investment bank based in San Francisco. "[Sylvan] believes its e-tutoring business can grow to be as big as its tutor centers ... because they can access a whole group of customers who are not able or willing to come to a center."
Sylvan Learning, based in Baltimore, will provide educational content on ClubMom's Web site, which has a following of 1.4 million since it began in New York in March. Details of the relationship are still being worked out between the two companies, but ClubMom members can expect to receive "benefits and incentives" to use Sylvan Learning's products, including its soon-to-be launched e-Sylvan site, according to officials from both companies.
"This is not a steppingstone," said Chris Hoehn-Saric, chairman and chief executive officer of Sylvan Ventures. "This is where it all starts to fit together."
ClubMom.com, which is free for subscribers, says it provides tools and information that is relevant to mothers, including calendars and checklists, and online chat rooms. The site had 2 million unique users in May, said Michael Sanchez, spokesman for ClubMom Inc.
"We hear over and over again ... that moms are very concerned about raising their kids well, and education is on the short list for moms in every piece of research that we've done," Sanchez said.
