Portfolio News

Frog Street, a provider of early childhood curriculum and subsidiary of Excelligence Learning Corporation, and Beijing Oriental Star Children Technology Company, a provider of academic and social development education, have launched a partnership to provide Frog Street’s comprehensive, research-based curriculum to prepare children for school readiness in China and surrounding territories. Frog Street curricula encompass extensive research and…

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LeBron James, the Boston Red Sox, mall pretzels: These are crucial ingredients in Blaze Pizza’s  ambitious recipe for growth. Serial entrepreneurs and spouses Elise and Rick Wetzel co-founded their Pasadena, California-based company in 2011 with a simple, if hardly unique, idea: Let’s create the Chipotle of pizza. The dough and toppings would be “artisanal” (roasted garlic,…

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Here’s a news flash: Guys don’t like shopping for underwear. Luckily, the same retail forces that disrupted razors, eyeglasses, luggage, mattresses and hair-loss treatments, have set their sights on men’s drawers. In the last decade, a handful of upstart labels are trying to dethrone old faithfuls like Hanes and Calvin Klein. Hate going to the store?…

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Excelligence Learning Corporation announces the official opening of its Kansas fulfillment center located in the heart of Kansas’ intermodal center: Gardner, Kansas. After conducting a national search for centralization of its fulfillment and manufacturing operations, Excelligence elected to partner with LS Commercial Real Estate and USAA to build out the tech-enabled facility in this vibrant, intermodal hub. “We are excited to…

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Why exactly would restaurateur Chris Simms call his casual dining restaurant, specializing in what he calls “elevated comfort food,” Lazy Dog? Asked why, Simms replied that he wanted to create an environment where guests “could leave everything at the door, come on in, relax, and connect with family and friends. I want people to come…

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