Private investment firm Inverness Graham Investments has put money into dive training agency RAID, the firm announced this week.
Inverness’s recreational safety education portfolio company, Kalkomey Enterprises LLC, is the segment that made the actual investment. The actual terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
Inverness Graham Managing Principal Michael Morrissey said:
“We’ve been carefully researching the options to enter the scuba market for some time. We chose RAID because it has the values we look for in a company: world-class programs driven by an enthusiastic and passionate team that is making Scuba fun for everyone involved. Their vast array of training programs and impressive technology platform make them a perfect match to partner with Kalkomey. This marriage positions RAID to challenge the current industry paradigm, which is exactly what we were looking for.”
Kalkomey provides online recreational safety education materials for people in all 50 U.S. states, plus Canada, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand, who want to study how to safely boat, hunt, and operate off-road vehicles and snowmobiles.
Kalkomey CEO Jason Alexander said:
“Our research indicates that people interested in outdoor recreation participate in many different activities over their lifetime. We believe there is enormous demand among the millions of Boat-Ed and Fresh Air enthusiasts we’ve already trained, as well as the hundreds of thousands of enthusiasts that we newly teach each year, that will want to try scuba diving. We’re excited about the opportunity to apply our expertise in parallel industries to drive these potential customers through the doors of dive centers that join the RAID movement. Together with RAID, we know we can truly Partner with dive shops to help their businesses grow and thrive.”
