Utah-based edtech company Instructure recently announced that it has appointed Steve Daly as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1. Daly’s appointment comes less than three months after Instructure sold itself to private equity firm Thoma Bravo and tangling with shareholders who had laid out a string of complaints long before the sale.
Daly joins as Instructure is moving into the next phase of growth following the recent transaction to become a privately held company, and is refocusing around its core mission of innovating in education technology.
Talking about Instructure, Daly said, “Canvas is at the heart of improving the educational experience for students and educators by simplifying the way they interact at the point of learning. For years I’ve watched Instructure and its passionate employees who have a love for education built in their DNA. I can’t wait to learn from them and work more closely with educators and students.”
Daly joins Instructure after 25 years of experience in software and technology, including 13 years as CEO of LANDESK/Ivanti, an IT management and security software company headquartered in Salt Lake City.
In 2010, he led the sale of LANDESK to Thoma Bravo and then later to Clearlake Capital. During his tenure the company grew from $90M to $500M in annual revenue. Prior to LANDESK, Daly was senior vice president of corporate strategy at Avocent, which had acquired his startup, Soronti. He started his career and spent 10 years at Intel.
Daly has served on the governor’s nominating committee for the Utah State Board of Education and is on the advisory board for the Marriott School of Management Strategy Program at Brigham Young University.
The CEO transition at Instructure follows the departure of Dan Goldsmith in March. The search was led by Charles Goodman, who has been interim CEO and will remain with the company as Chair of the Board of Managers.
“Steve is a great fit for the future of Instructure and its culture,” said Goodman. “He joins as the Canvas team expands support for our customers’ remote learning initiatives and I believe they will love his desire to listen, learn, understand, and then take action in a way that will help them succeed.”
Instructure, Inc. is an educational technology company based in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the developer and publisher of Canvas, a Web-based learning management system, and Canvas Network, a massive open online course platform. The company in February accepted Thoma Bravo’s $49 per share offer after the firm twice increased its bid.
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