Linq
LINQ (EMS LINQ, LLC) is a US K-12 vertical SaaS provider offering an integrated cloud platform for Nutrition, ERP, Payments, and Forms & Workflows to 4,000+ school districts and 46 state education agencies nationwide.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1993
- HeadquartersWilmington, United States
- Headcount501–1,000
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Linq does
LINQ (legal entity EMS LINQ, LLC) is a US K-12 education software provider headquartered in Austin, Texas, that operates an integrated cloud-based SaaS platform serving more than 4,000 school districts and 46 state education agencies nationwide. The platform unifies four product pillars — School Nutrition (front-of-house and back-of-house), ERP (finance, HR/payroll, purchasing, reporting, warehouse), Payments (meal payments, school fees, and the LINQ Connect all-in-one family app with 3.5M–3.9M registered users), and Forms & Workflows — on a single AWS-hosted cloud architecture with role-based access, FERPA/HIPAA compliance, and PCI-DSS-level security. The company has grown partly through acquisition, absorbing nine legacy K-12 brands (TITAN, Meals Plus, ISITE, eSchoolView, Registration Gateway, Specialized Data Systems, Script, Alio, and School Finance MI) into its integrated platform.
The business model is subscription-driven: districts and state agencies pay recurring SaaS fees under a Master Subscription Agreement (typically annual billing), supplemented by transaction-based revenue from payment processing (7.8M+ meal-payment transactions per year) and professional services billed at $200/hour. Go-to-market is a direct enterprise sales motion to districts and state agencies, initiated through "Request a Demo" CTAs and supported by inside-sales, conference presence (SNA, ASBO International), and a self-serve family-facing channel via the LINQ Connect app. The company is privately held, received a strategic growth investment from Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (WCAS) in January 2022, and is led by CEO Sharon Love (appointed April 2026) and CTO Eric Wood, with Sharron Bragg as CRO, Mike Borges as CCO, and Stuart Gahm as Interim CFO.
Linq firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Linq
- Legal name
- EMS LINQ, LLC
- Website
- https://linq.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1993
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 501–1,000 employees
- Short description
- LINQ (EMS LINQ, LLC) is a US K-12 vertical SaaS provider offering an integrated cloud platform for Nutrition, ERP, Payments, and Forms & Workflows to 4,000+ school districts and 46 state education agencies nationwide.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Linq industry classification
Industry- Product category
- K-12 Education Administrative Software
- NAICS
- Educational Support Services (611710), All Other Schools and Instruction (61169)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Enterprise/School-District Virtual Tutoring Providers (B2B2C) (EDANAGAF)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Special Education Staffing & Contracted Providers (Paras, Therapists, Specialists) (EDAJAKAL)
Keywords
Where Linq is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Wilmington
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Linq business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Subscription / SaaS licensing: Primary revenue stream delivered via the LINQ Master Subscription Agreement; recurring subscriptions across Nutrition (District & State), ERP (Finance/HR/Payroll/Purchasing/Reporting), Payments (Meal Payments, School Payments, LINQ Connect), and Forms & Workflows modules. Subscription terms align with program years (e.g., S-EBT subscription aligns with SFSP Federal Program Year Oct 1–Sept 30).
- Professional Services: Project-based services for implementation, requirements gathering, customization and training — billed at $200/hour for supplemental services beyond the SOW scope, plus reimbursement of travel/out-of-pocket expenses per LINQ's expense policy.
- Payment processing / transaction-based revenue: LINQ Payments facilitates credit, debit, ACH and partial payments for meals and school fees; the platform processes 7.8M+ meal-payment transactions per year, implying transaction- or processor-fee revenue.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Quote-based enterprise SaaS subscription (not publicly disclosed) |
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Professional Services add-on (S-EBT and other implementations) |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Payment-processing fees for LINQ Payments / Meal Payments |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels11 records
Linq product offering
Product offeringCore offering
LINQ sells an integrated cloud-based K-12 Business Platform that unifies school Nutrition operations (Point of Service, menu planning, production, inventory, state nutrition administration including S-EBT and eGrants), K-12 ERP (Finance & Accounting, HR & Payroll, Purchasing, Reporting & Compliance, Warehouse Management), centralized Payments (meal payments, school fees), and digital Forms & Workflows under annual SaaS subscriptions to U.S. school districts and state education agencies. A consumer-facing mobile and web app, LINQ Connect, lets parents pay fees, fund meal accounts, submit applications and view menus on behalf of their district. Professional services for implementation, customization and training are billed at $200/hour beyond the Statement of Work.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- LINQ School Nutrition: K-12 school nutrition software suite covering front-of-house and back-of-house operations.
- LINQ ERP
- LINQ State Nutrition
- LINQ Payments
- LINQ Connect
- LINQ Forms & Workflows
- TITAN, a LINQ Solution
Products and services
- LINQ School Nutrition (TITAN) District-level K-12 nutrition solution (formerly TITAN) that connects front-of-house and back-of-house operations, including Point of Service, application processing, production records, inventory management, and menu planning for U.S. K-12 public school districts.
- LINQ State Nutrition State-agency solution covering School Nutrition Programs (NSLP), Summer Food Service Programs (SFSP), Child and Adult Care Food Programs (CACFP), Food Distribution Programs, applications, claims for reimbursements, compliance reviews, and reporting for U.S. state education agencies.
- LINQ ERP
Quantifiable outcome
- Reduced K-12 nutrition process from 28 steps to 7 (St. Vrain Valley School District)
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Linq
Customer profileNamed customers22 records
Segments8 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Linq technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration3 records
Feature8 records
Linq partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)coreLINQ hosts its cloud platform on AWS and references AWS as part of its security architecture for Technology Directors. AWS underpins the SaaS infrastructure that delivers the LINQ ERP, Nutrition, Payments and Forms & Workflows products to districts and state agencies.
- Salesforce (CRM / customer support portal infrastructure)coreSalesforce cookies (BrowserId) appear on the site and Salesforce is used to route inbound support and product inquiries; Salesforce-hosted resources deliver customer collateral (e.g., banner imagery hosted on emslinq313547.my.salesforce.com).
- HubSpot (Marketing Automation / CRM)coreHubSpot cookies (__hstc, hubspotutk, __hssrc, __hssc) power marketing automation, visitor tracking and form capture on linq.com; LINQ Connect Resource Center is also distributed via HubSpot-hosted PDFs (hubspotusercontent-na1.net).
- Cloudflare (CDN / Security)coreCloudflare cookies (__cf_bm, _cfuvid) provide bot management and session continuity; Cloudflare fronts the linq.com marketing site and the broader application platform.
- WordPress (CMS)coreLINQ's marketing website (linq.com) is built on WordPress ("Proudly powered by WordPress"), with the LINQ custom theme controlling UX.
- Nebo School District (Customer co-presenter)minorRyan Kay, Child Nutrition Coordinator at Nebo School District, co-presented the "Make Cafeteria Lines Fly" live webinar with LINQ's Senior Product Marketing Manager Paige Bates — a customer-co-marketing arrangement for the Nutrition Leaders hub.
- ASBO International (Association / event partner)minorLINQ exhibited and presented K-12 budgeting strategies at the ASBO International Annual Meeting & Expo and is listed as a Booth #403 exhibitor at the 2026 AC&E in Pittsburgh.
- School Nutrition Association (SNA) and state SNA chaptersminorLINQ exhibits at TX SNA (TASN), the SNA Annual National Conference (ANC), and CA SNA — co-marketing channels and category-event sponsorships for the K-12 nutrition segment.
Scale indicators10 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Linq competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Frontline Education: K-12-specialized software provider for HR, payroll, absence management and finance workflows (includes Harris School Solutions). Competes directly with LINQ ERP in K-12 finance and people operations.
- Infinite Campus: K-12 SIS and operations platform serving districts and state agencies. Competes with LINQ's SIS-integrated payments and ERP offerings and shares the state-agency go-to-market motion.
- PowerSchool Holdings: Largest K-12 student information and operations platform in North America. Competes head-to-head with LINQ in K-12 SIS-adjacent ERP, payments, and increasingly nutrition workflows serving the same U.S. K-12 district buyers.
- Nutrislice: School menu publishing and nutrition communications platform. Overlaps with LINQ's digital menu board and parent-facing nutrition communications within LINQ Connect.
- Primero Edge: Purpose-built K-12 nutrition management software (menu planning, production, inventory, point of service). Direct competitor to LINQ School Nutrition's front- and back-of-house modules.
- Skyward (Student Management Systems): Established K-12 SIS, ERP and finance platform used by thousands of U.S. school districts. Directly competes with LINQ ERP for district business-office and student-information system wallet share.
- PaySchools: K-12 centralized online payments platform for meal accounts and school fees. Competes with LINQ Payments and LINQ Meal Payments at the district level for school-fee collection.
- MioCare (MySchoolBucks / Nutrikids parent brands): K-12 payments and nutrition software provider (formerly Heartland Payment Systems K-12 unit). Competes directly with LINQ Meal Payments and LINQ Nutrition for cafeteria and school-fee wallet share.
Broad incumbents
- Tyler Technologies: Large public-sector ERP software provider serving K-12, state and local government. Overlaps with LINQ in K-12 ERP (finance, HR/payroll, purchasing) but as part of a much broader government software portfolio rather than a K-12-specialist.
Emerging players
- Edlogics: K-12 health and wellness communications and benefits platform. Adjacent to LINQ's nutrition, wellness and parent-engagement surfaces via LINQ Connect, with partial rather than direct overlap.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Linq social profiles
Digital presenceLinq compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance4 records
Linq financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Linq leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Linq subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries9 records
Linq funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds3 records
Investors3 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Linq M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A6 records
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Linq
What does Linq do?
LINQ sells an integrated cloud-based K-12 Business Platform that unifies school Nutrition operations (Point of Service, menu planning, production, inventory, state nutrition administration including S-EBT and eGrants), K-12 ERP (Finance & Accounting, HR & Payroll, Purchasing, Reporting & Compliance, Warehouse Management), centralized Payments (meal payments, school fees), and digital Forms & Workflows under annual SaaS subscriptions to U.S. school districts and state education agencies. A consumer-facing mobile and web app, LINQ Connect, lets parents pay fees, fund meal accounts, submit applications and view menus on behalf of their district. Professional services for implementation, customization and training are billed at $200/hour beyond the Statement of Work.
Is Linq a public or private company?
Linq is a private company. It is classified as private equity controlled and is currently operating.
When was Linq founded?
Linq was founded in 1993. It employs 501 to 1,000 people.
Where is Linq based?
Linq is headquartered in Wilmington, United States, in the North America region.
How does Linq make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Subscription / SaaS licensing is the primary driver. The others are professional Services and payment processing / transaction-based revenue.
Who are Linq's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Frontline Education, Infinite Campus, PowerSchool Holdings, Nutrislice, Primero Edge, Skyward (Student Management Systems), PaySchools and MioCare (MySchoolBucks / Nutrikids parent brands). Tyler Technologies is listed as a broad incumbent. Edlogics is listed as an emerging player.
Does Linq have an API?
Yes. LINQ offers an API library allowing districts to configure modules for workflows and connect with other critical third-party systems. Specific details on type (REST/GraphQL), authentication, rate limits, versioning, or sandbox availability are not specified.
What industry is Linq in?
Linq's product category is K-12 Education Administrative Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDANAGAF, Enterprise/School-District Virtual Tutoring Providers (B2B2C), with a secondary code of EDAJAKAL, Special Education Staffing & Contracted Providers (Paras, Therapists, Specialists). Its NAICS code is 611710 and its SIC code is 8200.