IXL Learning is adding another K-12-focused company to its portfolio, with the ed-tech company announcing this week it’s acquired NoRedInk, an English language arts platform.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
NoRedInk will continue to operate as an independent brand, the companies said.
The acquisition brings NoRedInk’s product into IXL’s growing list of offerings in the language and literacy space, and comes as the company is working to expand its reach into districts and meet a greater number of their curricular needs.
NoRedInk, founded by CEO Jeff Schuer in 2012, began as a writing feedback tool and has since built out the product to include AI-powered features for English language learners, ELA resources for students in grades 3-5, and teacher-focused resources.
The company’s most recent funding raise was in 2021, when Susquehanna Growth Equity led its $50 million Series B. True Ventures participated in the round. It reports serving 90% of districts in the U.S.
“IXL shares our commitment to thoughtful, student-centric writing instruction,” Scheur said in a statement. “As technology changes how we work and communicate, the ability to think critically and develop our ideas has never been more important.”
IXL was drawn to NoRedInk because of its “remarkably deep grasp of how to help teach one of life’s most essential skills,” Paul Mishkin, CEO of IXL Learning, said in a statement. “Just as importantly, NoRedInk earned its place in the classroom the right way — through word of mouth from educators who genuinely love using it.”
IXL’s most recent acquisitions in the K-12 space include PreK-8 publishing company Evan-Moor, but it has also been working on rolling out its own offerings in the core space, its Takeoff curriculum.
Since the pandemic, the company has grown significantly through acquisition, having bought other platforms that are used by K-12 districts like Teachers Pay Teachers, and ABCya, as well as products designed to appeal to consumers, such as Rosetta Stone, Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com, and SpanishDictionary.com.
Activate Learning Acquired Open Up Resources. A nonprofit provider of open education resources was acquired by a private equity-backed science curriculum company, with Activate Learning announcing it’s bought Open Up Resources.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
As part of the acquisition, the companies said they would maintain their existing programs and products, and will operate as a combined public benefit corporation.
An Open Up Resources nonprofit will function separately while maintaining a stake in the PBC. Proceeds from the deal will support its work.
Open Up Resources was created in 2015 as the K-12 OER Collaborative and initially began as a 13-state effort to increase access to high-quality instructional materials. It offers core K-12 math and English language arts programs free to districts and schools, as well as fee-based professional learning and implementation support to support its work.
Activate, which offers K-12 science resources and professional development services, is owned by Lumos Capital Group, a New York- and San Francisco-based investment firm. Its other portfolio companies in the space include Instructure, Learning.com, and BookNook.
The belief that “transformative impact happens when an exceptional curriculum comes together with high-integrity implementation, effective digital supports, and a partner dedicated to educator success,” brings the two companies together, Activate CEO Marty Lange said in a statement. “Educators can count on the programs they know and trust, now with a broader offering and an even stronger partnership behind them.”
Jason Isaacs, Open Up CEO, will move into a board role.
“Bringing together two exceptionally talented teams with a shared commitment to student success creates a powerful opportunity to expand access to outstanding curricula and support more educators,” he said in a statement. “I’m proud to support this partnership and the greater impact these teams will make together for students.”
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Michelle Caffrey is assistant managing editor for EdWeek Market Brief. Since joining the publication in 2022, her reporting has focused on investment, M&A, and company leadership in the K-12 market. She spent the first decade of her journalism career as a reporter in the Greater Philadelphia area, covering technology and higher education for the Philadelphia Business Journal and reporting on education, politics, and crime in South Jersey for NJ Advance Media/NJ.com.