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LearnZillion Acquired by Weld

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 02/03/20

The digital curriculum market has just seen another consolidation. Private equity company Weld North Education purchased LearnZillion in early January, the third such acquisition by Weld over the course of a year. In February 2019 Weld bought home digital curriculum provider Glynlyon, and in March 2019 it purchased assessment software provider ATI. This follows on a company history of other buyouts, the major acquisitions being Edgenuity and Imagine Learning (acquired in 2014). Those companies in turn have acquired others, including Reasoning Mind, which became part of Imagine Learning, and Odysseyware, which joined the Edgenuity family of product lines.

Edgenuity specializes in the creation of standards-aligned online courses for students in grades 6 through 12, including those for credit recovery, computer and technical education and advanced placement. Imagine Learning develops digital resources for pre-K-8 in literacy and math.

Weld company officials said the LearnZillion purchase is its "first foray" into the "core market traditionally served through textbooks."

"LearnZillion has cracked the code for delivering a digital-first core curriculum to schools across the country, reducing the reliance on textbooks," said Jonathan Grayer, chairman and CEO of Weld, in a statement. "With the addition of LearnZillion to our portfolio of leading K-12 digital curriculum businesses, we are well on our way towards redefining how teachers teach and how students learn by unleashing the power of data-driven instruction through engaging, adaptive products."

According to Weld, LearnZillion CEO Eric Westendorf and the LearnZillion team will remain with the business and become part of Edgenuity.

"LearnZillion meets a critical need in the market by making high-quality curricula accessible and usable by teachers. That significantly boosts both teachers’ ability to bring the curriculum to life and to meet the needs of all their student," said Westendorf. "Now with resources of Weld... and Edgenuity, we will be able to fully leverage the advantage of technology for teachers in the classroom--content customization, embedded supports, and real time data--to continue to improve student outcomes."

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

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