EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY
PRnewswire | April 06, 2023
Learneo, Inc., an ambitious new platform of productivity and learning businesses and technologies, today announced its acquisition of German-founded LanguageTool, a multilingual writing platform for English, Spanish, and 30 other languages. This acquisition adds to Learneo's robust suite of writing solutions, while also advancing the company's larger international expansion strategy.
"We are committed to supporting builder-driven businesses that help people learn and do more, faster, better, and more affordably—wherever learning occurs," said Andrew Grauer, CEO of Learneo. "The LanguageTool business fits squarely in our investment thesis and accelerates our mission thanks to their values-aligned and ambitious co-founders, their broad customer reach of B2C and B2B clients across the globe, and their unique language and AI expertise."
Globally, most people communicate in more than one language today. Employers are increasingly expecting their employees to engage with colleagues, partners, and customers in multiple languages. In the U.S., for example, 9 out of 10 U.S. employers have reported that they rely on U.S.-based employees with language skills other than English.
Born out of an interest in helping professionals communicate in an increasingly global world, Daniel Naber started LanguageTool as a part of his diploma thesis while studying computational linguistics in 2003. Naber spent many years building LanguageTool in his free time, initially as an open-source project and later as a business when he joined forces with Christopher Blum. Blum had previously founded the spell checking platform, Spellboy, and the two decided to collaborate and unify their experience by co-founding LanguageTool as a business. Today, LanguageTool boasts over 60,000 paying subscribers, including professionals and enterprise clients, and millions more free users across Europe and Latin America.
"Having built LanguageTool over the course of the last 20 years, it has been exciting for us to find a partner so clearly aligned with our mission who also understands our advanced technology and can support our continued innovation in a moment of rapid technological evolution," said Naber. "Joining the Learneo team and having the ability to work alongside talent with phenomenal writing and AI expertise to accelerate our vision is a dream come true. We are deeply motivated by the possibilities that lie ahead!"
With this acquisition, Learneo now comprises seven distinct business lines: CliffsNotes, Course Hero, LanguageTool, LitCharts, QuillBot, Scribbr, and Symbolab. Individually, and together, Learneo's platform of businesses is pioneering advances in a wide range of applications for emergent technologies, including the use of AI to improve people's written communications, reading, and math skills, whether they are in school, a professional work environment, or simply navigating everyday life. Most recently, QuillBot announced the addition of an AI-augmented translator to its platform, allowing users to translate complex texts and better understand the nuances of sentence structure, word choice, and verb conjugation.
"In an ever-more-globalized, asynchronous work environment, accessible multilingual expertise for written communication is in high demand," said Rohan Gupta, CEO of QuillBot and head of Learneo's writing vertical. "Daniel, Christopher and the LanguageTool team have built something truly unique, and I am excited for us to build together, to evolve each of our product lines across Learneo's writing vertical, and to advance the international writing industry at large."
About Learneo
Learneo is pioneering a platform of productivity and learning businesses. The platform of businesses includes CliffsNotes, the original and iconic study guide company; Course Hero, an online learning platform of academic resources; LitCharts, a creator of literature resources; QuillBot, an AI-powered writing companion; Scribbr, a multilingual academic proofreading service, and Symbolab, an AI-based mathematics resource.
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ONLINE EDUCATION
Businesswire | April 24, 2023
Sampson Community College, located in Clinton, North Carolina, has selected the YuJa Enterprise Video Platform to provide a comprehensive video and media creation, hosting, storage and distribution solution campuswide. YuJa will replace VidGrid, the institution’s former video enterprise learning platform, which is phasing out its education offering.
The institution was seeking a video tool to record and edit lectures, as well as to create and embed quizzes in Moodle, its learning management system. In addition to user-friendly features that enable instructors to create engaging, interactive content, Sampson Community College will benefit from the ability to auto-caption, gradebook integration, visual analytics, and other features that help elevate teaching and learning. Institutional leaders also wanted a platform that provides support for their team and students. YuJa provides unlimited live support, training and a dedicated support staff for all users.
“YuJa has worked with many former VidGrid customers to transition to a comprehensive video and media platform that can help create a rich learning environment for their students,” said Nathan Arora, Chief Business Officer at YuJa, Inc. “In addition to ongoing support, we provide an experienced implementation team to help create a seamless transition for instructors and students alike. We’re excited for Sampson Community College to experience all the features YuJa has to offer.”
ABOUT YUJA, INC.
YuJa is a leader in ed-tech solutions. Our platforms provide organizations of all sizes with the tools to educate, engage, inspire and collaborate. We serve learning enterprises within all sectors, including higher-ed, K-12, government, healthcare, non-profit and corporate. We have legal headquarters in Delaware with primary U.S. offices in Silicon Valley, California, and Canadian offices in Toronto.
ABOUT SAMPSON COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Located in Clinton, North Carolina, the mission of Sampson Community College is to provide accessible and affordable education, workforce training, and lifelong enrichment. This mission is accomplished through effective teaching, student support, public outreach, and partnering with others to improve the quality of life for the people of Sampson County. Sampson Community College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges to award the associate degree.
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TALENT DEVELOPMENT
TALENT DEVELOPMENT news | May 12, 2023
Learning technology company HMH today announced the acquisition of Quebec-based education technology company, Classcraft. The acquisition will bring to HMH a best-in-class engineering team and innovative functionality that improves the customer experience, empowering educators and supporting student engagement.
"HMH looks forward to welcoming the talented team from Classcraft into the HMH community," says Peter George, Chief Technology Officer at HMH. "Montreal is already home to an HMH technology Center of Excellence, and we are thrilled to begin working together to bring innovative learning experiences to even more students and educators."
Known for creating unique, dynamic, learning processes to support student engagement, achievement, and motivation, Classcraft uses science-based motivational principles to support learning.
"At Classcraft, we seek to make school more relevant and meaningful by creating playful and collaborative learning experiences that teach the whole child," says Shawn Young, CEO at Classcraft. "We know HMH shares that goal and we're excited to join them in supporting millions of educators and students."
Current Classcraft users will continue to have access to Classcraft for the '23-24 school year in its existing form and contracts with schools and districts will be honored.
HMH is a portfolio company of Veritas Capital ("Veritas"), a leading investor at the intersection of technology and government.
About HMH
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is a learning technology company committed to delivering connected solutions that engage learners, empower educators and improve student outcomes. As a leading provider of K–12 core curriculum, supplemental and intervention solutions, and professional learning services, HMH partners with educators and school districts to uncover solutions that unlock students' potential and extend teachers' capabilities. HMH serves more than 50 million students and 4 million educators in 150 countries.
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