Renaissance

Founded in 1986, Renaissance is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and learning analytics company that develops cloud-based, pre-K-12 educational software and adaptive assessments. Its products include Accelerated Reader and Star Assessments. After being publicly listed over 1997–2011, Renaissance changed hands a couple of times before being acquired by private equity firm Francisco Partners in 2018. Among Renaissance’s recent acquisitions is that of Schoolzilla in 2019. Schoolzilla is a cloud-based data management and visualization platform for education practitioners. It is known for its data-driven dashboards that integrate multiple sources of student data, such as attendance, suspensions, and course grades to monitor achievement of school and district goals. Schoolzilla started as an initiative within a public school in 2009 and, in 2013, became an independent organization serving schools across the US. As of March 2021, Renaissance products were being used by more than 40% of US K-12 schools and in more than 100 countries globally.

In February 2021, the company acquired Nearpod, a media and assessment platform for educators, for about USD 650 million. While the Nearpod brand will be retained and managed by Nearpod CEO, Pep Carrera, the acquisition expands Renaissance’s portfolio to include a lesson delivery and teacher engagement tool. Nearpod’s companion platform, Flocabulary, acquired in 2019, promotes literacy through K-12 curriculum-based hip hop-themed videos, activities, and creativity tools. As of June 2021, the Nearpod and Flocabulary brands have reached the 100 largest US school districts and are used by more than 1.7 million educators worldwide.

In March 2021, Renaissance acquired Paris-based Lalilo, an AI-powered literacy program for K-2 students. The acquisition allows Renaissance to add an early learning solution to its portfolio for students who are learning to read and comes in response to customer requests. As of March 2021, Lalilo reported more than 50,000 teachers and 360,000 students using its software across the US and France. More recently, in August 2022, the company acquired Illuminate Education, a provider of integrated K-12 technology systems to improve student performance, to expand its product offering to include assessment and analytics tools.