Amira Learning (Amira), the first AI-powered reading assistant that has helped millions of students with reading fluency and comprehension, recently announced it has merged with Istation, a leading provider of adaptive and personalized digital learning solutions. With this acquisition, the education technology leaders will form a powerful organization poised at the forefront of AI-powered literacy tools, bolstering market share to 15 percent of K-12 education and serving over 1,800 school districts globally by the end of the year.
Amira Learning was founded by a team of former engineers and executives from Pearson, IBM, ACT, and Renaissance and built from a foundation of 20 years of research from Carnegie Mellon University. The company aims to help close the 43 million-person literacy gap in America by creating personalized and engaging reading experiences for children. Amira’s AI tutor is known for its sophisticated speech recognition and AI-driven tutoring software, which delivers unprecedented gains in reading. Istation is a trusted name among educators with vast distribution and is an interactive, engaging content platform for students and teachers. Together, the companies will deliver AI-powered solutions that change classrooms for the better – serving four million K-12 students in all 50 states and 17 countries.
Speaking on the merger, Mark Angel, CEO of Amira Learning, said:
Every generation learns to read in a way that mirrors the time. Long ago, it was ‘Dick & Jane’ readers. Then, it was ‘Sesame Street’ on TV. But we’ve always struggled to help every child become a motivated and masterful reader. With Istation, we have multiplied scale and deepened our experience in a way that will get our technology to more schools and classrooms and make a real difference in the lives of children.
Over time, customers of Amira and Istation will see new features and capabilities as the best of both products enhance one another. Amira Learning will still be accessible through leading partners like Houghton Mifflin Harcourt without any change—more announcements will follow.
Istation offers thousands of hours of digital, gamified, and profoundly immersive content and teacher resources. Amira’s impact-proven AI will complement the Istation product, which will remain fully operational and independent of Amira. With Istation, schools get a time-saving programme that powers pre-K through eighth-grade student achievement in reading, math, and Spanish literacy. Rooted in research and designed to ignite student joy in the classroom, Istation’s innovative platform drives instructional efficacy and elevates learning to superhero heights.
Dick Collins, CEO of Istation, Dick Collins, CEO of Istation, who will transition into a new role as Co-Chairman of the Board, also commented on the latest development:
Amira Learning has the world’s most sophisticated speech recognition for elementary students, ahead of Amazon, Google, and other giants. On top of that, the intelligence of the software using AI as a backbone enables a life-like interaction for young students to feel like a sophisticated reading tutor is individually coaching them. Combining this with our deep go-to-market expertise and the trust we’ve earned from educators is a perfect match.
As part of the deal, ArentFox Schiff LLP served as legal advisor, Bridge Bank provided the credit facility supporting the transaction. It served as the bank for Amira Learning, Foley & Lardner LLP as legal advisor, and Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc. as financial advisor to Istation.
Headquartered in San Francisco, Amira Learning has raised more than $40 million from investors, including Owl Ventures, Authentic Ventures, Vertical Venture Partners, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Outcomes Collective, Google Assistant Fund, Amazon Alexa Fund, ReThink Education, and GSV AcceleraTE. The firm is used by more than 3,000 schools and reaches over two million students across nine countries.
