AREA9, a Denmark-based education software developer, has received a $30 million investment from the Danish Growth Fund to develop what the company calls “the next generation adaptive learning platform.” The investment is the largest the fund has made in a company to date.
During the past few years, Area9 has been focused on developing products in the corporate and medical education space for clients such as Hitachi and GE. The new investment coincides with a renewed focus on higher education, and the establishment of an umbrella division, Area9 Lyceum, that combines all its adaptive learning activities.
According to CEO Ulrik Juul Christensen, the company is hard at work developing what he calls “the fourth generation” of adaptive learning software, called Rhapsode, which will use research-based practices to better understand how students learn differently, and incorporate that work into the new software.
Between 60-70 people are currently working on the project, and the company is adding 5-10 new staff each month, according to Christensen, who expects to make a more formal announcement this summer. A public release for the higher ed market could come as early as the fall of 2018.
Area9 has been developing adaptive software products since it began in 1993. In 2014, the company sold some of the technology it developed to McGraw-Hill, which spun that technology out as its LearnSmart suite of adaptive study tools. McGraw-Hill also owns a minority stake in Area9.
“Our ambition is to create the world’s leading learning technology company for both the educational and corporate sectors. And hopefully, we can create a powerhouse in Denmark for educational technology and research,” said Christensen in a statement.
