Congratulations Nearpod!
Nearpod was founded in 2012 by Felipe Sommer, Emiliano Abramzon and Guido Kovalskys. This team of three co-founders created the EdTech platform and content marketplace that aimed to increase student engagement in the classroom by creating meaningful learning experiences. This Miami-based startup currently employs nearly 300 team members with the majority being located in their Dania Beach headquarters. The founders believe that employing their team locally helps South Florida’s entrepreneurial ecosystem thrive.
Nearpod’s founders were selected as Endeavor Entrepreneurs in 2018. Their extensive library of lessons, real-time interactive software, and engaging tools for teachers made the company easy to grow and apply to school districts. Their rapid growth earned them a spot in the Endeavor Outliers program, a cohort of Endeavor Entrepreneurs leading the fastest growing companies in our global portfolio.
As a result of the 2020 pandemic, Nearpod shifted their focus from the traditional classroom to remote learning which resulted in roughly 19.5 million lessons launched from virtual classrooms. When the pandemic first struck, Nearpod’s team was ready with free lessons regarding health and safety for teachers, parents, and students. These resources were made available in English and Spanish and coincided with their live seminars that guided teachers through their transition to the virtual classroom. Nearpod’s lessons range from K-12 to higher education coursework, serving over 1,800 school districts across the United States and 162 countries worldwide.
Last week it was announced that Nearpod was acquired by Renaissance Holding Corporation, a Wisconsin-based global provider of K-12 software and assessments. Nearpod’s success in the remote learning space garnered the attention of the education technology development corporation. With their values aligned, the two companies reached a definitive agreement for the acquisition.
We are proud to have been a part of Nearpod’s success story! We commend Nearpod on their latest achievement and we look forward to seeing even more success from them in the future. We sincerely appreciate Guido Kavalskys, Felipe Sommer, and Emiliano Abramzon’s contributions as Endeavor mentors, by constantly sharing their experience and advice with entrepreneurs in our networks and accelerator programs. We hope their success can inspire fellow startups to realize their potential to scale their businesses upwards and contribute to the growth of our entrepreneurial ecosystem in South Florida.
