About Lightning Grader
Lightning Grader is an Education company based in Youngstown (United States) founded in 2010, and was acquired by Illuminate Education in May 2015. A learning management system is offered for K-12 educators. Lightning Grader has raised $1.14 million across 3 funding rounds from investors including Illuminate Education, Innovation Fund America and Northeast Ohio Student Venture Fund. Lightning Grader offers products and services including FastBridge, eduCLIMBER, and DnA. Its focus areas include EdTech, K-12 EdTech, School IT and Suite. Its competitors include PowerSchool, Anthology and GoGuardian; 3 of its 3 listed competitors have raised funding.
Company details
Lightning Grader was founded in 2010 in Youngstown, United States, as a platform in the education technology sector. The system is utilized by K-12 educators to create content and assignments, monitor student progress, and access real-time performance metrics for assessments conducted at rates exceeding 100 per minute. Assessments are completed by students on web-enabled devices. Operations follow a subscription model for individual users and school districts.
- Headquarters Youngstown, United States
- Stage Acquired
- SectorsEducation
- Email••••••••
- Website lightninggrader.com
- Social LinkedIn X Facebook Instagram YouTube
- Acquired by Illuminate Education (May 2015)
- Total Equity Funding$1.14M (USD)
in 3 rounds
- Latest Funding Round$1.14M (USD), Seed
Dec 2013
- InvestorsIlluminate Education
& 2 more
- Acquired byIlluminate Education
(May 2015)
Products & Services of Lightning Grader
Lightning Grader offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services, including FastBridge, eduCLIMBER, and DnA.
Tool for educational assessments and progress monitoring in schools.
Platform for analyzing educational data and equity metrics.
Software for behavior screening and reporting.
Apps and channels of Lightning Grader
its YouTube channel Illuminate Education™ has 902 subscribers and 30 videos.
Videos from Lightning Grader
The most watched videos on Lightning Grader's YouTube channel, Illuminate Education™ (902 subscribers). Click a video to play it here.
More on Illuminate Education™.
Funding Insights of Lightning Grader
Lightning Grader has successfully raised a total of $1.14M across 3 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Seed round of $1.14 million completed in December 2013. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $1.14M
- Total Rounds 3
- Last Round Seed — $1.14M
- Investors Count 2
All 3 funding rounds of Lightning Grader with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 2013 | $1.14M | Seed | – | – | – |
| Dec 2012 | $50,000 | Grant | – | – | |
| Jun 2012 | Seed | – | – |
3 investors in total: 3 institutional.
Investors in Lightning Grader
Lightning Grader has secured backing from 3 investors, including venture fund investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Illuminate Education, Innovation Fund America and Northeast Ohio Student Venture Fund.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Tech & Life Science focused seed stage VC firm investing in the US | innovationfundamerica.org | Elyria, United States | ||
| neosvf.com | ||||
An assessment and analytics platform for schools is offered. | 2009 | illuminateed.com | Irvine, United States |
Investor details for Lightning Grader
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
- Complete investor list
- Round participation
- Investor portfolios
- Co-investor network
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
People of Lightning Grader
411 people are tracked at Lightning Grader (128 in leadership, 10 in board & advisors, 273 in team).
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
D'Etta Coit | Regional Vice President Sales | Leadership |
Nikki Blodgett | Regional Sales Director | Leadership |
Kim Mitchell | Chief People Officer | Leadership |
Todd Brekhus | Chief Product Officer | Leadership |
Jason Keeler | Account Executive Director; Assessment And Analytics | Leadership |
Storey Sitwala | Vice President, Plaform Experience | Leadership |
Bill Campbell | Regional Vp, Mid-atlantic Region | Leadership |
Joel Thomas | Head Of Product Development | Leadership |
Bridget Faulkner | Director Of Product Marketing | Leadership |
Michael Goebel | Regional Vice President Of Sales | Leadership |
Patrick Thornton | Regional Vice President | Leadership |
Alison Hewitt Assoc. Cipd | Human Resources Business Partner | Leadership |
Christopher Kratzer | Vice President Government Affairs | Leadership |
Gretchen Guffy | Vice President Government Affairs | Leadership |
Tanya G. | Director | Leadership |
Jonathan Pounds | Senior Vice President Of Sales | Leadership |
Darek M. Ciszek | Director Of Product, Content Technology | Leadership |
Katie Conroy | Sr Director, Marketing Operations | Leadership |
Alexandra Newfield | Regional Vice President, Sales | Leadership |
Meg Davis | Regional Vice President Of Sales | Leadership |
391 more people are available in the full profile.
Complete people profiles for Lightning Grader
Full employee and board profiles, team structure, tenure and professional contact details require an active premium plan.
- Full employee list
- Team structure
- Board tenure
- Professional contacts
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Timeline of Lightning Grader
4 dated milestones of Lightning Grader across 5 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded Lightning Grader is founded.
- Funding First funding round.
- Funding Latest funding round, Seed, of $1.1M.
- Exit Acquired by Illuminate Education.
Competitors of Lightning Grader
Lightning Grader has 3 listed competitors in our database, 3 of them funded. They include PowerSchool, Anthology and GoGuardian.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| powerschool.com | 1997 | Folsom, United States | $32M | 2,270 | Cloud-based software for K-12 education is provided. | |
| anthology.com | 1996 | Boca Raton, United States | $128.6M | LMS and CRM solutions are provided for educational institutions. | ||
| goguardian.com | 2014 | Los Angeles, United States | $200M | 237 | School devices and student activities are monitored via AI platform. |
Detailed competitors of Lightning Grader
The full competitor set, operating metrics and side-by-side benchmarks require an active premium plan.
- Full competitor set
- Operating metrics
- Benchmarks
- Competitive positioning
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Web traffic of Lightning Grader
Websites that share an audience with Lightning Grader (lightninggrader.com).
Websites whose visitors overlap most with Lightning Grader. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
oetc.ohio.gov | oetc.ohio.gov | 100% | – | ||
essaytagger.com | essaytagger.com | 95% | – | ||
papergrader.org | papergrader.org | 94% | – | ||
pinnaclesuite.sparcc.org | pinnaclesuite.sparcc.org | 92% | – | ||
webxam.org | webxam.org | 90% | #1,727,148 | – | |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
All 13 similar websites and full traffic analytics for Lightning Grader
The complete similar-websites list, audience overlap and engagement analytics require an active premium plan.
- 13 similar websites
- Audience overlap
- Engagement analytics
- Traffic by brand
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Top companies in Education Technology Platforms
3 companies that operate in the same segment as Lightning Grader (Education Technology Platforms) in United States, ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Developer of a platform providing gamified language learning through interactive exercises | 2011 | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States | USD 183.3 M | USD 748.02 M | 900 | |
Cloud-based software for K-12 education is provided. | 1997 | Folsom, California, United States | USD 32 M | USD 47.59 M | 1,308 | |
Online platform for preschool management and parent updates is offered. | 2014 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 88.8 M |
Unlock complete access to The Company Check
Get unrestricted viewing across everything we track — from companies and brands to investors, funding rounds, acquisitions, financials, and more.
- Unlimited viewing on all profiles Companies, investors, financials, funding, acquisitions & directors
- Full access to every database India & global coverage, advanced filters and rich profile details
- Always-on access from your team account Single premium plan for everything you see on the portal
Frequently Asked Questions about Lightning Grader
Lightning Grader was founded in 2010 and raised its 1st funding round 2 years after it was founded.
Lightning Grader is headquartered in Youngstown, United States. It is registered at Youngstown, Ohio, United States.
Lightning Grader is a funded company, having raised a total of $1.14M across 3 funding rounds to date.
Lightning Grader was founded in 2010 in Youngstown, United States, as a platform in the education technology sector. The system is utilized by K-12 educators to create content and assignments, monitor student progress, and access real-time performance metrics for assessments conducted at rates exceeding 100 per minute. Assessments are completed by students on web-enabled devices. Operations follow a subscription model for individual users and school districts.
Lightning Grader's top competitors include PowerSchool, GoGuardian and Anthology.
Lightning Grader offers FastBridge, eduCLIMBER, and DnA.
Lightning Grader has 3 investors. Key investors include Illuminate Education, Innovation Fund America, and Northeast Ohio Student Venture Fund.
Yes. Lightning Grader was acquired by Illuminate Education in May 2015.