About LightSail
LightSail is a company based in New York (United States) founded in 2012 by Steven Gittleson was acquired by MindPlay in March 2023. LightSail has raised $25.68 million across 4 funding rounds from investors including MindPlay, Agile Investment and Scott Cook. LightSail operates in a competitive market with competitors including Reading Plus, Lexia Learning, StudySync, Headsprout and CommonLit, among others.
- Headquarter New York, United States
- Founders Steven Gittleson
- SectorsEducation
- Website lightsailed.com
- Social LinkedIn X Facebook
- Acquired by MindPlay (Mar 2023)
Funding Insights of LightSail
LightSail has successfully raised a total of $25.68M across 4 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Series B round of $2.48 million completed in July 2017. 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 $25.68M
- Total Rounds 4
- Last Round Series B — $2.48M
- First Round $8.69M
(Oct 2014)
- Investors Count 9
All 4 funding rounds of LightSail 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2017 | $2.48M | Series B | – | – | – |
| Jan 2016 | $11.02M | Series B | – | – | – |
| May 2015 | $3.5M | Angel Round | – | – | |
| Oct 2014 | $8.69M | Series A | – | – |
11 investors in total: 3 institutional and 8 angel.
Investors in LightSail
LightSail has secured backing from 11 investors, including angel and venture fund investors. Prominent investors backing the company include MindPlay, Agile Investment and Scott Cook.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Seed-stage venture capital is invested in US-based companies. | – | newground.vc | Palo Alto, United States | |
SC Scott Cook | Co-founder of Intuit, prominent angel investor, supporter of fintech startups. | – | unknown_f530d9f0dc874d77b | - |
RA Ricardo A Sagrera | Co-founder of Badi, angel investor in Indian startups, tech enthusiast | – | unknown_4b38fc4d456348259 | - |
CS Chuck Strauch | - | – | unknown_632f6665202441049 | - |
LL Lisa Lippman | - | – | unknown_f2c610798b2f435ba | - |
PA Paul Appelbaum | Angel investor focusing on Indian startups, experienced in tech and innovation. | – | unknown_24c33b693302453d8 | - |
ZZ Zac Zeitlin | Angel investor focusing on Indian startups, based in New York | – | unknown_e335638b3d6c4baeb | - |
JG Joel Greenblatt | American hedge fund manager, angel investor, and author of value investing books. | – | unknown_b6e17f5116404a0bb | - |
DN Dan Nir | - | – | unknown_433e315e44cc48429 | - |
Online reading proficiency solutions are provided for students. | 1981 | mindplay.com | Tucson, United States |
Investor details for LightSail
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 LightSail
1 people are tracked at LightSail (1 in leadership).
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Steven Gittleson | Co-Founder & CEO | Leadership |
Complete people profiles for LightSail
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 LightSail
5 dated milestones of LightSail across 11 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded LightSail is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $8.7M.
- Funding Latest funding round, Series B, of $2.5M.
- Exit Acquired by Agile Investment.
- Exit Acquired by MindPlay.
Competitors of LightSail
LightSail operates in a dynamic and competitive business environment, facing competition from various established players and emerging companies in the market. The competitive landscape includes prominent companies such as Reading Plus, Lexia Learning, StudySync, Headsprout and CommonLit, among others.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| readingplus.com | 2003 | Winooski, United States | – | 136 | Reading skills are developed for K-12 students through online intervention. | |
| lexialearning.com | 1985 | Concord, United States | $2.18M | 65 | Personalized learning and assessment for reading skills are offered. | |
| studysync.com | 2008 | San Francisco, United States | $2.54M | 91 | Web-based curriculum for English literacy and skills development is provided. | |
| headsprout.com | 1999 | Seattle, United States | $10.36M | – | Online adaptive reading proficiency solutions are provided for students. | |
| commonlit.org | 2014 | – | $4M | 86 | Curated reading materials are provided for literacy in grades 5-12. | |
| spritz.com | 2012 | Salt Lake, United States | $8.02M | – | App-based reading proficiency solutions for students are provided. | |
| activelylearn.com | 2012 | Seattle, United States | $1.03M | – | E-reading platform is offered for student comprehension and retention. | |
| lalilo.com | 2016 | San Francisco, United States | $7.41M | – | Literacy web-based app for K-2 teachers |
Detailed competitors of LightSail
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 LightSail
The website of LightSail (lightsailed.com) receives about 48K visits a month.
- Monthly visits48K
▼ 7.8% vs previous month
Websites whose visitors overlap most with LightSail. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
booksource.com | booksource.com | 100% | – | #191,111 | – |
| khanlabschool.org | 98% | 23.7K | #1,253,357 | View details | |
readinguniverse.org | readinguniverse.org | 94% | – | #326,891 | – |
| matific.com | 86% | 688.7K | #52,267 | View details | |
uchicagoimpact.org | uchicagoimpact.org | 86% | – | #3,960,288 | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
All 24 similar websites and full traffic analytics for LightSail
The complete similar-websites list, audience overlap and engagement analytics require an active premium plan.
- 24 similar websites
- Audience overlap
- Engagement analytics
- Traffic by brand
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Latest news on Lightsail
Complete news archive for LightSail
Full article history, source details, and older brand coverage require an active premium plan.
- Full article archive
- Source and publication date
- Older coverage
- Brand-specific news history
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Similar companies to LightSail
10 companies that operate in the same segment as LightSail (Education Technology Platforms), 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 | 830 | |
Online educational resources and test preparation for exams are provided. | 2016 | Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India | USD 311.77 M | USD 415.66 M | 10,293 | |
Cloud-based software for K-12 education is provided. | 1997 | Folsom, California, United States | USD 32 M | USD 47.59 M | 1,308 | |
AI-powered robots are provided as companions for children. | 2015 | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India | USD 106.21 M | – | – | |
Online platform for preschool management and parent updates is offered. | 2014 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 88.8 M | – | – | |
Real-time classroom behavior feedback is delivered to students by teachers. | 2011 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 221.22 M | – | – | |
Integrated edtech systems are provided for K-12 schools. | 2012 | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India | USD 172.32 M | USD 43.22 M | 1,149 | |
Cloud-based learning management systems are provided for educational courses. | 1999 | Salt Lake City, Utah, United States | USD 88.85 M | – | – | |
High-quality K-12 curriculum and assessments are provided by Amplify. | 2000 | Brooklyn, New York, United States | USD 215 M | – | – | |
One-to-one online English tutoring is provided by 51Talk. | 2011 | Beijing, China | USD 89 M | USD 95.85 M | 539 |
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Frequently Asked Questions about LightSail
LightSail was founded in 2012 and raised its 1st funding round 2 years after it was founded.
LightSail is headquartered in New York, United States. It is registered at New York, New York, United States.
Steven Gittleson is the current CEO of LightSail. They have also founded this company.
LightSail is a funded company, having raised a total of $25.68M across 4 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Series A of $8.69M, raised on Oct 2014.
LightSail offers a collection of 80000 K-12 texts which can be customized depending on what the teachers want to teach and the students want to read. Combines students choice of reading with leveled challenges to create a personalized reading experience. Assessment questions are embedded into the texts. Provides real-time data analytics for readers to get an insight on their skills. Teachers can specify specific texts for each reader or can assign books for group reading activities. Contains English and Spanish language content. Currently, single user interfaces not supported, only available for schools and classes. Available for Ipads with iOS 8 and later. Can be used in shared devices.
LightSail's top competitors include Spritz, Reading Plus and Lexia Learning.
LightSail has 11 investors. Key investors include MindPlay, Agile Investment, Scott Cook, Ricardo A Sagrera, and Chuck Strauch.
Yes. LightSail was acquired by MindPlay in March 2023.