Emmersion Acquired by IXL Learning

Emmersion announced on September 8, 2022 it has been acquired by IXL Learning, a San Mateo-based developer of personalized learning products with over 4,700 employees. Based in American Fork, UT and founded in 2015, Emmersion is a AI-based language learning platform that conducts assessments certifying language ability of individuals within corporate, multi-lateral, and education institutions, including Columbia University, Brown University, the University of Pennsylvania, and The World Bank.

The acquisition of Emmersion deepens IXL Learning's line of language and literacy products, which started with its initial product, Quia Books, a highly interactive online textbook and workbook platform created specifically for language learning and launched in 2001. Over the past five years, IXL has acquired seven language learning or tutoring companies. Its line up now includes Rosetta Stone, IXL English Language Arts, Vocabulary.com, SpanishDict, inglés.com, ABCya, Wyzant, Curiosity Media, and Fluencia.

Emmersion's co founders, Brigham Tomco (CEO) and Dr. Jacob Burdis (Head of Product), will remain with the company. The transaction size and other details have been disclosed.

Emmersion's adaptive assessments evaluate and certify speaking, writing, and reading abilities, which shorten an organization's time-to-hire and improve customer satisfaction scores.

Its AI-powered Speaking and Writing Assessments conduct reliable, pre-employment language screenings in 15 minutes to help companies and organizations hire candidates for the right roles. The company's verbal exam is the world's first fully automated speaking assessment and covers nine languages, including English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Mandarin, Portuguese, and Tagalog.

Speaking and Writing Assessments are scored using Emmersion's proprietary 100-point scale, TrueNorth, which gives organizations insights into test-takers' language skills. Additionally, each assessment uses AI to deliver accurate, bias-free scores that are mapped to global language standards, such as CEFR, ACTFL, and TOEFL.

In addition, Emmersion offers educational institutions another tool, WebCAPE, an adaptive placement exam to measure learners' reading, grammar, and listening skills. The multiple-choice test takes only 15-30 minutes to complete and can assess learners' abilities in seven languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Mandarin, and Russian. Emmersion has over 700 customers using its cloud-based, AI-driven language products.

"Emmersion's adaptive technology and automated exams are unrivaled," said Paul Mishkin, CEO of IXL Learning. "The Emmersion team will be a valuable addition to our family and we expect to make more investments in the company as we expand to additional languages and capabilities."

"Emmersion has striven to close the global communication gap through exceptional services that assess employees, check academic knowledge and certify language abilities. Joining IXL Learning is an incredible opportunity to continue advancing our mission and perfecting our products," said Brigham Tomco, CEO of Emmersion. "Our companies share the same ambitious vision for helping people build and evaluate their language skills, and we can't wait to contribute our expertise to this new venture."