This article offers more information on my annual review of ed-tech, namely what happened to education technology and “fake news” in 2017

Companies that raised money in 2017 for literacy products:

• BookNook, which raised $1.2 million in June for “small group literacy instruction.” Investors include Reach Capital, Better Ventures, Urban Innovation Fund, and Impact Engine.
• ThinkCERCA, which raised $10.1 million in September, “to build critical thinkers, readers and writers.” Investors in this year’s round of funding include: GSV Acceleration, TAL Education Group, Jeff Weiner, Scott Cook, Plum Alley, Sam Yagan, Mike Gamson, Chuck Templeton, Follett Knowledge Fund, and Signe Ostby. The company has raised $14.8 million total.

Other notable companies involved in information literacy this year:

• Follett became the exclusive US distributor for The DayUSA, a UK company that provides daily news for students
• Digital Promise, whose funders include the Gates Foundation and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, announced it was partnering with Facebook for a "micro-credentialing program" to teach digital skills
• Google announced a “Be Internet Awesome” digital literacy / digital citizenship campaign in June
• Mozilla announced it was ending its Web literacy initiative
• The literacy company Big Universe was acquired by K–12 Inc in October
• Other literacy startups include Newsela and LightSail Education, not to mention all the startups who will write me angry email for leaving them off this list

Details about digital literacy and “learn to code” companies will be in a separate article, coming soon…