Education Technology · Profile from Education Technology Research Companion
Zearn
The New York nonprofit behind Zearn Math, a K-8 math curriculum that pairs teacher-led lessons with digital lessons featuring on-screen teachers. It grew from a free blended-learning tool built on the open Eureka Math curriculum into a state-approved core curriculum used, by its own count, by about one in four US elementary students. Most of its revenue comes from paid school and district licences rather than donations.
At a glance
- Founded
- 2012, New York, NY
- Founders
- Shalinee Sharma (CEO) and Evan Rudall (former CEO of Uncommon Schools)
- Headquarters
- New York, NY; largely distributed team
- Ownership / structure
- US 501(c)(3) nonprofit (Zearn, Inc.; EIN 37-1665745). No equity investors; funded by philanthropy and earned program-service revenue from paid school and district accounts
- Leadership (2026)
- Shalinee Sharma, co-founder and CEO (CEO since ~2016 per some sources, verify)
- Segment and buyer
- K-8 math: free teacher accounts; paid School Accounts and district/state partnerships; Zearn Math as core curriculum (K-8) and as supplemental digital practice
- Scale
- Used by "1 in 4 elementary students" and 1m+ middle-school students (organisation and funder claims). FY2024 (year to June 2024): revenue ~$54.9m, of which program services ~$43.0m (~78%) and contributions ~$9.8m (~18%); expenses ~$45.4m; total assets ~$81.9m (Form 990 via ProPublica)
- Capital raised / valuation / market cap
- Not applicable (nonprofit). Philanthropic support from funders including Blue Meridian Partners (a reported ~$5.35m grant to support a scaling plan), Overdeck Family Foundation, New Profit and Fidelity Charitable donor-advised gifts; other large foundations reported (verify)
- Signature moves
- Nonprofit founding with blended-learning model (2012); building on the open-licensed Eureka Math / EngageNY curriculum (~2014); K-5 core curriculum and paid School Accounts (2017); free pandemic access and the Opportunity Insights Economic Tracker data partnership (2020); K-8 expansion (2022); state core-curriculum approvals including Louisiana Tier 1 and Texas (2024 cycle); RAND randomised trial and Evidence for ESSA "Strong" rating (2025). Misses and limits: dependence on another organisation's curriculum lineage, uneven usage, an evidence base that until 2025 was mostly correlational, and p
7 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2012
Nonprofit Founding Blended Math
Launch / organisational structure (501(c)(3) nonprofit)
2014
Built on Eureka Math Open Curriculum
Product strategy / curriculum alignment (use of an openly licensed curriculum)
2017
K5 Core Curriculum and School Accounts
Launch / business model change (freemium with paid institutional tier)
2020
Pandemic Free Access and Economic Tracker
Pricing change (expanded free access) / data partnership
2022
K8 Expansion
Launch (grade-band expansion)
2024
State Core Curriculum Approvals
Distribution / policy (state adoption and quality reviews)
2025
RAND RCT and ESSA Strong Rating
Evidence / research partnership