Formative
Formative is a K-12 ed-tech platform offering AI-powered real-time instruction and assessment, serving teachers and districts in 90%+ of US school districts with 25M+ students and 6B+ responses logged.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersInglewood, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Formative does
Formative is a K-12 educational technology company that operates an AI-powered real-time instruction and assessment platform. Founded in 2013 by Craig Jones and Kevin McFarland while they were graduate students at UCLA and headquartered in Los Angeles/Inglewood, California, Formative enables teachers to build interactive lessons, deliver real-time assessments, monitor student responses instantly, and adjust instruction within a single integrated workflow. The platform supports dozens of question types (including video, audio, drawing, matching, drag and drop, and free response), auto-grading across multiple formats, rubric-based scoring for open-ended work, standards tagging, accessibility features (text-to-speech, closed-captioned video), and AI-assisted content creation via its Luna tool. The company reports penetration in over 90% of US school districts, 25M+ students engaged, and 6B+ student responses powering its insights.
Formative monetizes through a freemium product-led growth motion: a free individual teacher tier, a paid teacher tier unlocking advanced question types and rubric creation, and district/school licenses sold under the 'Balanced Assessment by Formative' (BAF) brand that provide bulk rostering, collaboration tools, and advanced analytics dashboards. Enterprise distribution is enabled through deep integrations with Google Classroom, Clever, and ClassLink for SSO and rostering. The company has held ESSA Tier III research-backed certification, FERPA and COPPA compliance, and 2025 industry recognition from Tech & Learning and EdTech Breakthrough. Formative raised $70 million in a June 2021 minority growth round led by Summit Partners (with participation from Emerson Collective, Fika Ventures, MaC Venture Capital, and Rethink Education), executed an earlier 2020 round of approximately $6.5 million, and received acceleration via the Jefferson Education Accelerator in 2016. On June 27, 2023, Formative was acquired by Newsela, the K-12 instructional content platform, to combine Formative's data-rich assessment capabilities with Newsela's 15,000+ content library. Post-acquisition, the platform continues to operate under the Newsela umbrella.
Formative firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Formative
- Legal name
- Formative
- Website
- https://formative.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Acquired
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Formative is a K-12 ed-tech platform offering AI-powered real-time instruction and assessment, serving teachers and districts in 90%+ of US school districts with 25M+ students and 6B+ responses logged.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Formative industry classification
Industry- Product category
- K-12 Educational Assessment Software
- NAICS
- Educational Services (611), All Other Schools and Instruction (61169)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Assessment, Testing & Analytics Platforms (Formative/Summative) (EDAJAMAC)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Survey, Formative Assessment & Classroom Response (Quizzes/Polls) Tools (EDAFADAN), Live Polling, Quizzing & Formative Assessment Engagement Tools (EDAFAGAB), Classroom Assessment & Grading (Formative/Summative) (EDAJAFAC)
Keywords
Where Formative is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Inglewood
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Formative business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations
Revenue model
- Subscription - Free Tier: Free plan for individual teachers including basic assignment creation and student responses
- Subscription - Paid Teacher Plan: Paid individual teacher plan unlocking advanced question types (video response, audio response, matching, drag and drop, dropdown, fill in the blank, etc.), rubric creation, printing features, and advanced auto-grading
- School & District License: District-level subscription with bulk rostering, collaboration tools, advanced analytics dashboards, team management, and administrative reporting capabilities
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Free plan for individual teachers with basic features |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
Formative product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Formative provides an AI-powered K-12 instructional and assessment platform that lets educators build and deliver interactive lessons, assign real-time formative assessments, and monitor student responses instantly to adjust instruction. The unified workflow combines lesson creation, auto-grading across dozens of question types (video, audio, drawing, drag-and-drop, free response), standards alignment, and analytics. It is sold via a freemium model for individual teachers and paid subscriptions for school and district licenses.
Product overview
Formative offers a unified AI-first instructional and assessment platform for K-12 education. The core Formative platform enables educators to build and deliver lessons, assess learning, and adjust instruction in real time—all in one place. The portfolio includes Balanced Assessment by Formative (BAF) for school and district administrators requiring advanced analytics and bulk rostering; Student Practice for self-directed independent learning; Luna (an AI-powered creation tool); and a Library of educator-created lesson templates. The platform was acquired by Newsela in June 2023, integrating Formative's assessment capabilities with Newsela's 15,000+ content library. Formative serves over 90% of U.S. school districts with 25M+ students and 6B+ student responses powering its insights.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Balanced Assessment by Formative (BAF): Advanced analytics and school/district-level license tier with collaboration tools and bulk rostering.
- Student Practice
- Luna AI
Products and services
- Formative AI-powered K-12 instructional and assessment platform that lets educators build and deliver interactive lessons, assign real-time formative assessments, and monitor student responses instantly to adjust instruction, all in one workflow.
- Balanced Assessment by Formative (BAF) School and district-level assessment and analytics offering providing more question types, bulk rostering, collaboration tools, advanced analytics dashboards, team management, and administrative reporting for K-12 administrators.
- Student Practice Self-directed K-12 learning module where students engage with pre-made activities or build their own using flashcards, matching, quiz, and write modes to continue learning independently outside of assigned formatives.
Quantifiable outcome
- 9 percentile points higher on FastBridge Math assessment for students using Formative regularly
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Formative
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Formative technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration3 records
AI capability5 records
Feature10 records
Formative partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- NewselacoreNewsela, the leading K-12 instructional content platform, acquired Formative on June 27, 2023. This acquisition brings together two classroom products to provide a comprehensive instructional solution combining Newsela's content with Formative's data-rich assessment activities.
- Google ClassroomcoreIntegration with Google Classroom enabling automatic rostering, single sign-on, and assignment syncing for seamless workflow integration
- ClevercoreIntegration with Clever providing automatic rostering and single sign-on capabilities for district deployments
- ClassLinkcoreIntegration with ClassLink enabling automatic rostering and single sign-on for streamlined district-wide implementation
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Formative competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Instructure (Canvas): Major K-12 and higher-ed LMS with embedded assessment, quiz, and analytics modules; competes indirectly by bundling formative assessment features within the broader learning platform.
- PowerSchool: Largest K-12 SIS and broader ed-tech platform offering assessment, analytics, and unified classroom products; competes with Formative's district-tier positioning through bundling and broad procurement reach.
- Newsela: Parent company since June 2023; leading K-12 instructional content platform that acquired Formative to combine content library with assessment—overlapping in K-12 classroom adoption and now commercially integrated.
- Schoology (PowerSchool): K-12-focused LMS now part of PowerSchool with native assessment and assignment tools; bundles learning management with formative assessment that competes for district-wide deals.
Direct peers
- Edpuzzle: Video-based formative assessment platform for K-12 with embedded questions and analytics; overlaps Formative's video response question types and real-time monitoring capabilities.
- Pear Deck: Interactive presentation and formative assessment tool tightly integrated with Google Slides and Google Classroom; comparable real-time student response and teacher-driven instruction workflow.
- Nearpod: Interactive K-12 instruction and formative assessment platform with real-time student engagement, multimedia lessons, and integrated assessments—closely overlapping Formative's product-led motion and target K-12 audience.
- Kahoot!: Game-based learning and live quizzing platform used widely in K-12 and beyond; competes directly on formative assessment, polling, and engagement features that overlap with Formative's core use cases.
- Quizizz: K-12-focused quiz and formative assessment tool with real-time student responses and teacher-led activities—directly competing for the same individual-teacher and district budgets as Formative.
Emerging players
- ClassDojo: K-12 classroom engagement and communication platform with growing instructional content capabilities; reaches a similar teacher audience through freemium and is increasingly expanding into assessment-adjacent features.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Formative social profiles
Digital presenceFormative compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance3 records
Formative financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Formative leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Formative funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds3 records
Investors6 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Formative M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Formative
What does Formative do?
Formative provides an AI-powered K-12 instructional and assessment platform that lets educators build and deliver interactive lessons, assign real-time formative assessments, and monitor student responses instantly to adjust instruction. The unified workflow combines lesson creation, auto-grading across dozens of question types (video, audio, drawing, drag-and-drop, free response), standards alignment, and analytics. It is sold via a freemium model for individual teachers and paid subscriptions for school and district licenses.
Is Formative a public or private company?
Formative is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently acquired.
When was Formative founded?
Formative was founded in 2013. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Formative based?
Formative is headquartered in Inglewood, United States, in the North America region.
How does Formative make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Subscription - Free Tier is the primary driver. The others are subscription - Paid Teacher Plan and school & District License.
Who are Formative's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Instructure (Canvas), PowerSchool, Newsela and Schoology (PowerSchool). Direct peers are Edpuzzle, Pear Deck, Nearpod, Kahoot! and Quizizz. ClassDojo is listed as an emerging player.
Does Formative have an API?
No public API is recorded for Formative.
What industry is Formative in?
Formative's product category is K-12 Educational Assessment Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAJAMAC, Assessment, Testing & Analytics Platforms (Formative/Summative), with a secondary code of EDAFADAN, Survey, Formative Assessment & Classroom Response (Quizzes/Polls) Tools. Its NAICS code is 611 and its SIC code is 7372.