Name

Pobble

Legal name

Pobble Education Ltd

Website

https://pobble.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

K-12 Education Software

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Exam Preparation and Tutoring (611691)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Literacy Foundations (Phonics, Reading Fluency, Comprehension) Platforms (EDAFAOAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Spelling, Vocabulary & Word Study Programs (EDAMAJAD)

Keywords

• Primary writing education
• Writing prompts software
• School moderation tools
• Edtech SaaS
• Teacher resources platform

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Pobble 365 Premium Subscriptions: Annual subscription tiers (Individual, School Starter, School Subscription, Whole School + Support) providing full access to the Pobble 365 calendar, all differentiated lesson levels, themed lessons, and premium features. Billed annually with multi-year commitment options.
2. Moderation Subscriptions: Annual subscription for online writing moderation tools, cross-school moderation sessions, and writing samples. School group subscriptions extend these benefits across MATs and multiple schools.
3. Moderation Services and Training: Fee-for-service offerings including writing assessment strategy calls (£185+VAT), external validation sessions (£595+VAT), end of KS2 statutory assessment CPD (places from £50 per teacher), and statutory assessment provider agreements with academies and free schools.
4. Literacy through Sport Programs: Six-week Literacy through Sport programs delivered in partnership with sporting foundations and venues, as well as commissioned bespoke events at sporting venues for partners and sponsors.
5. Free Tier (Freemium): A free daily writing prompt is permanently available without subscription, serving as the top-of-funnel acquisition layer. The free tier drives teacher sign-ups who later convert to premium subscriptions or school-level accounts.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Pobble provides a web-based SaaS platform that delivers daily image-based writing prompts for primary school classrooms (Pobble 365), with each prompt including a story starter, questions, word bank, sentence starters, and challenges available at three differentiated levels. The company also offers an online writing moderation tool for schools and multi-academy trusts, statutory assessment services through a partnership with Hackney Local Authority, and a Literacy through Sport programme delivered with sporting foundations.

Product overview

Pobble is an education technology platform focused on primary writing education, offering a suite of products across three main areas: (1) Pobble 365 — a free daily writing prompt platform (with Premium subscription upgrade) and Pobble Home for families; (2) Pobble Moderation — an online moderation tool, moderation services, and statutory assessment services for schools and MATs; and (3) Literacy through Sport — a sport-themed writing programme with events and resources. The platform is used by over 1 million teachers in 70+ countries and was created by primary teachers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Pobble 365 A free daily writing prompt platform for primary schools featuring a striking image, story starter, questions, word bank, sentence starters, sentence challenges, punctuation challenges, and printable versions. Each prompt is crafted and reviewed by real primary teachers, not generated by AI, and is available at three differentiated levels (Original, Easier, Harder).
• Pobble Premium A paid annual subscription tier that unlocks full access to every prompt in the Pobble 365 calendar, extra slides for developing ideas and building skills, every level and every theme, enabling teachers to plan ahead and build stronger writing sequences. Offered in Individual ($85/year), School Starter ($325/year), School Subscription ($550/year), and Whole School + Support ($1,100/year) tiers.
• Pobble Home A family-focused offering that provides inspiring picture prompts to spark ideas, build confidence, and make writing at home fun for children. Parents access the platform via Parent Accounts linked to their child's Pupil Account.
• Pobble Moderation Tool A secure online moderation platform that enables schools and multi-academy trusts to share writing exemplars, create and manage moderation files, facilitate cross-school and cross-year-group collaboration, and support remote and asynchronous moderation sessions to reduce workload and strengthen teacher collaboration.
• Moderation Services Expert-led moderation services for schools and MATs, including writing assessment strategy calls (£185+VAT per 60-minute session), external validation sessions (£595+VAT per 3-hour session), and end of KS2 statutory assessment CPD (places from £50 per teacher). Designed to strengthen confidence, consistency, and accuracy in writing assessment.
• Statutory Assessment Services A statutory assessment service for academies, free schools, and independent schools covering phonics screening check monitoring, KS2 SATs monitoring, and KS2 writing moderation, delivered through Pobble's partnership with Hackney Local Authority.
• Literacy through Sport A programme using sport as a focus to motivate children to write, featuring workshops at sporting venues, 6-week literacy programmes with sporting foundations, sporting-themed writing prompts, and live online lessons linked to sporting events. Partners include Bradford Bulls, Chelsea FC Foundation, Middlesbrough FC Foundation, Yorkshire Cricket Foundation, Burnley FC, Derby County FC, Doncaster Rovers FC, Rudding Park Golf, DP World Tour Dubai, and European Tour Wentworth.
• Live Writing Lessons Free live online writing lessons hosted by former primary school leader Simon Blower, featuring warm-up activities and collaborative writing tasks for primary classrooms, with celebrity guest speakers. The 2022 Football World Cup live lesson was attended by over 12,000 pupils from 350 schools.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 95,000 young writers inspired through Pobble 365 Live writing lessons
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability1 record

Feature6 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core, supporting and flagship.

• Hackney Local AuthoritycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPobble delivers statutory assessment services (KS2 writing moderation, phonics screening check monitoring, KS2 SATs monitoring) to academies, free schools, and independent schools in England through a formal partnership with Hackney Local Authority. This enables schools anywhere in England to use Pobble as their single statutory assessment provider.
• OlexsupportingTechnology or IntegrationAI assessment partner working alongside Pobble to support schools and MATs exploring AI-supported writing assessment. Olex helps surface patterns and indicators in pupil writing while keeping teacher judgement at the centre of assessment decisions.
• StylussupportingTechnology or IntegrationAI assessment partner collaborating with Pobble on responsible AI integration in writing assessment. Stylus tools help teachers see features of composition and composition indicators in pupil writing to support, not replace, professional judgement.
• AirsupportingTechnology or IntegrationAI assessment partner supporting Pobble's approach to combining AI efficiency with professional dialogue and human expertise in writing assessment. Air helps build tools that genuinely move the field forward alongside expert moderation.
• DP World Tour DubaiflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerPobble has hosted free workshops and writing sessions at DP World Tour Dubai golfing events as part of the Literacy through Sport programme, using sport as a context to inspire young writers.
• European Tour WentworthflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerLiteracy through Sport events hosted at the European Tour Wentworth venue, combining elite sporting contexts with writing workshops to inspire students.
• Hotel Football Old TraffordflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerLiteracy through Sport workshops held at Hotel Football at Old Trafford stadium, using football and sports venue context to motivate pupils to write.
• Bradford Bulls Rugby LeaguecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupported sporting foundation partner for Literacy through Sport programmes. Pobble collaborates with Bradford Bulls to deliver writing workshops in rugby-themed contexts for local community schools.
• Chelsea Football Club FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFoundation partner supporting Literacy through Sport programmes and workshops, using the Chelsea FC brand and context to inspire pupil writing.
• Middlesbrough FC FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDelivered 6-week Literacy through Sport programmes targeting students with low literacy attainment and poor attendance. Partnership combines football context with structured literacy development.
• Burnley FCsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerFootball club foundation partner for Literacy through Sport workshops, using Burnley FC sporting context to engage local pupils in writing activities.
• Derby County FCsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerFootball club partner for Literacy through Sport workshops, contributing to the programme's reach across multiple clubs in the UK.
• Doncaster Rovers FCsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerFootball club partner for Literacy through Sport workshops, extending programme reach to South Yorkshire schools.
• Yorkshire Cricket FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDelivered 6-week Literacy through Sport programmes targeting underachieving students with low literacy attainment. Combines cricket and sporting context with literacy skills development.
• Rudding Park GolfsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerGolf venue partner for 6-week Literacy through Sport programmes, using golfing context to inspire and motivate reluctant writers.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• LiteracyPlanet: LiteracyPlanet is a K–6 literacy platform offering structured exercises in reading, writing, spelling and grammar, sold via school and home subscriptions. Directly comparable to Pobble in audience, subscription model, and school-wide deployment, though with a more prescribed curriculum approach versus Pobble's prompt-based flexibility.
• Newsela: Newsela provides differentiated reading and writing content for K–12 with adjustable Lexile levels per article — the same multi-level differentiation pattern Pobble uses (Original/Easier/Harder). Both platforms monetize through school and district subscriptions and target the same teacher pain point of differentiation without extra planning time.
• Night Zookeeper: Night Zookeeper is a creative writing platform for primary school children offering gamified, illustrated writing prompts and challenges. Directly comparable to Pobble 365 in target audience (KS1/KS2), product (image-based writing prompts) and business model (freemium with paid subscriptions for schools and families).
• NoRedInk: NoRedInk is a web-based writing and grammar platform used widely in primary and secondary classrooms, offering adaptive writing prompts and feedback. Comparable to Pobble in its focus on teacher-assigned, differentiated writing activities and school-wide subscription pricing, though it leans more toward grammar instruction.

Broad incumbents

• Renaissance Learning: Renaissance Learning provides literacy and reading assessment (Star, Accelerated Reader) plus learning tools at district scale. Comparable to Pobble in the writing assessment/moderation adjacency and K–12 school sales motion, but Renaissance is a much larger established incumbent with broader assessment portfolios.
• IXL Learning: IXL offers comprehensive K–12 practice in math, English language arts, science and social studies via adaptive questions. Overlaps with Pobble in ELA subscription pricing, school-wide deployment, and teacher dashboards, but operates as a broad incumbent across subjects rather than a writing specialist.
• Lexia (Lexia Learning, Cambium): Lexia provides K–12 literacy instruction and assessment with a strong focus on differentiated practice and progress monitoring. Comparable to Pobble's differentiated writing approach and school-wide subscriptions, though Lexia is far broader in scope (reading + writing + assessment) and targets district-level contracts.
• Reading Eggs (Blake eLearning): Reading Eggs is a long-established K–6 literacy platform covering reading, phonics, spelling, and writing through structured lessons. Comparable as a broader incumbent in primary literacy with overlapping writing instruction and a freemium/subscription model, though more prescriptive than Pobble's open prompt approach.

Emerging players

• Nessy Learning: Nessy provides literacy and writing programs targeted at students with dyslexia and learning differences in primary schools. Comparable as a niche primary literacy subscription product with differentiated instruction, but focused on SEND rather than the mainstream classroom writing use case Pobble serves.
• Teach Your Monster: Teach Your Monster creates free-to-play, teacher-aligned literacy and numeracy games for primary children. Comparable in audience and brand-led community growth, with partial overlap on writing/reading instruction, though its primary modality is interactive games rather than image-based writing prompts.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/heypobble

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds6 records

Investors5 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Pobble