LENA
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2004
- HeadquartersBoulder, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
LENA firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- LENA
- Legal name
- LENA
- Website
- https://lena.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2004
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
LENA industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Early Childhood Education Technology
- NAICS
- Educational Support Services (61171), Educational Support Services (611710)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Assessment, Screening & Progress Monitoring Tools (0–5) (EDACANAI)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Phonics, Speech & Language Development Tools (EDACANAC), Pronunciation, Speech Recognition & Accent Training Tools (EDAFAOAG)
Keywords
Where LENA is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Boulder
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
LENA business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- B2B Technology and Software Sales: LENA's revenue model relies on business-to-business sales of technology (wearable devices), cloud-based software subscriptions, and associated services to Head Start programs, childcare centers, school districts, and other early childhood education organizations.
- Professional Development Services: Revenue from the LENA Grow professional development program which provides data-driven training, coaching, and support services to early childhood educators.
- LENA SP for Researchers and Clinicians: Sales of the LENA SP system to research institutions and clinical practitioners requiring detailed language environment data for children aged 2-48 months.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Enterprise/B2B sales - pricing varies by organization size and scope |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels8 records
LENA product offering
Product offeringCore offering
LENA develops and sells a hardware and software suite that objectively measures adult-child conversational turns in early childhood settings. The core offering combines a wearable talk pedometer device that captures full-day audio with the cloud-based LENA Online platform, which automatically analyzes the audio into conversational turn counts, word counts, and language environment metrics. Building on this technology, LENA offers the LENA Grow professional development program for early childhood educators and the LENA SP research and clinical tool for researchers and speech-language pathologists serving children aged 2-48 months.
Product overview
LENA offers a unified hardware and software ecosystem centered on measuring and improving adult-child conversational turns in early childhood settings. The core LENA System combines a wearable talk pedometer device with cloud-based LENA Online analytics software. Two main program offerings build on this foundation: LENA Grow (professional development for early childhood educators combining the device with coaching and reflection) and LENA SP (a research and clinical tool providing detailed language environment data for researchers and speech-language pathologists). Supporting products include the LENA Developmental Snapshot questionnaire and Automatic Vocalization Assessment software. The system is backed by 20+ years of research spanning 250+ peer-reviewed publications.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- LENA Grow: A 5-week professional development program for early childhood educators focusing on teacher-child interactions and conversational turns.
- LENA SP
- LENA System
Products and services
- LENA System
- LENA Grow
Quantifiable outcome
- Children in LENA Grow are 2x more likely to be kindergarten ready
- +7 more outcomes
Companies that use LENA
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
LENA technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability2 records
Feature5 records
LENA partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- TeachstonecoreLENA partners with Teachstone on quality improvement in early childhood classrooms. Joint webinar on Collaborating on Quality: Improving CLASS Scores and Child Outcomes. The LENA Grow program naturally boosts CLASS scores by increasing quality interactions.
- CLASS (Classroom Assessment Scoring System)coreLENA Grow naturally integrates with and supports improvement on CLASS scores - the standardized measure of classroom quality. Data from five different evaluations (2018-2025) show LENA Grow's positive effects on CLASS scores in Pre-K classrooms.
- Pyramid ModelminorCrosswalk document shows how LENA Grow aligns with and strengthens the Pyramid Model for promoting social-emotional competence. Teachers with Pyramid training see larger increases in conversational turns.
- FSU 10 Components of Quality CareminorLENA Grow aligns to and strengthens eight of the 10 FSU Components of Quality Care for Infants and Toddlers.
- Head Start ProgramscoreMajor target customer segment for LENA Grow. Head Start programs across the U.S. implement LENA's professional development and talk pedometer technology to improve classroom quality and child outcomes.
- Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (CCR&Rs)coreOCCRRA in Ohio represents the model of how CCR&Rs scale LENA Grow statewide as a quality improvement initiative serving early childhood programs across service areas.
- Early Learning IndianacoreImplementation partner with dedicated LENA Grow program in Indiana. Partnership includes webinars celebrating wins and generous support from Lilly Endowment Inc.
- Porter-LeathcoreNonprofit implementing LENA Grow in Tennessee with research partnership on new teacher support. Produced clear results including higher kindergarten readiness scores.
- Harvard University (Bergelson Lab)minorHarvard researchers used LENA data for a 2023 paper published in PNAS analyzing nearly 40,000 hours of LENA data from 1,001 children in 12 countries and 43 languages.
- Brown UniversityminorIndependent researchers at Brown University conducted study on COVID-era babies using LENA System, arriving at similar findings as LENA's own research on reduced vocalizations.
- Telethon Kids Institute (Australia)minor2024 study published in JAMA Pediatrics used LENA System to link increased screen time to decreased parent-child interaction.
Scale indicators16 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights7 records
LENA competitors and assessment
Company assessmentOthers
- Sesame Workshop: Sesame Workshop is a nonprofit that develops early childhood educational content and research-backed programs, sharing LENA's mission-driven nonprofit structure and focus on language, literacy, and school readiness in the birth-to-five market.
- Child Trends: Child Trends is a nonprofit research organization that conducts early childhood research used by Head Start and state agencies. It is a research-ecosystem peer whose work informs the policy environment in which LENA Grow is adopted.
Emerging players
- Procare Solutions: Procare provides childcare center management software serving thousands of early childhood programs across the U.S. It targets the same operational buyer but competes for budget at the administrative rather than instructional layer.
- HighScope: HighScope is a research-based early childhood curriculum organization with its own child assessment tool (COR Advantage). It shares LENA's evidence-based orientation and Head Start customer base, but competes as a curriculum rather than measurement solution.
- Brightwheel: Brightwheel is a childcare management and family engagement platform used by thousands of early childhood programs. It overlaps with LENA's customer base but focuses on daily reporting, billing, and parent communication rather than language assessment.
Direct peers
- Teachstone: Teachstone provides the CLASS classroom quality assessment tool, which is the standardized measure that LENA Grow is shown to improve. Both serve the same Head Start and pre-K buyers with quality-improvement offerings and co-host webinars, making Teachstone the closest direct peer in adjacent territory.
- Hatch Early Learning: Hatch provides tech-enabled early childhood curriculum and assessment tools used in preschool classrooms. Like LENA, it sells to Head Start and early childhood organizations and competes for the same EdTech budget, though Hatch emphasizes digital play and literacy rather than conversational measurement.
- Teaching Strategies: Teaching Strategies' GOLD assessment system is integrated with LENA Grow outcomes and serves the same early childhood educator buyers. The company's president previously served on LENA's board, reflecting deep overlap in customer base, content, and assessment focus for birth-to-pre-K programs.
- Waterford Early Learning: Waterford Upstart and Waterford Early Learning provide personalized language and literacy programs for pre-K children, sharing LENA's focus on early language development and serving similar Head Start, school district, and at-risk-family buyer segments.
- Frog Street: Frog Street is a major publisher of early childhood curriculum and professional development serving Head Start and pre-K programs. Like LENA Grow, it sells educator-facing professional development and curriculum solutions to the same Head Start and district customers.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
LENA social profiles
Digital presenceLENA compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
LENA financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
LENA leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles12 records
LENA funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
LENA 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 LENA
What does LENA do?
LENA develops and sells a hardware and software suite that objectively measures adult-child conversational turns in early childhood settings. The core offering combines a wearable talk pedometer device that captures full-day audio with the cloud-based LENA Online platform, which automatically analyzes the audio into conversational turn counts, word counts, and language environment metrics. Building on this technology, LENA offers the LENA Grow professional development program for early childhood educators and the LENA SP research and clinical tool for researchers and speech-language pathologists serving children aged 2-48 months.
Is LENA a public or private company?
LENA is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was LENA founded?
LENA was founded in 2004. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is LENA based?
LENA is headquartered in Boulder, United States, in the North America region.
How does LENA make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. B2B Technology and Software Sales are the primary driver. The others are professional Development Services and LENA SP for Researchers and Clinicians.
Who are LENA's main competitors?
Others on record are Sesame Workshop and Child Trends. Emerging players are Procare Solutions, HighScope and Brightwheel. Direct peers are Teachstone, Hatch Early Learning, Teaching Strategies, Waterford Early Learning and Frog Street.
Does LENA have an API?
No public API is recorded for LENA.
What industry is LENA in?
LENA's product category is Early Childhood Education Technology. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDACANAI, Assessment, Screening & Progress Monitoring Tools (0–5), with a secondary code of EDACANAC, Phonics, Speech & Language Development Tools. Its NAICS code is 61171 and its SIC code is 7372.