What Smart Science Education does

Smart Science Education (operating as Smart Science® Labs) is a private, California-based education technology company that delivers virtual science laboratories to K-12 schools and adjacent education programs that cannot otherwise provide hands-on lab instruction because of budgetary or staffing constraints. Founded by former high school science teacher Edward Keller alongside CSO Dr. Harry Keller and co-founder Jayne Keller, the company sells primarily to US public schools, private schools, charter/cyber schools (e.g., Georgia CyberAcademy, Stride K12), alternative education campuses (e.g., McKinney ISD), and community colleges (e.g., Holmes Community College). The company's documented customer base spans elementary through high school grades, with documented cases serving students with limited English proficiency, special education needs, and alternative education populations, where test-score improvements have been recorded at multiple sites.

The core product, Smart Science® Labs, is a browser-delivered platform of interactive video-based experiment simulations. Students are required to gather raw (non-canned) data, formulate hypotheses, test those hypotheses, and explain scientific phenomena — an approach the company positions against simpler simulations in which students can produce correct answers without genuine inquiry. Content spans 1,000+ high school, 1,000+ middle school, and 500+ elementary school lessons and was developed with input from thousands of US science teachers. The platform is FERPA-compliant and meets ISTE standards; it is also certified on the Clever identity-management marketplace, which enables SSO and rostering integration with the large installed base of US K-12 schools that already use Clever. The company holds a registered trademark on the Smart Science® brand.

Smart Science monetizes via annual academic-year subscription licenses sold direct to schools under a quote-based pricing model that is not publicly disclosed, with bundled one-on-one teacher/student coaching, curriculum alignment support, and professional development. Distribution is primarily direct sales led by a four-person core team, augmented by a channel/reseller relationship with Pitsco Education (which handles free-trial routing and advisor-led demos) and by the Clever App Gallery listing. There are no disclosed funding rounds, no disclosed revenue figures, and an operating base in Hermosa Beach, California.

Name

Smart Science Education

Legal name

Smart Science Education

Website

https://smartscience.online

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Smart Science Education provides virtual K-12 science labs through interactive video-based experiment simulations, sold as annual academic-year subscriptions to schools with budgetary or staffing constraints. The platform is differentiated by requiring students to gather raw data and articulate scientific reasoning.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

K-12 Science Education Software

NAICS

Elementary and Secondary Schools (6111), Exam Preparation and Tutoring (611691)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Virtual Labs, Remote Labs & Hands-On Practice Tools (EDAFABAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Simulation-Based Learning & Virtual Labs (EDAGAEAG), Biology & Life Science Enrichment (Biotech, Genetics, Anatomy) (EDAMABAF), STEM Research & Inquiry Programs (Research Mentorship, Science Fair Prep) (EDAMABAC)

Keywords

• Virtual science labs
• K-12 science education
• Online science curriculum
• Interactive experiment simulations
• School lab software

Headquarters

HQ city

Manhattan Beach

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

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. School Subscription Licensing: The company provides schools with affordable digital science labs through academic year licensing agreements. Schools pay for whole academic year access with multiple classroom licenses and integrated professional development.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Smart Science Education provides interactive, video-based virtual science labs (Smart Science® Labs) for K-12 schools. Students conduct hands-on style science experiments online by gathering real (non-canned) data, formulating hypotheses, and explaining scientific phenomena. The offering is sold through academic-year school licenses that include teacher and student guides, one-on-one coaching, and integrated professional development.

Product overview

Smart Science Education offers a single unified product: Smart Science® Labs, a virtual science laboratory platform designed for K-12 education. The platform provides interactive video-based science experiments that simulate hands-on laboratory experiences for elementary, middle, and high school students. The company supplements this core offering with one-on-one teacher and student coaching, professional development support, and supplementary resources such as teacher guides and Ed Talk webinars.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Smart Science® Labs

Quantifiable outcome

• Double the AP biology exam pass rate compared to classes without Smart Science
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Pitsco EducationcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPitsco Education provides advisors who help schedule free trials and demos for Smart Science Education. The 'Get A Free Trial' CTA on the website redirects to Pitsco's advisor scheduling page.
• ClevercoreTechnology or IntegrationSmart Science Education is Certified on the Clever platform, enabling seamless integration with schools that use Clever for student and teacher identity management and single sign-on.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Discovery Education: Discovery Education is a large K-12 digital content provider with science video, virtual labs, and supplemental content, sold as a district-wide subscription. It overlaps with Smart Science Labs as a competitor for district science budgets but operates at much broader scale and is typically procured at the district rather than school level, making it a frequent incumbent that Smart Science must displace or sit alongside.
• Imagine Learning (formerly Edgenuity): Imagine Learning offers a broad K-12 digital curriculum including supplemental science courses with embedded virtual labs, sold as district-wide licenses. It competes with Smart Science Labs at the district procurement level and benefits from cross-curricular bundling that makes standalone virtual lab products harder to sell in larger districts.

Emerging players

• BrainPOP: BrainPOP provides K-12 animated educational content, including a science catalog with simulations and experiments, sold via school and district subscriptions. It overlaps with Smart Science Labs on the science K-12 buyer and the 'affordable digital lab' positioning, but with a much heavier emphasis on animated explainers than on inquiry-based video labs.

Others

• Pitsco Education: Pitsco Education is both Smart Science Education's primary channel partner (handling demo scheduling and free-trial routing) and a broader STEM education curriculum and equipment provider. It is comparable as a STEM curriculum provider but is a go-to-market partner rather than a direct product competitor; Pitsco's incentives and roadmap decisions materially shape Smart Science's distribution economics.

Direct peers

• Legends of Learning: Legends of Learning provides K-12 science games and simulations aligned to standards, sold as a school subscription. It targets the same K-12 science teacher and curriculum director buyer as Smart Science Labs and competes for the same discretionary science budget line items, with a heavier emphasis on gamified engagement than inquiry-based video labs.
• Labster: Labster provides immersive 3D and VR-based virtual science labs primarily to higher education and increasingly to high schools. It overlaps directly with Smart Science Labs in subject coverage (biology, chemistry, physics) and inquiry-based methodology, and represents the well-capitalized, premium end of the virtual lab category that competes for the same district and school procurement dollars when buyers prioritize immersion.
• Science Interactive Group: Science Interactive Group provides hands-on lab kits paired with online simulations and adaptive content for high school and college science courses. It competes with Smart Science Labs in the same hybrid 'real lab + digital lab' category that schools adopt when they lack equipment, and is a relevant comparable for any buyer evaluating Smart Science as part of a broader lab-replacement decision.
• PhET Interactive Simulations: PhET, developed at the University of Colorado Boulder, offers free interactive physics, chemistry, biology, and math simulations widely adopted in K-12 and higher-ed classrooms. It competes with Smart Science Labs in the same virtual science lab category, but differs in being freely available and research-driven rather than video-led and commercially licensed; it sets the price floor and the expectation for interactivity.
• ExploreLearning (Gizmos): ExploreLearning's Gizmos product is the most directly comparable platform to Smart Science Labs: interactive, inquiry-based science and math simulations sold on a subscription basis to K-12 schools and districts. Both products target the same buyer (science teachers and curriculum directors), emphasize hands-on inquiry rather than canned demonstrations, and compete for the same district science-budget dollars.
• Carolina Distance Learning: Carolina Distance Learning (a division of Carolina Biological) offers virtual labs and lab kits for K-12 and higher education, covering biology, chemistry, and environmental science. It is comparable to Smart Science Labs in product format (digital-first labs with optional physical components) and customer segment, and competes for the same online and blended-learning school budgets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/smart_science

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Smart Science Education