Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Acquires Educational Technology Company Tribal Nova, Increases In-House Game Development Expertise


BOSTON – Global education leader Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) today announced the acquisition of Tribal Nova, a Montréal-based educational technology company focused on the development of digital games, products and services for pre-school children.

The acquisition represents a key investment in HMH's capabilities around the development of industry-leading adaptive digital content for the pre-K market. Tribal Nova brings significant talent and expertise in multi-platform educational game development into the HMH fold, increasing HMH's capacity to create entertaining online games based on sound educational principles, innovative design and adaptive functionality.

Tribal Nova is best known for the development of educational online services and apps in partnership with major media and publisher partners in North America and Europe. The acquisition encompasses Tribal Nova's full product portfolio, which includes iLearnWith, a cross curricular, game-based, school readiness program for children aged 3-6 years; iReadWith, a complementary e-book program; as well as KidCore, a multi-platform game-based learning engine which enables the development of personalized educational content based on user profile and game performance.

"The combination of Tribal Nova's game development expertise with HMH's proven educational content and learning design capabilities will enable HMH to bring a more holistic and personalized gaming experience to market," said Mary Cullinane, Chief Content Officer and EVP, Corporate Affairs at HMH. "With the acquisition of Tribal Nova, HMH has exciting growth opportunities in the consumer education market and beyond."

"We are excited to join one of the world's leading education companies and believe that HMH is well-positioned to take Tribal Nova to new heights in high quality educational game development," said Pierre Le Lann and Guillaume Aniorté, Co-CEOs of Tribal Nova. "We share a belief in the importance of curiosity in fostering effective learning in children and look forward to working together to create new and innovative products which build upon the concept of meaningful play."

While Tribal Nova and its employees will continue to be based in Montreal, the team will become part of HMH's US-based Content and Product Innovation group, dedicated to the incubation and development of next-generation content for both K-12 and consumer markets.

About Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is a global learning company with the mission of changing people's lives by fostering passionate, curious learners. Among the world's largest providers of pre-K–12 education solutions and one of its longest-established publishing houses, HMH combines cutting-edge research, editorial excellence and technological innovation to improve teaching and learning environments and solve complex literacy and education challenges. HMH's interactive, results-driven education solutions are utilized by 60 million students in 120 countries, and its renowned and awarded novels, non-fiction, children's books and reference works are enjoyed by readers throughout the world. For more information, visit www.hmhco.com.

About Tribal Nova, Inc.
Tribal Nova is a leading developer and publisher of educational programs, games and apps for young children that feature many of their favorite TV characters and are accessible across several platforms. The company operates the following online learning services for young children in partnership with major media partners in North America and Europe: PBS KIDS PLAY!, Kids' CBC Wonderworld and Bayam. The company also publishes the iLearnWith educational program for tablets and touch devices. For more information, visit www.tribalnova.com.