Adaptive Reader

Adaptive Reader is an education technology company founded in 2023 by Ethan Pierce and Eric Carlstrom that aims to make reading materials accessible to every student. The venture was born from the personal experiences of CEO Ethan Pierce, who struggled with reading in his early education before dedicated teachers helped him succeed and earn a scholarship to Harvard College. This journey highlighted the barriers students can face when transitioning from learning to read, to reading to learn, which became the foundational problem the company seeks to solve.

The company's core business revolves around an AI-assisted platform that transforms text into multiple formats to suit diverse learning needs. For its primary clients—publishers, school districts, and literacy-focused non-profits—Adaptive Reader ingests their content and adapts it for different reading levels, over 30 languages, and various accessibility formats. This process utilizes a hybrid model where AI generates initial adaptations, which are then refined by human editors to ensure quality and thematic integrity. The business model focuses on capturing revenue through partnerships with publishers, allowing them to expand their market reach by creating thousands of accessible versions of a single title. Meanwhile, the platform is offered for free to schools and educators.

Adaptive Reader's service delivers content in digital, audio, and print-on-demand formats. A key feature is its ability to create leveled texts, such as rewriting a novel from an 11th-grade to a 6th or 9th-grade reading level by modifying sentence structure and vocabulary. The platform includes a patented "Decode Mode™" to support dyslexic readers, synchronized audio narration, and a unique system where QR codes on printed books link to specific passages for audio support. Initially focused on public domain classics, the company is now expanding through publisher partnerships to adapt a wider range of K-12 content. In January 2025, the Cambridge-based startup announced an oversubscribed pre-seed funding round to expand its offerings and enhance its platform. Keywords: EdTech, reading accessibility, AI content adaptation, multilingual education, print-on-demand, literacy tools, digital learning, assistive technology, K-12 education, publisher solutions