Edtech startup Unbound Concepts acquired by Certica Solutions

Baltimore edtech startup Unbound Concepts was acquired by a Massachusetts-based company that makes an education data platform for K-12 organizations.
With the deal, Certica Solutions is set to add the capabilities of Unbound’s app, called Artifact, to its offerings. Terms were not disclosed.
Founded by former teacher Katie Palenscar, Artifact is designed to make it easier for teachers or parents to search for books for students to read. The app uses machine learning with info like themes and literary elements that go beyond a summary, Technical.ly reported. There are more than 700 such attributes — or “artifacts” — within the app’s system. The company maintained a free app for classrooms, while establishing partnerships with publishers like Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Baker & Taylor, as well as edtech platforms.
Certica, based in Wakefield, Mass., will add the app’s ability to add and tag content to its search offerings, which are used by K-12 organizations as well as publishers.

We’re excited to welcome Unbound Concepts @_Artifact to the @Certica_K12 team! #alaac17 #elachat #edtech #ISTE2017 https://t.co/0nIWKMR6wW pic.twitter.com/k7BDSqcIp0

— Certica an Instructure Company (@Certica_K12) June 26, 2017

“Unbound Concepts has made important connections between book publishers, distributors, buyers and educators, by creating a common language between those stakeholders. We’re excited to execute the synergies between Artifact and our existing platform capabilities, to benefit our business partners,” Certica CEO Mark Rankovic said in a statement.
The Baltimore community helped along the way, whether from mentors like educational publishing executive Judy Harris or the Emerging Technology Centers-run Accelerate Baltimore program, where Unbound was a member of the first cohort in 2012.