DreamBox Learning, a Bellevue-based provider of adaptive online learning games, has been acquired by the Charter Fund, a non-profit venture capital firm that made the purchase in partnership with Netflix CEO Reed Hastings -- who will become DreamBox chairman as a result of the deal.

Financial terms of the acquisition weren't disclosed. Ben Slivka, the former Microsoft executive who founded DreamBox in 2006, sold his stake in the company as part of the deal. In addition to the purchase price, Hastings and Charter Fund say they are investing an extra $10 million in DreamBox to fuel its expansion.

DreamBox, which has 18 employees, will remain for-profit startup, said Sarah Daniels, the company's vice president of marketing. The additional funding is expected to help the company hire more people, develop new products at a faster pace, and expand its footprint.

"It's a great accelerator," Daniels said via phone this morning.

In addition, she noted, the deal will bring new expertise to the DreamBox Learning board, adding as new directors Kevin Hall, CEO and President of Charter School Growth Fund; and John Danner, Co-Founder and CEO of Rocketship Education, a non-profit elementary school charter school network.

Hastings was introduced to DreamBox technologies via Rocketship.

Reed Hastings

“I have evaluated many companies in the K-12 e-Learning marketplace and DreamBox Learning clearly stood out," said Hastings in a news release. "They have already shown strong results in a short period of time, and the DreamBox Learning Platform has the best underlying adaptive technology, giving every student the opportunity to thrive through innovative online learning. My end goal of bringing DreamBox Learning and The Charter Fund together is to fuel the movement of e-Learning and help millions of students."

DreamBox works by automatically adjusting its online lessons to individual students, taking into account how long they take to answer, whether they need hints, and other factors in addition to whether they get the right answer. The retail price of the subscription-based service is $59.95 for six months, or $99.95 for six months for a family rate that accommodates as many as four students. Individual monthly subscriptions cost $19.95.

The Bellevue startup raised $7.1 million in 2007. Its first offering, launched in January 2009, was an adventure game teaching math skills for children in Kindergarten through 2nd grade. A new version was released this month, expanding the content to 3rd grade. DreamBox also offers a version for classrooms.

The company says Hastings' role at Netflix won't change as a result of his new DreamBox role. The founder of the mail-order and digital movie-rental company is separately a member of Microsoft's board.