About ReMo
Building Readers and Supporting Teachers
Reading is inspirational, joyful and truly life-changing — for both students and educators. For students, reading opens new ideas, reveals new knowledge and builds a sense of empathy and creativity. For teachers, reading provides an opportunity to connect with their students — and themselves — and build a community around reading and discovery.
At ReMo, we’re educators too. Which is why we believe in the power of reading. We also know it’s not without its challenges. Over the years, in teaching multiple grades and literacy levels, we have seen two troubling issues emerge:
- Literacy rates are declining. Based on results from the 2019 National Assessment, 68% of the 8th-graders in the US scored below their grade level in reading, and reading scores have declined in 31 states.
- Teachers are stretched thin. 1 out of 5 teachers are expected to leave the classroom in the next two years, creating a massive teacher shortage.
ReMo provides a solution to overworked educators who desperately want to help their students, but often lack the resources or tools to do so. Our web-based application contains numerous features that manage and automate the workflow around independent reading. With a free version available to individual educators and premium plans available for both educators and schools, ReMo helps educators and students feel uplifted by the power of reading, instead of being overwhelmed by the process of it.
Our Team at LiteracyTech
Our team founded LiteracyTech in December 2019. With backgrounds in education and technical development, we created ReMo from our insights into educators’ challenges and used technology and innovation to overcome them.
Michelle DeBlois | Founder & CEO
Michelle is an avid reader, foodie, and nature-lover and has been a Maine public school educator for the last 16 years. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, kayaking, and camping and devotes energy to being a social and environmental activist. She currently is on the Executive Board of Maine Council of English Language Arts, is a reader for Maine Initiatives‘ Grants for Change, and works as a curriculum consultant for Applied Curiosity Research. If you are in Portland, Maine, you’ll see her working at The Roux Institute.
Peter Janett | Founder & CTO
A pioneer in the early days of e-commerce, Peter started a website in 1996 that sold concert t-shirts. From this early venture, he quickly earned a reputation for his talents in customizing online shopping carts and integrating e-commerce platforms with credit card processing services. In 1997, he founded New Media One Web Services, recently named in the top 10 of the Mercury 100 fastest-growing private companies in Colorado, to provide business class web hosting, as well as website and mobile app development. Peter brings over 25 years of digital development experience and entrepreneurial know-how to LiteracyTech.
In the News
We’re just getting started! Check out our media coverage:
From MaineBiz: “ReMo to participate in Dirigo Labs’ second business pitch competition on May 4th”
From Dirigo Labs: “Startup Accelerator Dirigo Labs Selects ReMo Into Their Second Accelerator Cohort”
From News Center Maine: “New wave of businesses ready to leave their mark in central Maine”
From Brianna Gadaleta, Bates College Senior: “Censorship in the classroom: A discussion of book banning and the increased trend of restriction in American Education.”
From News@Northeastern: “Startup reading app ReMo gets a big development push at Northeastern’s Roux Institute”
From LA Metro Chamber Breakfast: “Breakfast Club Interviews (Lost Valley)”
From Roux Institute: “Roux Institute selects ReMo into their 2022 Founder Residency Program”
From Edinno: “ReMo is an edinno.lab II cohort participant”
From Maine Technology Institute (MTI): “From Teachers to TopGun Winners”
From MaineBiz: “Lewiston Ed Tech Startup Takes Home Top Prize”
From MaineStartUp Insider: “EdTech App Wins $25k at Top Gun Pitch Event”
From Lewiston Sun-Journal: “Lewiston-Auburn Teachers’ Literacy App Wins Statewide Top Gun Pitch-off”