Our Mission
Readio Network was founded to help children become better, more confident readers who love to read. We are building a revolutionary web-based service that will turn great children's books into compelling learning experiences and learning to read into a fun-filled quest. All of us at the Readio Network believe strongly in the transformational power of books. We hope that Readio will play a helpful role in your child's journey towards literacy and through the wonderful world of books.
What is Readio?
Readio is all about sharing the magic of great children's books both within your family and with other families who are part of the Readio Network. Readio adds an engaging layer of digital interactivity to real, physical books - the best and most popular children's books - which you can pull from your own bookshelves, borrow from the library or buy from your favorite store.
Readio reads to kids and actually listens to them reading aloud, while providing timely support and encouragement. Think of Readio as an on-demand and infinitely patient personal reading companion for your child. Readio also offers opportunities for users to easily make their own recordings. For kids, listening to themselves read can be a potent learning moment. For parents (and other family members), Readio enables them to virtually read to their children at any time even when they're away from the home or otherwise engaged.
What Is the Readio Pioneer Program?
The Readio Network Pioneer Program is designed to solicit feedback on the Readio service as we continue to develop and refine it. We want to know what families like, don't like and would love to see in Readio. Pioneer families may use Readio free of charge during the time this program is running with absolutely no obligation. Please rest assured that Readio Network will not share any of your family's private information or contact details with anyone outside of the Readio Network. See our privacy policy for more information.
Management
Jonathan Bertfield co-founded Readio Network and serves as Co-CEO & Vice President of Product Development. After an early career in the legal profession in Israel, Jonathan has spent over 14 years creating products and services that combine education and technology for companies including The Learning Company, Broderbund and Scholastic. Prior to joining Readio Network, Jonathan was a product management consultant at Schoolnet, a provider of data management services for schools across the US. His product credits include Producer and Executive Producer on award winning titles such as Reader Rabbit, National Geographic and Read180. Jonathan holds a Batchelor of Laws from The University of Leeds, UK. He is married to Judith Pushett, a photographer. They live in Brooklyn with their two children Max and Annika, both of whom selflessly contribute countless hours of product testing for their father's products.
Sunil Gupta joined Readio Network in November 2006 and serves as Co-CEO & CTO. Sunil has spent over 16 years conducting speech technology research at Bell Labs. He has worked intensively on voice activated dialing, speech therapy, accent modification, speaker authentication, speech compression, literacy and other applications. Sunil has co-authored over twenty-five publications in journals and conferences and has 12 approved or pending patents. Sunil holds a Ph.D. in Computer and System Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Alabama, and a Bachelor's in Electrical and Electronics (Honors) Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, India. He also has an MBA in Quantitative Finance and Entrepreneurship from the Stern School of Business, NYU. Sunil lives in Edison, New Jersey with his wife Sanyogita and their two children, Varun and Anjali. Sunil enjoys photography and reading books and playing games with his children.
Joe Costello is Co-Founder and Chairman of Readio Network. Joe is highly regarded for his business acumen and bold moves in the high-tech industry and passionate about using technology to improve education. Joe is currently the CEO of Orb Networks and the chairman of think3, a global provider of product design and development software solutions. Joe was previously president and chief executive officer of Cadence Design Systems, Inc., for more than a decade. Under his leadership, Cadence became the world's leading supplier of electronic EDA software and services and one of the 10 highest-grossing software vendors in the world. Joe also acts as chairman of a number of other privately-held companies that include Abazab, SpeakESL and Soliloquy Learning. Joe holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics and physics from Harvey Mudd College, a Master of Science degree in physics from Yale University and a Master of Science degree in physics from the University of California, Berkeley.