Citelighter, a Baltimore education technology startup, has been acquired by Sylvan Learning Inc., Sylvan announced Thursday.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Hunt Valley-based Sylvan is absorbing Citelighter’s technology platform, which teaches students how to research and write papers. Sylvan, which has more than 750 tutoring and education centers in the United States and Canada, plans to integrate the tool into a writing program it intends to release next year, said Emily Levitt, Sylvan’s vice president of education.

“It’s a very innovative writing platform, and it really supports students through the composition process in a way I have never seen in any other writing educational software,” Levitt said. “We are thrilled to offer this enhancement to our centers so they can have kind of an academic edge in the writing support they’re providing for students.”

Citelighter founders Lee Jokl and Saad Alam will not join Sylvan. Jokl said the deal came about after Sylvan had been testing out Citelighter at its learning centers for a year and a half. Levitt, who previously worked for Citelighter, led the pilot, he said. “We had an opportunity to see Citelighter grow with a company we trust and people we know,” Jokl said.

Jokl and Alam founded Citelighter in 2011 and moved the company from New York City in 2013 to take advantage of the education technology scene in Baltimore.

sarah.gantz@baltsun.com

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