Vertical Take-Off Reading

08/24/2026

news for VTO Reading! 🚀

We are thrilled to announce that VTO has closed nearly $500,000 in seed funding!

This investment will help us strengthen our technology, expand into more schools and communities, and continue providing students with individualized oral reading practice and educators with meaningful, actionable data.

We are deeply grateful to our investors, partners, mentors, educators, families, and the entire VTO team for believing in our mission. A special thank-you to Innovate Mississippi and the CoBuilders program for supporting our growth and sharing our story.

This is an exciting milestone—but we are just getting started!

Read the full story:
https://www.innovate.ms/cobuilders-alum-vto-reading-closes-nearly-500000-seed-round/

Innovate Mississippi is pleased to announce that Illuminations Literacy Solutions, Inc. (VTO Reading) has successfully closed its nearly $500,000 seed funding round, marking another win for both the startup itself […]

07/12/2026

We’re here at the MASS Summer Conference and excited to connect with educators from across Mississippi!

Stop by our booth to learn how Vertical Take-Off (VTO) Reading, our professional learning services, and our evidence-based literacy and math intervention programs can help your school support students with reading, writing, and math challenges.

Whether you’re looking to strengthen Tier I instruction, enhance intervention services, provide high-impact professional development, or improve student outcomes with meaningful data, we’d love to show you what’s possible.

Our team is looking forward to meeting you, answering your questions, and partnering with schools to help every student succeed.

Come by and say hello—we can’t wait to meet you!

What’s coming next in Mississippi education? Find out directly from State Superintendent of Education Lance Evans during a general session at the MASS/Alliance Summer Convention.

Held at the Beau Rivage Theatre to ensure every attendee has a seat, this statewide conversation will provide key accountability information and critical insights shaping schools across Mississippi.

05/30/2026

📚 Headed to Making Connections in Biloxi next week?

Stop by the Illuminations Literacy Solutions booth and say hello! We’d love to show you Vertical Take-Off Reading (VTO), our AI-powered oral reading practice platform built to support teachers, interventionists, and literacy leaders.

🎁 Free trial sign-up
Spin the wheel for a chance to win:
👕 t-shirts
📖 Copies of Mississippi Rising: How the Last Became First in Literacy Growth
✨ Literacy swag

If you’re attending, drop a comment below—I’d love to meet you on the Gulf Coast!

05/06/2026

What a wonderful evening celebrating reading—and the real progress being made to move it forward.

We had the privilege of connecting with incredible educators from across the country—Vermont to California, New York to Mississippi, and everywhere in between. The conversation was meaningful, the food was excellent, and the company was even better.

It was a joy to share more about Vertical Take-Off Reading (VTO) and what it can do to support districts of all sizes.

Thank you to everyone who joined us. It was truly a pleasure meeting each of you, and I look forward to the work ahead together.
Inka’s Peruvian Restaurant

05/05/2026

We’re set up and ready to dig into the data at the The Reading League Summit here in Syracuse, New York.

Come by the booth and meet a team that’s serious about changing education.

We’re showcasing:
• Vertical Take-Off Reading (VTO) — turning daily practice into real data
• Whole Phonics — structured literacy that aligns to how students actually learn
• Illuminations Literacy Solutions — bringing it all together for classrooms, intervention, and home

Structured literacy works. Now it’s time to make it a reality for every student, every day.

If you’re here, stop by — we’d love to connect.