ZigZag, Inc. was founded in 1996 by Ted and Marsha Hopp. 
In their own words:

"Believing in the promise of the Internet for the future of both education and software delivery, we set up a website and began designing prototype on-line activities with the goal of taking the web experience to a much higher level of interactivity.  By late 1996, we had produced our first Java applet game, "The Hanukkah House."  The extraordinarily positive response to this game led us to invest our efforts in extending and experimenting with the underlying Java framework, from which we built several new games. 

"The Hanukkah House" also attracted the attention of the Language Resource Center at the University of Michigan.  They were interested in experimenting with the software to create new types of on-line foreign language exercises for their students.  Through a cooperative research agreement between ZigZag, Inc. and the University of Michigan, we entered into a collaborative development which resulted in our "showU" applet for language comprehension exercises.  This work was presented by the University researchers at two conferences in June, 1999.

"We continued throughout this time with our development of a variety of Judaic learning applets, learning by e-mail and through personal meetings about the actual classroom experiences of teachers using our website activities.  The response was overwhelmingly favorable, especially with regard to ease of use.  Yet our work with the University clearly held the promise of becoming the core engine for new types of on-line exercises that could be used by a wider range of students.  Seeing the opportunity to make a difference on a much larger scale than we had originally imagined might be possible, we accelerated our work on enhancing the "showU" framework.  The result is our patented newSLATE technology which helps students master their own learning materials."

Here are some highlights of the ZigZag, Inc. corporate timeline:

• January, 2003: newSLATE 1.1 adds file exchange and grows to 4 subscription levels
• August, 2002: newSLATE 1.0 with online account sign-up, access areas and 3 subscription levels
• April, 2002: newSLATE website online
• April, 2000: Provisional patent for newSLATE technology
• November, 1999: Hebrew Keyboard Tutor goes online, marking successful transition to Java 1.1
• June 1999: showU 1.0 with adaptive feedback is seen at IALL '99 and CALICO '99.
• February 1999: Prototype showU applet goes online
• November 1998: The Hanukkah House is seen on television.
• September 1998: Cooperative educational research agreement signed with the University of Michigan's Language Resource Center
• June 1998: Hebrew for ME site goes online
• February 1998: ZigZag Java games site opens
• September 1997: First sale of ZigZag, Inc. Java technology
• November 1996: The Hanukkah House Java applet kicks off our Java development effort.
• September 1996: 5757 Jewish World Scavenger Hunt javascript-based game goes online.
• June 1996: ZigZag, Inc. is founded.