Riverdeep, the interactive learning solutions company which floated on the Dublin and Nasdaq markets in March, has brokered a strategic partnership to provide content to America Online's schools learning facility, AOL School.

The agreement, which comes into immediate effect, allows Riverdeep to supply a special package of content to AOL School's student, teacher and administrative sites, including samples of math, science and language/arts curriculum. The package will also provide lesson plans, professional development materials and student activities, targeting middle and high schools. Riverdeep chief executive Mr Barry O'Callaghan said the agreement is a significant breakthrough for the company and will allow it access to Internet users visiting the AOL site. "It is a cashless contract which allows us to showcase a certain amount of content on the AOL site, which I believe will very quickly become one of the largest school online sites," he said yesterday.

The company is confident that once AOL users become aware of the full extent of Riverdeep's content, the site will prove to be a substantial source of subscriptions. America Online is the world's leading interactive service provider, with more than 23 million members. It incorporates CompuServe, which has more than 2.7 million members.

Riverdeep provides curriculum-based Internet and CD-Rom learning experiences for middle and high school students, which are correlated to national and state curriculum standards. The company was founded in 1995 and is based jointly in Dublin and Cambridge, Massachusetts in the US. It recently reported revenues of $2.2 million (€2.4 million) and a loss of $7.3 million (€8 million) for its third quarter.