Grolier Electronic Publishing Inc. was formed in 1982 as a subsidiary of Grolier Inc. of Danbury, Connecticut, one of the world's most well-known book publishers. Its activity in the development, distribution and publishing of interactive multimedia began in the early 1990's.

The subsidiary was renamed Grolier Interactive Inc. in February 1996. Grolier Interactive's online encyclopedia databases and learning software were its main focus in addition to edutainment titles and games targeted for children.

Scholastic Publishing Inc. acquired Grolier Inc. from parent company Lagardère S.C.A. of France in June 2000 for $400 million. Grolier Inc. operated as a subsidiary of Scholastic Corporation for a short time, but eventually all of Grolier was absorbed into the Scholastic conglomerate.