Some interesting recent investments in the Edtech space (some in which I play a small part)

There is a lot happening in the EdTech space. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a 90% increase in education app usage throughout the world - as high as 135% in the US and 190% in Australia (source here).

Although investments in EdTech have not increased this much (the first half of 2020 comes close to the record year 2019), there has been a lot of exciting new business models and inventions in the EdTech space. Below are 10 interesting examples of investments made in 2020 so far (I’ve been lucky enough to play a small part in three of them):

Lingio

If I say online language learning, you might think of EF, Rosetta Stone, DuoLingo or Babbel, perhaps also Italki. These are all great if you’re a beginner wanting to learn a language for fun, but what if your livelihood depended on it? Together with Calm/Storm Ventures, I led Almi Invest’s investment in Lingio, a company that does industry-specific language classes in more than 25 industries. Think “Swedish for bus drivers, taught in Arabic”. I believe Lingio will play a crucial role in preventing immigrant unemployment throughout Europe, and really look forward to working with the company going forward.
Company webpage: http://www.lingio.co/

Strive School

My first angel investment! I invested a small amount in Strive School, which can be described as a “Lambda school for Europe” founded to address the problem of outdated STEM course material in European universities. The company, which recently went through Y Combinator, connects students to a six-month coding program and then helps them get a job in exchange for a portion of their future salary, also known as income-sharing agreements (ISA).
For more info, read the excellent investment memo by Gonz here: https://editions.seedtable.com/strive-school/

On Deck

On Deck was founded by Erik Torenberg, previously at Product Hunt. Originally a network of dinner events around the world, it evolved into a cohort-based community with lecture series and education components where tech talent gathered to find partners for future projects and/or startups. On Deck recently announced a $3M fundraise and is currently expanding into several new verticals and geographies. I am excited to be a part of their first Writer’s fellowship, and I believe the cohort-based community form of online education is here to stay.
More info: https://www.beondeck.com/post/fundraise

Circle

Circle is perhaps not an EdTech startup per se, but it has very close ties with the education industry. Founded by two former Teachable employees, the company provides a community platform for creators and course managers. It is being used by educators such as Pat Flynn and Anne-Laure Le Cunff and recently raised a $1.5m seed round from Notation Capital.
Company webpage: https://www.circle.so/
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/10/circle-community-tools-for-creators/

Virtually

Tiger Global recently led a $1.75m seed round in Virtually, a company which helps people set up their own online schools. Similarly to the recent instructor offering by Teachable (which was recently acquired), the company primarily targets entrepreneurs who want to teach specific trades and skills.

More info: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2020-09-28-a-shopify-for-online-schools-raises-1-75m-led-by-tiger-global

Sora Schools

USV recently announced their investment in Sora Schools, which describes itself as “a network-driven learning platform that is individualized to each student”. What I find especially interesting about Sora is that instead of tests, high schoolers prove what they know by building a project portfolio in the disciplines where they’re most excited –  coding a video game, wiring a miniature greenhouse, or producing a paid ad spot for a company.
Company webpage: http://www.soraschools.com/
Source: https://www.usv.com/writing/2020/10/sora/

Byju

Byju has been around since 2011 and has 9000 employees, so they are by no means a new player in EdTech. What’s interesting is that they are now the only EdTech “decacorn” in the world (i.e. a company with a valuation over $10bn) as the private equity giant Silver Lake led a $500 million funding round for Byju’s that valued the Indian online education platform at around $10.8 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Source: https://owlvc.com/news-byjus-500-millionphp.php

All in all, there is a lot of exciting new developments in the industry, and I believe the above investments are examples of some interesting trends:

• Community and cohort-based education is increasingly taking over from static e-learning content (On Deck, Circle, Virtually)

• A rise of companies closing the gap between education and work (Lingio and Strive School)

• EdTech is growing rapidly and is finally reaching the highest startup valuation tiers (Byju)

If you want to discuss any of the above companies, see what I’m up to or stay in touch in general, feel free to check out my personal website, follow me on Twitter and/or subscribe to any updates here on Substack: