Singularity University’s Post

🚨 Higher education edtech is a busy space, and it can be hard to keep up with innovation. 🔎 At Emerge, we want to help you see clearly. 🎓 Members of our Higher Education Edtech Leadership Board, chaired by Mary Curnock Cook CBE and in partnership with Jisc, tell us that keeping up to date with the best emerging edtech companies in HE is difficult, confusing and overwhelming. So every year, we publish a list of top edtech companies — crowdsourced from our HE board and further afield — to help university senior leaders see what is out there. By highlighting great practice, we hope to encourage innovation. We launched this year’s Edtech 20:20 vision list with an open session on Zoom chaired by Mary Curnock Cook, who interviewed Gavin Ian McLachlan (Vice-Principal and Chief Information Officer, University of Edinburgh) from our HE board about the importance of this list for the HE sector and then focused on as selection inspiring founders from the top 40 - Diego Fanara (Unibuddy), Julia Dixon (ESAI), Greg Marschall(LearnWise) and Herk Kailis (Cadmus) - who told us about the hard problems they were solving for universities around the world. 📝 You can see the full agenda of the meeting here; https://lnkd.in/eNUjBfEw ⏭️ And you can access the full 20:20 vision write-up here: https://lnkd.in/e_VyhZwP The full write-up includes; > The full list of top emerging edtech companies, with summaries and insights > Views from sector experts including some of our Venture Partners > A series of market maps sketching out the landscape of key players ❗️Note: The list is based on public and private data. Crunchbase and Pitchbook are primary data sources where we capture company valuation, funding raised, HQ location and employee data. We leverage LinkedIn as a secondary source for employee data. As an edtech-specialist venture firm, Emerge Education also captures our proprietary data to complete our analysis. The list is crowdsourced and voted on by our HE edtech leadership board. Full criteria are in the write-up. No single list can ever capture the full scope of innovation in this space — there will always have to be some exciting companies that were not included. Please let us know if you think we’ve missed any great companies — we will add all suggestions to our full dataset and consider them ahead of next year’s update! 💥 And finally, if you are developing an innovative company in edtech/ future of work and are looking for your first cheque funding do apply to us here: https://lnkd.in/eWi_9J5U - we look at everything as we believe in democratising access to funding (just as much as we believe in democratising access to education and skills!). #highereducation, #edtech, #founders, #skillsgap, #innovation, #tertiaryeducation

Pretty crazy to think that 5 years ago when Gaia Learning began, the term #onlineschool wasn't recognised in the UK education landscape and we certainly didn't have #AI to write poetry about it. 🤖🤯 Ironically, we'd like to think that Gaia Learning is up for this award because of how we are personalising learning at scale and it's never been more important to ensure we use digital tools with #humanintelligence to ensure equal access to quality education for all...🧡🌍 Education breathes in human ties, In playful ways, it amplifies. Subject masters spark the flame, In minds where curiosity lays claim. Accidental privilege takes its course, Freedom births self-belief, its source. A minority, striving to achieve, Validation in what we seek to perceive. Is success mere chance, time, and place? Or can we guide it with mindful grace? Circumstance weighs, but minds align, Lean in or out, the choice is thine. Some see education as a scam, Propped up by systems, a flawed exam. League tables skew the school's intent, Grades over growth, the message sent. Is education’s aim to help youth rise, To potential seen through hopeful eyes? Or is it for economic gain, To build character, knowledge to sustain? When tailored to children’s unique desires, Do we risk a gap that never tires? Rich schools, skills for the poor, Cognitive dissonance at the core. We seek proof for what we deem true, Net, gross profits, what do they accrue? Incentives guide behavior’s flow, Shift them right, and progress will show. Teach business skills, finance, operations, Equip leaders for diverse foundations. Effective leaders, inconsistent seem, Stable in values, adaptable in team. Proud metrics in a startup’s tale, Bootstrapped tight, yet dreams prevail. Single mums on a mission stand, Feet blue, yet holding hands. Daily calls, parents’ tears relay, Neurodivergent kids in dismay. Funding stalled, Ofsted’s slow pace, Investors seek quick profit’s embrace. We’re not for shiny, fleeting gains, We reimagine school’s broad lanes. An international haven, a beacon bright, For all our kids, a guiding light. Proud of churn rate near to nil, A sign of trust, of needs fulfilled. Not grades, profit, or lessons vast, But lasting impact, futures cast. Metrics for online schools, profound, Judge by who stays, the trust that’s found. In education’s evolving frame, We seek to inspire, include, and sustain Gaia Learning #sdg4qualityeducation #inclusion #innovation #inspiration #send #scaleup #angelinvestors #awardwinning

I highly recommend this must read report for @HigherEd leaders by Nic Newman and colleagues at Emerge. Contains insights on a wide range of market opportunities and profiles dozens of established as well as up-and-coming startups.

Interesting report on the future of education and #edtech! Check it out for insights on the impact of AI, recent trends, and lessons from EdTech founders. Dutch EdTech founders! Comment down below your key takeaways and how you see the future of education, in the Netherlands and worldwide ⬇️⬇️⬇️ #dutchedtech #discussion #report #innovateeducation #digitalinnovation 

Founders Forum Group released a new report on EdTech, and named Legends one of the top companies to watch. If you have kids age 7-11 (or know someone who does), give it a try- it's 5 minutes of quality time with your child (and free to try). Visit buildlegends.com- DM w/any questions!

Great thinking from the top edtech founders and investors featured in this report, with a few quotes particularly resonating with me: 🤖 'While 77% of the c-suite say AI is disrupting business strategy, 87% say they’re struggling to find talent with AI skills. It’s clear that companies are looking for learning solutions that future-proof their organisations at every level and at every function' - Chip Paucek 2U 🎓 'The skills gap is growing. Universities take years to design curricula and so most educational programmes are still focused on the skills employers needed yesterday. We need just-in-time training, so it’s easy to get started quickly, learn a new skill, and apply it directly to your work in the way you need to.' - Pierre Dubuc OpenClassrooms 🎯 'Particularly in education, it’s critical that you demonstrate a robust go-to-market strategy. Building an interesting product isn’t adequate if you can’t show clearly how you’ll get people to pay for it.' - Euan Blair Multiverse 🎥 'The best movies take you on a human journey with a narrative and structure; it’s the same with great pedagogies. <...> Education startups need to stop seeing themselves as a feature in current pedagogies and design pedagogies that move learning forward – the tech is just an application on top of that.' - Johan Brand Kahoot! 🌎 'I’m excited by the intersection of climate and education. There’s a lot of misinformation out there, people lack knowledge, and they’re not aware of their climate impact.' - Bernhard Niesner Busuu 🕸️ 'If I were starting a company today, I’d launch a membership first. I’d bring my prospective customers together and get them to pay to meet each other. That would be my first product. Then, I’d fund further product development based on their most pressing wants and needs.' - Gina Bianchini Mighty Networks 💰 'There’s so much automation and commodified tech that you don’t need loads of money right now. All this focus on Series A, B, C – forget all of that! Figure out how to be profitable as fast as possible and how to use a small amount of money to create a lot of value.' - Herman Narula Improbable 👨💻 'In distributed teams, feedback loops for learning from mistakes, adjusting, and improving have slowed and made organisations weaker. AI that can monitor your colleagues to tell you what mistakes they’re making, and what they’re doing well so you can improve knowledge transfer between co-workers, would be really exciting.' - Janos Barberis SuperCharger Ventures 🧠 'Founders should experiment rapidly and things should fail; lean in and learn from that discomfort. With so much excitement around AI, we still love working with founders who start with the problem and figure out what tech helps to address it. - Chian Gong Reach Capital #Edtech #FoundersForumGroup #AI

I often come across the question from education leaders - Why do the top academic institutions love Digii (formerly CollPoll)? The answer is beautifully summarised by YourStory Media in the story of Digii (formerly CollPoll) in the words of none other than Hemant Sahal who has been so clear in the vision of building the very first 'Operating System for Higher Education'. During my research of 10,000+ EdTech firms at Tracxn and assessment of dozens of higher education SaaS platforms as Registrar of BEST Innovation University. I found a handful of firms that were scalable and could build a sustainable and profitable enterprise. Digii (formerly CollPoll) was love at first sight and my spinoff story is on :). https://lnkd.in/gfsvdE6Q #highereducation Prime Venture Partners Amit Somani #enterprisesaas

The origin story of our startup Every great journey begins with a single step. For Teachly, that step was taken in a bus under the bridge at Mokola Ibadan on a sunny Tuesday afternoon going for my technical training when I saw many children hustling for the food brought for them. My thought came to Education first! Without education, you are limited to certain level of information reaching you not to talk of connecting with great tutors to help you in your study. I was in the healthcare industry for some years where students are thought. Quickly, I could figure out their challenges especially having passed through the same while in school. Some of the concepts and principles were not clear cut in class and there was no opportunity in reaching my lecturers after school hours. I have passed through the four-walls of universities as a student with frustration by the limitations of traditional classrooms. My co-founder was a tech whiz, passionate about the potential of digital solutions. Our chance meeting for my technical training sparked a conversation that would change our lives. We talked for hours about the challenges in education: • Poor connectivity between tutors and learners • Limited access to quality learning resources and knowledge sharing • One-size-fits-all teaching methods • The growing skills gap in the job market • The high cost of higher education As the training continued, we realized we had the perfect mix of skills and experiences to tackle these issues head-on. That night, I couldn't sleep. Ideas kept flowing, and by morning, the first rough sketch of Teachly was born. We spent months refining our concept, talking to students, educators, and industry leaders. Their insights were invaluable, shaping our vision of a truly adaptive, accessible learning platform. Fast forward six months, and here we are. Teachly is no longer just an idea scribbled on a paper. It's a living, growing platform, helping learners to onboard and connect with their desired tutors with awesome experience. Our journey is just beginning, and we're thrilled to have you along for the ride. Stay tuned as we share more about our mission, our team, and the technology that's making our dream a reality. Education is evolving. Are you ready to evolve with us? Check our website at teachly.com.ng to sign up today! #EdTechStartup #OnlineLearning #StartupJourney #EducationRevolution

I'm honored to have played a role, representing HolonIQ, in this collaborative effort. 🙌 In the spirit of advancing education, I want to emphasize the power that emerges when the #edtech, ed research, and education communities join forces. The synergies formed between these groups result in better solutions for real students. 📚🔍 Evidence-based practices are the cornerstone of progress in this field, positioning people and solutions to have a tangible, positive impact on learning outcomes. 💡 #EdTechInnovation #EducationCollaboration #EvidenceBasedLearning #EdTechCommunity

Great read for anyone interested in the future of learning and education. So encouraging to hear visionaries like Herman Narula (Improbable) and Yat Siu (Animoca Brands) share our theses on the future of learning: "In the future, education... will be about building the community and environment for people to learn and form relationships that create new opportunities, careers, and businesses" - Herman Narula (Improbable) "Teachers are also creators..." - Yat Siu (Animoca Brands) https://lnkd.in/e9mpcyP2