Deal activity to education technology startups around the world has slowed significantly from peak levels seen in 2015. That said, Q1’16 marked the ninth quarter in a row of 100+ deals to the category, and smart money VC firms like Accel, Social Capital, and New Enterprise Associates have backed 10 or more unique ed tech companies in the last five years.
As the sector evolves, we rounded up the most active investors (not including accelerators) into one infographic and ranked them by investments into unique ed tech companies. Despite the slack in ed tech startup activity early in 2016, many VCs and CVCs have substantial ed tech portfolios, including a few investors that have funded 20+ unique ed tech startups since 2012.
Top investors in the space included:
- NewSchools Venture Fund, a non-profit VC focused on K-12 education, takes first place with just over 30 unique ed tech portfolio companies. NewSchools’ largest round ($23.5M) was to Parchment, a software-as-a-service company focused on electronic transcripts management. Recent rounds included a deal to WriteLab, an online writing coach, and Kaizena, a digital classroom feedback tool.
- 500 Startups focuses on early stage companies, and has funded well over 25 unique ed tech startups since 2012. Its largest deal was its participation in a $6.5M Series A to CultureAlley, a language-learning platform. Most recently, 500 Startups backed seed rounds to college admissions consulting startup Dyad, outdoor children’s activities leader Tinkergarten, and English-learning app ELSA.
- Learn Capital exclusively funds educational startups, and ranks third also having funded over two-dozen ed tech companies since 2012. Learn Capital has invested in some of ed tech’s most well-funded startups: Coursera, AltSchool, and Udemy. In 2016 it has participated in a $7M Series A to Edunav, a class-planning tool for college students. In November 2015, it also participated in WriteLab’s $2M Series A along with NewSchools Venture Fund.
Click the image below to see the rest. Note: This graphic includes exited companies.
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