Many of these ed tech companies focus on connecting learners and teachers, offering access to experts, and keeping learners entertained.
Ed tech investors are diversifying beyond companies that offer educational content online such as Coursera, Udemy, and Udacity.
Using the CB Insights platform, we identified 15 early-stage ed tech startups to watch in diverse categories. We selected these companies based on the recency and amount of the companies’ disclosed funding, as well as their CB Insights Mosaic score. Mosaic measures a company’s health in terms of financing strength, traction of their industry category, and overall momentum (the latter component includes jobs data, social and media mentions, web traffic, and more).
We noted several themes among the companies we selected, including:
- Connection: Roughly two-thirds of the companies on our list aim to strengthen the relationship between students and teachers, between parents and teachers, or between students and employers.
- Expertise: Several companies on our list offer direct access to experts in education, ranging from top university students to industry-leading software engineers.
- Entertainment: Several companies on our list incorporate entertainment into their education products as a tool for learners to stay more engaged.
All of the companies are early-stage startups (seed/angel or Series A) and have raised funding this year. We have listed them in descending order of disclosed funding.
1. Examity
Examity is a remote test-proctoring service that uses keystroke identification technology to ensure the authenticity of online test-takers.
Headquarters: Natick, Massachusetts
Disclosed Funding: $22M
Select Investors: University Ventures, Inherent Group
2. Raise.me
Raise.me is a platform that enables students to earn “micro-scholarships” based on high school achievements.
Headquarters: San Francisco, California
Disclosed Funding: $16.5M
Select Investors: First Round Capital, Owl Ventures, SJF Ventures, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
3. Brightwheel
Brightwheel is a platform that connects teachers and parents of young children, providing live updates on child activity.
Headquarters: San Francisco, California
Disclosed Funding: $12.8M
Select Investors: Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Adam Grant, Mark Cuban, Lowercase Capital, RRE Ventures
4. Teachable
Teachable is a platform that allows instructors to create their own online course and earn revenue when students sign up.
Headquarters: New York, New York
Disclosed Funding: $8.5M
Select Investors: Naval Ravikant, Accomplice, Learn Capital
5. SnapAsk
SnapAsk is a platform that connects students seeking live help with online tutors from top Asian universities.
Headquarters: Hong Kong, China
Disclosed Funding: $6.83M
Select Investors: Welight Capital, Kejora Ventures, SOSventures
6. Kiddom
Kiddom is a platform that allows teachers to assign and assess work, and students to review and submit work.
Headquarters: San Francisco, California
Disclosed Funding: $6.5M
Select Investors: Khosla Ventures
7. MyTutor
MyTutor is a matching service that connects younger students with current students or recent graduates of top UK universities.
Headquarters: London, United Kingdom
Disclosed Funding: $5.34M
Select Investors: Mobeus Equity Partners, Stephen Grabiner
8. Holberton School
Holberton School is a two-year college alternative that teaches full-stack software engineering through project-based learning. It has no upfront tuition. It charges a percentage of graduates’ future incomes.
Headquarters: San Francisco, California
Disclosed Funding: $4.3M
Select Investors: Trinity Ventures, Partech Ventures, Jerry Yang, Insight Venture Partners
9. Viridis Learning
Viridis Learning is a platform that connects local employers to community college students so that they will be better prepared to join the workforce. It also allows firms to measure the students’ economic impact.
Headquarters: Palo Alto, California
Disclosed Funding: $3.23M
Select Investors: Thayer Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Comcast Ventures, University Ventures
10. Zzish
Zzish provides tools that simplify the process of developing educational apps. The tools also provide teachers with insights about their students’ learning progress.
Headquarters: Guildford, United Kingdom
Disclosed Funding: $2.96M
Select Investors: Leaf Investments, Neil Hutchinson
11. Gamelearn
Gamelearn is an employee training platform that uses simulation and gamification of education to provide experiential learning. Its products are used by, among others, Pfizer and Cisco.
Headquarters: Madrid, Spain
Disclosed Funding: $2.12M
Select Investors: Kibo Ventures
12. Outschool
Outschool is a platform that enables parents to discover extracurricular online learning opportunities for their children.
Headquarters: San Francisco, California
Disclosed Funding: $1.52M
Select Investors: Learn Capital, SV Angel, Sesame Ventures
13. BookNook
BookNook is a service that organizes in-person reading instruction for young children.
Headquarters: Oakland, California
Disclosed Funding: $1.5M
Select Investors: Reach Capital, Better Ventures
14. Mystery Science
Mystery Science is a provider of video science lessons geared towards elementary students. Each video is presented as an investigation to foster student interest.
Headquarters: San Francisco, California
Disclosed Funding: $500K
Select Investors: Learn Capital, 500 Startups, Reach Capital, NewSchools Venture Fund
15. Testbook
Testbook is an Indian-based platform that prepares students for standardized exams by offering discounted bulk practice tests in English and Hindi.
Headquarters: Mumbai, India
Disclosed Funding: $240K
Select Investors: Matrix Partners India, S. Chand & Company
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This report was created with data from CB Insights’ emerging technology insights platform, which offers clarity into emerging tech and new business strategies through tools like:
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