🦄 29 EdTech Unicorns Down. Teacher Shortages. Africa EdTech 50.

Happy Monday 👋

This week we take a look at the revised EdTech Unicorn list, Teacher Shortage Solutions, our new Market Maps, and spotlight the 2023 Africa EdTech 50. Don't forget to check out the 2024 Global Education Outlook, and sign up for our new Daily Newsletters Chart of the Day and Impact Capital Markets.

🦄 29 EdTech Unicorns Down. 13 Standing.

2023 cut a swathe through the EdTech Unicorn list, with the number of EdTech companies valued at over $1b now sitting at 13, with 29 struck from the list in the last 12 months. No EdTech Unicorns joined the list through 2023 and there were no exits. These substantial changes to the EdTech list are indicative of the tight capital environment of the last few years, along with regulatory impacts (China) and over-hyped and over-valued startups (India). A focus on fundamentals (business and educational) will be the narrative for the foreseeable future.

The Complete list of EdTech Unicorns, HolonIQ

🧑‍🏫 Teacher Shortage Solutions Landscape

The world needs 44 million more qualified teachers by 2030 to meet education targets, making teacher shortages a global crisis. Education leaders are in search of and implementing novel solutions that address their biggest pain points such as filling vacancies, teacher burnout, and ways to recover learning amid shortages.

HolonIQ is tracking hundreds of teacher support solutions around the world and through Q1 we're launching an enhanced Market Maps feature to explore landscapes dynamically on dimensions important to you. By region, revenue, age, category and more with sub categorization on any dimension in one click. Stay tuned for the launch.

Marketplaces for teacher staffing like ClassCover and recruitment platforms such as TeacherActive and TEACH.org connect teachers and schools, helping them quickly fill vacancies and find substitute teachers. Retention & support platforms like Above & Beyond, Hilight, and Upstrive seek to foster a positive work environment and enhance teacher wellbeing and retention. Virtual teaching platforms like Elevate K-12 and Coursemojo scale learning by expanding the reach of qualified instructors beyond physical boundaries. Advocacy groups and organizations are actively seeking to build the future pipeline of educators and improve conditions for the educator workforce. Expect more school systems to try out novel teaching solutions and more investment into teacher preparation programs across the globe.

HolonIQ Market Map - EdTech Solutions Supporting Teacher Shortages

📊 Global progress to fill teacher gaps

Ensuring access to quality education is largely dependent on teachers receiving adequate training and being academically qualified in the subjects they are expected to teach. Globally, 85% of secondary teachers are qualified, but Sub-Saharan Africa lags significantly, with only 60% reported in 2019. Emerging initiatives like the EU's Regional Teacher Initiative aim to bridge this gap by training 15 million new teachers by 2030. At the same time, 78 countries are on track to achieve the required number of primary (elementary) teachers by 2030, while 119 countries will have a shortage.

Source. UIS, UNESCO and Teacher Task Force.

Subscribe to HolonIQ's new newsletter 'Chart of the Day', providing a daily chart that helps explain the global impact economy - from education to healthcare and climate technology.

📊 2024 Global Education Outlook

Just a few weeks ago, we launched the 2024 Global Education Outlook, HolonIQ's annual analysis of the global education economy, presenting over 180 pages of detailed market data, investment & analysis, strategic shifts and trends in education. Download the extract or purchase the full report. You may also be interested in our Global Economic Outlook, Global Climate Tech Outlook and Global Health Tech Outlook.

📈 Education Capital Markets

HolonIQ tracks over 300 listed education companies and has the most comprehensive coverage of education acquisitions and investments. We powered the world's first Education Technology ETF and soon we launch a range of Stock Indices to track the daily performance of early Childhood, K12, EdTech, Tutoring and Test Prep and Higher Education companies worldwide.

Our new Impact Capital Markets newsletter tracks over 60 impact stock indices, including education, emerging economies and over 50 indices tracking climate technology and healthcare innovation. Subscribe to Impact Capital Markets for data-driven insights on capital powering impact.

🏆 Africa EdTech 50

Each year, HolonIQ identifies the 1000 most promising EdTech startups globally. Region by region we build a picture of each market and how technology is being used in education, from PreK to Lifelong Upskilling. Drawing on the HolonIQ Platform, along with perspectives from market experts in each region, analysts from our Education Intelligence Unit consider which segments are in demand, where capital is flowing, the products and models gaining traction and characteristics of the leadership team. This week we are featuring the most promising startups in Africa.

HolonIQ Market Map - 2023 Africa EdTech 50

💰 Education Deals of the Week

HolonIQ actively monitors and tracks deals that take place in the Education landscape, spanning across all regions and transaction categories. Subscribe to our Daily Capital Markets newsletter to peruse the top deals for each day.

💰 Funding

📖 India-based learning platform ConveGenius raised $7M funding to advance generative AI and international expansion.

🧠 Parallel Learning, a teletherapy platform providing personalized learning for children with special needs, raised $6M in a second round of funding, bringing its total to $20M.

📜 Ambitio, an AI admissions platform for study abroad, raised $1.8M pre-seed funding to create distribution channels and for product development.

🗣️ Getmee, an AI-based personalized English language and employability coaching solution, completed a bridging round led by Access Capital Ventures.

💼 Acquisitions

 📚 Baims, a K-12 online tutoring platform, acquired higher education tutoring platform Orcas for $11 million, and expanded its presence in the MENA region.

👩🏻‍🏫 Now Education, a supplier of staff for schools across the UK, completed a Management buyout that valued the company at $36M.

✍️ Literacy and SEL providers Collaborative Classroom and FluentSeeds merged to expand support for language, literacy and SEL for kids 0-14 years.

🧠 Uwill, an on-campus mental health provider acquired Christie Campus Health which offers mental health and wellness support for college students.

🎓 QS, a higher education analytics and insight provider, acquired career navigation platform, 1Mentor.