✨ EdTech Fundraising Glimmer; 2024 East Asia EdTech 150

Happy Monday 👋

It's been a rough year (or three) for EdTech, with a colossal drop in overall funding since the COVID boom years. Giants have fallen and so too have the size of funding rounds. However, last week saw one of the most active VC investment weeks in quite some time for EdTech, with Physics Wallah raising a $210M round, and a fresh valuation at $2.8 billion, making the Test Prep startup the new giant of Indian EdTech. Meanwhile, ApplyBoard secured a $100M CAD credit facility for growth into new international markets and, with a fistful of three to five million dollar rounds over the last few weeks, there is some glimmer of renewed funding activity. Connect with HolonIQ if you'd like to deep dive the 20k+ EdTech funding rounds on our platform and keep an eye out for our Q3 analysis out next week.

🏆 East Asia EdTech 150

Last week, HolonIQ launched the East Asia EdTech 150, an annual list of the most promising EdTech startups from the region. East Asia has a healthy diversity of EdTech solutions, illustrating the uptake of technology across the sector and different use cases for technology in learning. East Asia’s appetite for advanced technologies is well recognized, so it’s not surprising to see STEAM, incorporating many K12 math solutions, feature prominently, with the advanced technologies category, including robotics and XR also strong. The region sees a maturing cohort, however with just 11% of the list under 3 years, support for early stage EdTech is needed. Go to the 2024 East Asia EdTech 150.

💪 Power Moves

💸 Google invested a combined $35M for AI in Education. Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm, allocated $25M for educators and students and Google will invest $10M for AI training for small businesses through the Small Business Development Corporation in the US.

🤖 Pearson launches AI tools to provide a personalized learning experience. These tools would provide students with a personalized learning experience by utilizing their digital textbooks and platforms. 

💻 2U completed its financial restructuring and came out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company is now privately held and aims to invest in its offerings and services to deliver high-impact education.

💸 Funding

👩🏻‍🏫 PhysicsWallah, an Indian tutoring provider, raised $210M in a Series B funding round led by Hornbill Capital, valuing the EdTech firm at $2.8B.

🌍 ApplyBoard, a Canadian international education firm, secured ~$100M CAD from RBCx, the tech investment arm of Canada’s largest bank, to expand operations to Europe and Asia

🤖 Brisk Teaching, an AI-powered teaching assistant, received $5M in a seed funding round led by Owl Ventures and launched Brisk Boost, an AI tool that provides personalized learning experiences.

📡 LabLabee, an Algerian telecommunication training platform, raised $3.4M in seed funding led by Reach Capital to enter the US market and expand its offerings. 

♀ NPower, a US-based non-profit for tech training, obtained $2.3M through a grant disbursed by the Ascendium Education Group to provide training opportunities for women. 

📈 ClassBank, a US-based financial education provider, raised $1M in pre-seed funding led by Brass Ring Ventures to expand its operations nationwide. 

🎓 Youni, a Romanian university admissions software provider, raised $1M in a Series A round led by Soulmates Ventures and Early Game Ventures to launch its platform. 

🔠 Novakid, a Russian K12 English learning provider, has acquired Lingumi, a developer of AI-powered language learning tools, and plans to release a new personalized learning product next year by integrating Lingumi’s tools..

Thank you for reading. Have a great week ahead!
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