🏦 Financing Higher Education: New Pressures and Recruitment Strategies; 📣 Announcing the 2025 North American EdTech 200

Hello 👋

As student mobility rises and financial pressures mount, universities and policymakers are rethinking how to fund higher education and attract students. This shift is evident in this year’s North America EdTech 200 cohort, released this week, which highlights emerging solutions in education financing and student recruitment.

Some institutions are turning to alternative funding models—Princeton is issuing bonds to offset federal funding cuts, while Malaysia’s Sarawak region has waived university fees for low-income students. At the same time, recruitment strategies are evolving, with platforms like Uni Compare guiding students through degree selection and the University of Illinois System partnering with One Million Degrees to streamline community college transfers. As funding uncertainties persist, expect more innovation in how universities support affordability and access.

2025 North America EdTech 200

Building upon established trends, AI-powered tools are not just gaining traction—they’re becoming embedded into core educational infrastructure, from content delivery and assessment to student support and career pathways. Startups such as Magic School AI and Brisk Teaching secured major funding this year, streamlining educator workflows and building capacity. At the same time, there’s a sharper focus on career-connected learning, with platforms like Skillup and PrakitaAI helping learners gain the valuable skills to navigate education with a direct path to employment. The North American market remains competitive, favoring resilient business models that can weather an uncertain funding environment—reflected in this year’s outcome of a younger-leaning cohort. Request a demo to deep dive the data.

💪 Power Moves

🤖 Anthropic launched Claude an AI assistant designed for higher education.

💻 The EU committed $1.5B to enhance digital skills, including AI and cybersecurity.

💸 OpenAI launched an AI learning platform for individual skill development.

💰 Education Funding

HolonIQ actively monitors and tracks capital flow in the Education market, spanning across all regions and transaction categories.

💡 SchoolAI, a US-based AI-powered K-12 learning platform, raised $25M to increase its reach, develop new products, and expand its implementation team. 

💚 Montamo, a German vocational school for trades, raised $6M to assist in training 1,000 1,000 people in the next 5 years to aid Germany’s energy transition.

📝 Linus, a US-based SAT prep company, raised $5M to expand its operation to gamify mobile test prep for learners.

🌍 CollegeDekho, an Indian college search and guidance provider, raised $3.5M to expand its reach to learners and to improve its tech infrastructure.

🔍 Niche, a Canadian school discovery platform, has acquired Goodkind, a startup that helps colleges and schools connect with prospective students.

Thank you for reading. Have a great week ahead!
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