🤔 What’s next for EdTech Startups? 🇺🇸 Join us March 24-28 for Global Skills Week.

Hello 👋

EdTech startups are navigating a stormy investment landscape as venture capital funding dipped to $2.4B in 2024, its lowest point since 2015. HolonIQ’s latest Global EdTech 1000 analysis reflects this shift: only 17% of this year’s featured startups were founded in the past three years, compared to 23% in 2023—as investors zero in on ventures with strong fundamentals and sustainable growth. The startup ecosystem continues to prioritize K-12 and Workforce Training, with advanced economies favoring workforce solutions and emerging markets leaning into K-12 innovation. Will the 2025 cohorts signal a different direction? Applications for the 2025 North America EdTech 200 are now open! 

Meanwhile, AI is everywhere right now—massive initiatives like the $500B Stargate venture from Oracle, OpenAI, and SoftBank highlight the global race to build AI infrastructure, accompanied by similar investments by Tech Giants (Microsoft, Google, AWS) in upskilling. Product announcements from Advantis Education, Google and Samsung are creating ecosystems that blend engagement with efficiency in K12 classrooms. Startups that tackle key challenges in K-12 education and workforce training with AI-enabled, multi-faceted products over point solutions may find themselves well-positioned to compete in this fast-moving market alongside more established players.

🛠️ Join Leaders from Industry and Higher Education at Global Skills Week, March 24-28, in Washington D.C.

The Future of Skills & Work Forum on Wednesday March 26, is the main program for Global Skills Week in 2025, connecting the global skills economy to advance ideas, initiatives and partnerships for next-generation skills, quality jobs and economic growth. Numbers are limited - Register Now!

🌐 Global Conferences & Events

Meet with higher education leaders and experts from around the world, in person and online, at one of the QS Global events in 2025 to discuss emerging trends and pressing challenges in higher education.

2025 events include the QS EduData Summit and QS Reimagine Education, and regional and country-focused events for Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Africa, Americas, Europe, China, India and Arab region. Learn More.

💪 Power Moves

👩🏻‍🏫 Brazil initiates multiple measures to address teacher development and training, launching the 'More Teachers for Brazil' program and the Federal University of Amazonas partnered with Stanford University to increase teacher training opportunities. 

💻 Samsung released a new AI-integrated display for classrooms and Google introduced several new tools for educators. 

🤝 Keystone Education and ApplyBoard to expand operations. Keystone Education raised $104M in funding to expand platform operations and ApplyBoard began operations in Germany.

💰 Funding

🌍 Keystone Education Group, a Norwegian platform specialized in support for international student recruitment, raised $103.6M in funding to scale technological advancement and global expansion.

🎓 Pathify, a US-based student portal platform, raised $25M in funding to scale operations. 

🏫 Enko Education, a South African international schools group, raised $24Mto develop and expand its school network

📱 Codiplay, a Kazakh mobile solution for science learning for K-12 students, raised $9M to fuel its expansion plans in the MENA region and improve platform offerings with AI courseware that helps teachers bring recent innovations to their classes through gamification.

🎓 Degree Analytics, a US-based platform for student retention data, raised $5M in funding to support the development and rollout of its facilities optimization platform. 

💻 Conduction, a US-based interactive music learning platform, raised $265K in funding to expand its platform and market operations. 

💡 Brightchamps, a Singaporean curriculum resource provider, acquired Edjust, a provider of digital solutions for personalized education.

Thank you for reading.
Have some feedback or suggestions? Let us know at hello@holoniq.com