Published on October 16th, 2021 | by Sunit Nandi

5 Best EdTech Companies to Invest In

Online learning is developing at an extremely fast pace, and the pandemic has only intensified the already existing demand for it. The EdTech global market is expected to reach $404 billion by 2025. Now, users actively take part in numerous online courses, and investments in EdTech companies sometimes exceed $1 billion.

According to the Holon IQ report, EdTech raised $8.3 billion in venture capital investment during the first three quarters of 2020, setting an all-time record on the market.

In this article, we analyze why it is really worth investing in EdTech and what companies definitely deserve your attention.

Riiid (South Korea)

About the company. Riiid is a startup that has developed an exam preparation app. It helps students pick up teachers and curricula that suit them best, using artificial intelligence algorithms.

The last feature is especially useful, as due to a lack of interest in a program, students suffer from low motivation. Fortunately, you can always outsource home assignments to someone professional who can complete them in the best possible way. Thus, all one needs to do is type “write an essay for me by EssayHub” into the search engine and provide details such as type of essay, number of pages, and others. As a result, the study load will reduce, and your academic performance will only become better.

Investments. Riid received $175 million from SoftBank Vision Fund 2. Thanks to this sum, it is expanding into the markets of the USA, South America, the Middle East and Asia. The main startup’s partners are:

Kaplan;
ConnecME;
Grupo Inicie;
Casa Grande.

Growth. Since 2017, Riiid has attracted over 1 million new users, increasing sales by over 200%.

Lingokids (Spain)

About the company. Lingokids has released a learning app for children aged 2 to 8. The service helps to increase vocabulary, technical thinking, and social skills. Interestingly, experts from Disney and Nickelodeon were engaged in developing the curriculum as well. Perhaps the main feature of the app is that it allows parents to track their children’s progress through weekly reports.

Investments. Lingokids received $40 million from UK investor VC GP Bullhound, HV Capital, and Ravensburger. Overall, it raised $65 million in 2020.

Growth. According to a Lingokids survey, 91% of parents of children aged 2 to 8 turned to distance education during quarantine.

IconoClass (France)

About the company. IconoClass is a French service that offers a four-month business development course. Once the training is finished, the company guarantees students the signing of an employment contract with a platform’s partner. Most importantly, IconoClass will charge them only after they earn their first money. This service is especially useful for learners aimed at career development. However, at the same time, there is a risk of spending less time studying. And in such circumstances, a reliable EssayService simply saves the day. With authors’ assistance, you will forget about the endless stress and missed deadlines. Most importantly, you will be able to devote yourself to work.

Investments. The company received about $3.57 million from funds such as Brighteye Ventures and Mustard Seed Maze. They were joined by businessmen Cedric Sellin, Joseph Bove and Bruno Sola.

Growth. The learning model offered by IconoClass is beneficial both for the students and partners of the platform. The former get the opportunity to train regardless of their financial situation, while the latter get employees trained according to their standards.

Byju’s (India)

About the company. Byju’s Indian app offers short video lessons with digital animation and game elements. The goal is to help Indian schoolchildren aged 4-12 years old to study mathematics, physics, and other natural sciences.

Investments. In 2018, the company raised $540 million from the South African fund Naspers, which previously invested in Udemy and Codecademy, and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board. In 2019, Byju’s attracted more investments, so its value exceeded $5 billion. Among the company’s investors are the fund of Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative.

Growth. The application is used by about 30 million people, and two million have bought an annual subscription to it.

Zuoyebang (China)

About the company. The Zuoyebang startup was created by the Chinese internet giant Baidu in 2015. Initially, it launched an app that allowed students to upload a photo of their homework and let the tool analyze the questions and provide answers to them. Later, the startup offered services for the live streaming of classes.

Investments. In 2018, the service with 300 million registered subscribers raised $350 million from investors, including Goldman Sachs Bank and Sequoia Capital China. In 2020, it raised $1.6 billion – on the list of its investors were Alibaba Group, Tiger Global Management, Sequoia Capital China, and FountainVest Partners.

Growth. By October 2020, Zuoyebang had over 800 million registered user devices in total, with over 50 million daily active users and over 170 million monthly active users.

Summing Up

As prognosis says, by 2050, there will be two billion more school and university graduates in the world than today. And without brand new approaches, the educational system will not cope with the growing burden.

Of course, the problems that arise on a day-to-day basis act as drivers for the EdTech market. For example, one of the main students’ difficulties is a lack of motivation – thus, some can hardly find time and energy to finish the courses they bought.

Therefore, investors are interested not only in the providers of educational content but also in the startups that create solutions for EdTech companies. So, whoever can hold the user’s attention and help them learn effectively, will be the winner.

Tags: best, companies, EdTech, investing, investment advice

About the Author

Sunit Nandi I'm the leader of Techno FAQ. Also an engineering college student with immense interest in science and technology. Other interests include literature, coin collecting, gardening and photography. Always wish to live life like there's no tomorrow.