Techcrunch: Edtech investment jumps past half billion in Q1 2014

Crunching the numbers, Techcrunch reports that investment in edtech startups is more than $500 million in Q1 already. That's the "single biggest quarter for capital committed to the sector in the past five years," writes Jonathan Sheiber.

What's fueling the interest in this "old school" sector? Kaplan EdTech Accelerator managing director Don Burton (with Kaplan's program partner Techstars) explains:

“It’s interesting because public education hasn’t changed that much in 150 to 200 years and there had been almost no technology going into it. It’s not only that there’s this huge behemoth sector of the economy that spends $1.2 trillion on educating kids, but that it’s old, it’s long in the tooth and it’s bound to get disrupted.”

Sheiber explains that investment falls in a few areas: technologies for K-12 and for secondary education, professional and continuing education services, and consumer-facing products.

"Investors now are backing companies that are making a massive push to sell directly into the U.S. public and private education system. Expenditures in K-12 software is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the market,” Jonathan writes.

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Read Jonathan's full story, "Education Technology Startups Raised Over Half A Billion Dollars In Q1," on Techcrunch (3/24/14).

  

Coming to a city near you: the Kaplan EdTech Accelerator Roadshow kicks off on April 1st

Meet the Kaplan EdTech Accelerator team
in London, April 1st!

The Accelerator(ers) hit the road next month, looking to meet ed-tech entrepreneurs and startups interested in signing up for the next class of the Kaplan EdTech Accelerator, powered by Techstars.

The Summer 2014 program will happen in New York City, beginning in July; applications are due in May.

The team will include folks from Kaplan and Techstars, ready to share more about the program, meet some awesome founders, and answer all your questions. Just click the city name to sign up.

The road shows kick off in London, England on Tuesday, April 1st, beginning 6:00 pm at The Escalator - The Innovation Loft.

Then it's on to New York City (April 7th), Washington, DC (April 8th), Seattle (April 14th), and San Francisco (April 15th).

Next up is the ASU/GSV Education Innovation Summit in Phoenix, where they'll hold open office hours at the conference on April 21st. They'll also be on Harvard Business School's Boston campus for an event on April 25th, and in Toronto, on the X, on April 28th. Sign up for Phoenix, Boston, or Toronto open office hours here. (These links lead to a Google calendar; find the date and city you're interested in and book a 20-minute appointment.)