Edtech companies play a crucial role in upgrading education through various technologies, especially with issues like accessibility and remote learning in the spotlight. Education technology platforms, ebooks and game-based learning apps have fueled the desire for a tech-driven student experience. As a result, the edtech industry is expected to reach a valuation of $348.41 billion by 2030, despite hiccups in venture funding.
This growth has led to an increasing number of edtech companies supporting schools, teachers and students. While education companies like Course Hero and Coursera offer students online courses on specific topics, technology platforms like PowerSchool help teachers and administrators manage and track students’ progress.
5 Types of Edtech Companies
- Learning management platforms
- Online learning providers
- Interactive learning and gaming platforms
- Online studying and tutoring services
- Language learning platforms
An expanding edtech sector also means more jobs and a greater demand for skilled professionals among edtech brands. Front-end and back-end developers, UX designers and cybersecurity analysts are some of the most popular roles. While these jobs require knowledge in areas like programming languages, data science and UX design, edtech companies still look for well-rounded candidates. Interpersonal skills like emotional intelligence aid tech workers in understanding and meeting the diverse needs of students, teachers and school systems.
Expectations have never been higher for edtech companies, resulting in a thriving education technology ecosystem. From some of the biggest edtech companies to budding edtech startups, tech professionals have plenty of options when deciding how they want to improve the daily lives of students and teachers.
Edtech Companies to Watch
The following education technology companies are helping to shape the industry, tackling questions of pedagogy and business in the process.
Top Edtech Companies to Know
- Amplify
- Great Minds
- Skillsoft
- Duolingo
- Dreambox Learning
Founded: 2015
Location: Fully Remote
With over 160 partnerships with institutions and employers, Mentor Collective strives to form inclusive mentorships for students. The company combines services, technology and research to design mentorship programs that benefit most students on campus. Mentors are recruited directly through the company and undergo training before being matched with a student. From there, engagement support and assessments are given periodically to improve programs.
Founded: 2011
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Duolingo’s free app helps users learn up to 40 languages, from Spanish to Esperanto, via game-like instruction. Users score points and execute timed challenges to ascend to new levels. The app also combines AI, machine learning and language science to tailor lessons to each user and create a more personalized language learning experience.
Founded: 2013
Location: New York, New York
360Learning’s platform helps businesses create learning and development programs that encompass everything from employee onboarding and sales enablement to compliance training. It offers AI-powered features like a question generator and writing assistant to streamline creation of course content.
Founded: 2004
Location: Draper, Utah
Pluralsight offers an extensive library of content to facilitate professional development throughout the tech industry. Its educational offerings cover everything from programming languages and mobile development to cloud architecture and IT automation. The company has a variety of solutions to serve business customers, including options to help with upskilling, taking on cloud transformation, enhancing security and onboarding engineers.
Founded: 2015
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Through online live teaching, Elevate K-12 is combating teacher shortages. The platform harnesses remote, synchronous teaching and offers certified teachers for schools without in-person instructors. Elevate K-12 produces interfaces for teachers, students and school districts for high-quality educational support. Additionally, paraprofessionals are provided to monitor classroom behavior and assist the teacher.
Founded: 1998
Location: Fully Remote
Skillsoft is a cloud-based learning platform geared toward corporate training and workforce upskilling. Its extensive library of video-based courses covers topics ranging from leadership essentials to product management skills to data science fundamentals. According to its website, more than 12,000 organizations have used Skillsoft.
Founded: 1888
Location: New York, New York
McGraw-Hill has been a major textbook publisher since 1917, and it has since adapted its products for digital formats. Students can access online content through ebooks and McGraw-Hill’s mobile app. Meanwhile, teachers can conduct online courses and track students’ progress through the company’s Connect product, which integrates with various learning management systems.
Founded: 1992
Location: Arlington, Virginia
Through Rosetta Stone’s software and web services, students can gain proficiency in 25 languages, including English. The curriculum supports students by combining listening, speaking and writing activities while guiding them through real-world scenarios and live coaching sessions with native speakers. Rosetta Stone also tailors its products to meet the unique needs of businesses, schools and individuals.
Founded: 2007
Location: Washington, D.C.
As a knowledge company, Great Minds seeks to teach a deep understanding of the world through content-rich courses. From math to English, each Great Minds course integrates real-world contexts and core skill development. Courses also come with professional development and coaching resources for teachers, so both students and instructors can grow throughout their time together.
Founded: 2011
Location: Fully Remote
Udacity is an online platform that provides a pathway for job-seekers to learn relevant skills that will prepare them for future careers. The platform offers a variety of programs and courses on subjects like artificial intelligence, cloud computing, product management, data science, cybersecurity and more, providing people with in-demand skills to advance their careers.
Founded: 1999
Location: New York, New York
To help kids better connect to the subjects they’re learning, BrainPOP is bringing a more playful approach to the classroom. Students can engage with topics through interactive games, videos and activities. From math to music, kids can explore different pathways while growing their social-emotional skills.
Founded: 2015
Location: Austin, Texas
ReUp Education offers products and services to help nontraditional students start or finish their college education. It provides administrative guidance through the process of re-enrollment and credit transfers. The company also helps students get back into school by liaising with educational organizations and offering financial aid assistance.
Founded: 2010
Location: San Francisco, California
Udemy provides its millions of students with a learning platform that hosts an array of courses for personal enrichment and professional development. It offers courses in dozens of languages in topics like photography, business, marketing, development and design. The company also has a business option for organizations to enrich their employees with its courses.
Founded: 2012
Location: New York, New York
Zearn is a nonprofit math-learning platform that works to support in-school curriculum for grades K-8. Kids learn math concepts in the classroom first, then explore video and interactive materials on Zearn. The platform also provides real teachers in videos, pause points to check on students’ comprehension levels and real-time feedback. Teachers and administrators can receive individual to district-level reporting, professional development lessons and access to over 800 lessons.
Founded: 2006
Location: Fully Remote
TPT (Teachers Pay Teachers) is an online marketplace where teachers buy and sell worksheets, lesson plans and other educational resources for grades pre-K-12. Since its inception in 2006, the site has grown even more relevant as districts nationwide adopt standard Common Core learning objectives. More than 7 million teachers have used Teachers Pay Teachers.
Founded: 2008
Location: San Francisco, California
Academia is a platform for researchers to create profiles, connect with other researchers and upload publications. It aims to make all academic papers available online for free, so scientists can share their work independently of the journal system.
Founded: 2012
Location: Austin, Texas
Aceable makes an app for driver’s education, which includes interactive courses and practice modalities that prepare students for the written driver’s test. Rather than attending in-person courses, students can use the app’s content to prepare, then get certified directly through the app, leaving only the practical driving test to perform in person.
Founded: 2014
Location: Los Angeles, California
HopSkipDrive offers technology for school transportation that connects counties, districts and schools with a network of vetter “CareDrivers.” It provides transportation to small groups of children as an alternative to school buses. The company provides clients with advisory and software services.
Founded: 1989
Location: New York, New York
New Visions’ goal is to establish successful futures for students who currently face inequitable access to great public education. The organization not only supports various school districts in New York City, but it also maintains a network of traditional and AIM charter high schools in under-resourced neighborhoods. The solutions for creating successful futures include student-centered learning environments, re-developed lesson plans and certificate programs to train educators.
Founded: 2019
Location: Los Angeles, California
InStride works to forge connections between corporations and academic institutions, creating opportunities for many more people to earn a degree and gain new skills. The tech-enabled services enable employers to provide career-aligned, debt-free education through a personalized digital platform. More than 11,000 people have benefited from education through the InStride network.
Founded: 2005
Location: Fully Remote
Blueprint supports students trying to break into the medical and legal fields with an online learning platform dedicated to the LSAT and MCAT. Students can choose from a range of options, including live and self-paced courses, with tutoring available to those who need extra practice. The company also screens its instructors to make sure each teacher understands their subject matter, knows the ins and outs of the test and excels at keeping students engaged.
Founded: 2015
Location: San Francisco, California
MasterClass is a digital platform that allows users to take online classes and learn from world-leading experts in areas like sports, writing, music, cooking and filmmaking. With Stephen Curry, Gordon Ramsey and Annie Leibovitz among the teaching ranks, students can soak up unique insights from some of the most accomplished individuals in their professions.
Founded: 2006
Location: Redwood City, California
Course Hero is an online learning hub that ensures students are prepared for graduation through online courses and test prep. The edtech platform features course-specific study materials from small campuses and many of the world’s leading universities alike, with textbook resources, 24/7 homework help and infographics all available.
Founded: 2011
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Ellevation Education was created by English language learner educators for ELL educators to help teachers collaborate with other instructors, track student progress and manage educational programs across classrooms and school districts. Its products are used across the United States to empower students with academic language, build teacher’s capacity to serve multilingual learners and manage complex program requirements.
Founded: 2000
Location: Louisville, Colorado
Peaksware provides practice software for musicians and athletes. Each of the company’s brands is designed for a specific user: TrainingPeaks offers software to plan endurance training, TrainHeroic helps meet strength and conditioning needs, MakeMusic innovates how music composition and performance is taught while Alfred Music provides method books, sheet music and reference materials for musicians and their teachers. All the platforms use the Deliberate Practice training model, tracing paths from novice to expert.
Founded: 2012
Location: Fully Remote
Coursera offers classes from more than 275 top companies and universities, including Stanford and Duke, in an open online format. More than 100 million learners have explored fields that include data science, philosophy and fashion through the platform’s suite of video lectures, auto-graded homework assignments and discussion forums.
Founded: 2014
Location: Fully Remote
Snap! Raise simplifies group fundraising for sports teams and youth groups, replacing the hassle of door-to-door sales and flyering with customizable online campaigns. Its interface expands the reach of digital campaigns, so it takes less time and manual labor to access more neighborhoods. The site also lets organizations access some of their funds before fundraising begins, giving them more financial flexibility.
