Hopelab backs Knowlej to tackle chronic absenteeism via personalized learning and engagement
A former school principal in Compton, a majority-minority city near Los Angeles, Amen Rahh launched Knowlej last year to reward students with gift …
Tagged with: Education Tech
Photo by YouScience.
ECMC Group’s Education Impact Fund backs YouScience for college and career readiness
YouScience uses AI-powered algorithms and a computerized version of the Ball Aptitude Battery test to measure memory, reasoning and creativity. YouScience, based in …
How impact debt is filling a capital gap to expand educational opportunities
With the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, ImpactAlpha is lifting up investment strategies that are expanding opportunity in a complex operating environment. In the wake …
Hamilton Lane launches impact fund 3 (exclusive)
Investment management and consulting firm Hamilton Lane has launched its third impact fund, ImpactAlpha can exclusively report. The fund has a $600 million …
How impact financing can deliver better edtech products to children
Education technologies designed well have the potential to deliver positive outcomes for youth around the world. Too often, however, real-world implementation and measurement …
Photo by Aisha Bowe.
Black female-led LINGO lands $2.3 million investment for STEM education access
Workers trained in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, are in demand. Virginia-based LINGO has developed a project-based coding kit that provides …
TPG Rise Fund leads $150 million investment in Eruditus to expand access to executive education programs
Executive education programs at top universities have long been tapped by employers to groom their executive talent. The prestigious programs can be prohibitively …
ClassBank snags pre-seed funding to bring financial literacy to students in underserved communities
Former middle school teachers Abby Cole and Katie Gracey founded ClassBank (then called ClassEquity) in 2021 to create a financial literacy curriculum for …
Giving first-generation college grads the (artificial) intel to launch their careers
The far-reaching global economic impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI), across functions and industries, is estimated by McKinsey to reach a whopping $4.4 …
Christian Quiñones of Innogen Capital
These Latin American fund managers are seeking alpha in climate tech, edtech and impact (videos)
From Mexico through Central America’s Northern Triangle to Chile and Argentina, fund managers in Latin America are finding overlooked opportunities for impact – …
These VCs are betting on AI to upskill workers and expand pathways to good jobs
The advent of generative artificial intelligence isn’t all doom and gloom for employees. Played right, AI could open pathways to higher-skilled jobs for …
an AI generated image of a tsunami by Canva
Notes on AI and education for impact investors and social entrepreneurs
What is a tsunami? Imagine a cubic meter of seawater. Imagine the weight of it. It weighs more than you probably think it …
Parallel Learning scores $20 million to provide teletherapy to students with special needs
ImpactAlpha, January 11— New York-based Parallel Learning partners with psychologists, speech-language pathologists, clinical social workers and special education teachers to serve more than …
Santa Clara’s $47 million ed-tech bond to fund STEM tools in diverse school district
Editor’s note: ImpactAlpha has partnered with HIP Investor to highlight upcoming bond issues with social and/or environmental significance. Disclaimer: Nothing in this post or on …
BeeReaders raises $3.5 million to close the literacy gap for Spanish-speaking students
ImpactAlpha, May 11 — Austin-based edtech venture BeeReaders provides customized and culturally-relevant Spanish reading and writing content to 500 schools and 250,000 K-12 …
Photo by MPOWER.
MPOWER secures $150 million debt investment from Goldman Sachs for higher-education financing
ImpactAlpha, May 9 — Washington, D.C.-based MPOWER provides loans that don’t require a cosigner or collateral to international students and “DREAMers” to attend …
Generative AI opportunities and risks for impact investing in education
OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT took just two months to reach 100 million users. As impact investors, we’re excited about how generative AI might contribute …
Photo credit: Quotanda
IDB Lab backs Quotanda to finance digital upskilling for women and youth in Mexico
ImpactAlpha, March 6 – About one-quarter of Mexico’s population attains a university degree. To improve livelihoods and earning potential for the rest, Quotanda …
Four ways impact investors are supporting economic mobility for Black Americans
ImpactAlpha, February 6 — The median Black household in the U.S. has one-tenth the wealth of the median white household. Over the next …
Photo by Goodwell Investments.
Goodwell Investments raises €50 million to drive inclusive growth in Africa
ImpactAlpha, November 23 — Dutch impact investor Goodwell Investments is looking to raise €150 million for its second uMunthu fund to invest in …
Photo by Acelero.
BlackRock Impact Opportunities Fund and Builders Fund back early childhood learning platform Acelero
ImpactAlpha, October 18 — New York-based Acelero launched in 2001 to work with local communities to improve early childhood education outcomes for low-income …
Education financiers aim to flip the odds in favor of students in the Global South
As our children head back to school this Fall, there are still hundreds of millions of students in low- and middle-income countries suffering …
Photo by Chancen International.
Ceniarth backs Future of Work Fund for income share agreement financing in Rwanda
ImpactAlpha, June 23 — Income share agreements, or ISAs, allow students to pay for school with little to no upfront tuition in exchange …
Scaler Academy founders | Photo credit: Scaler Academy.
Scaler Academy secures $55 million to upskill Indian tech workers
ImpactAlpha, February 2 — Only about 1% of India’s graduating software engineering students find meaningful employment. This “has opened up opportunities for avowed …
Photo credit: Diane Bondareff.
TPG Rise sells its stake in EverFi to Blackbaud
ImpactAlpha, January 4 — EverFi, which sells subscription packages to schools and companies for training on sexual assault and harassment prevention, social and …
Photo credit: Slang.
Slang secures $14 million to upskill English-language skills for Latam workers
ImpactAlpha, January 4 — In Latin America and elsewhere, proficient English speakers are more likely to secure a job. Boston, Mass.-based Slang provides …
Photo credit: Getty Images.
Evergreen Coast takes a majority stake in edtech startup DreamBox
ImpactAlpha, November 9 — Bellevue, Wash.-based DreamBox, launched in 2006, provides personalized math and reading content to approximately six million K-12 students and …
Photo credit: Yunus Social Business.
Virohan raises $1.3 million to build India’s allied health workforce
ImpactAlpha, November 2 — India needs at least 50 million health care professionals. Of the 10 million health workers today, around 90% are …
Vedantu's founders. Photo credit: Vedantu.
Vedantu rakes in another $100 million in India’s sizzling edtech market
ImpactAlpha, October 4 — Bengaluru-based Vedantu, whose mission is to make after-school tutoring widely available and affordable through online lessons, will use the …
Microverse secures investment to expand income share agreements for global talent
ImpactAlpha, September 7 — The Latin-led edtech, which is looking to connect at least one million young software developers from emerging markets to …
India’s Skill-Lync raises $17.5 million to teach tech skills online
ImpactAlpha, August 9 – Chennai-based edtech venture Skill-Lync offers online engineering courses and certificates to address a global tech skills gap. “Engineering education …
Photo credit: Class Technologies.
Class Technologies bags $105 million to improve virtual learning on Zoom
ImpactAlpha, July 29 — COVID-19 accelerated demand for educational technology to respond to social distancing and school closures. Class is taking Zoom up …
Photo credit: uPlanner
Acumen’s ALIVE backs Chilean edtech company uPlanner
ImpactAlpha, July 14 – Santiago-based uPlanner built its software to help Latin American universities improve operational efficiency and reduce student attrition. The artificial …
Photo credit: VAN LY.
KKR Global Impact backs EQuest Education’s low-cost schools in Vietnam
ImpactAlpha, June 8 — KKR Global Impact, the impact arm of private equity giant KKR, has invested an undisclosed amount in Ho Chi …
Aunt Bertha raises $27 million to connect users to social services
ImpactAlpha, June 7 – Aunt Bertha’s findhelp.org platform has grown to more than 470,000 programs and six million users. “Providing access to the …
Photo credit: Guild Education.
Guild Education secures $150 million to upskill frontline workers
ImpactAlpha, June 3 — Denver-based Guild Education has raised $150 million in a Series E round backed by Bessemer Venture Partners, Cowboy Ventures, …
CIM's Jacob Harr | Photo credit: Access Ventures.
Accountability for outcomes can spur impact investments in educational income share agreements
ImpactAlpha, May 17 — Investing in higher education and workforce development for minorities and underserved communities, through financing structures like income share agreements, …
Photo credit: Algramo
MIT’s Solve Innovation Future fund makes four early-stage investments
ImpactAlpha, May 6 – Solve Innovation Future, the investment arm of MIT Solve, has committed $1 million to eight companies that were finalists in …
Photo credit: Elevar Equity.
India’s LEAD School secures $30 million to scale edtech platform
ImpactAlpha, April 27 — Mumbai-based LEAD School launched in 2012 to provide management services to schools serving low-income students. Its mobile app, which …
Photo credit: ExecOnline
ExecOnline raises $45 million to diversify corporate leadership
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 22 – Less than 1% of Fortune 500 CEOs are Black. Less than 10% are women. ExecOnline partners with business schools to …
Holberton secures $20 million to expand its “OS of Education”
ImpactAlpha, March 30 — Holberton launched a software engineering and programming education in 2016 to help students get high-paying jobs at Dropbox, Tesla, …
Newsela raises $100 million to bring daily news to K-12 classrooms
ImpactAlpha, March 2 — Edtech firm Newsela offers 14,000 classroom-ready texts in partnership with over 175 publishing companies, including the Associated Press, National …
Photo credit: Reach Capital
Reach Capital closes $165 million fund for edtech startups
ImpactAlpha, February 17 — Reach Capital has raised $165 million for its latest fund to invest in early stage edtech companies. Reach Capital …
SJF Ventures closes $175 million fifth fund to ride COVID acceleration
ImpactAlpha, February 8 — SJF Ventures has closed its fifth fund at $175 million. The Durham, N.C.-based impact investing firm is looking to …
Photo credit: Meishubao
The Rise Fund leads $210 million round for Chinese edtech venture Meishubao
ImpactAlpha, January 4 – Beijing-based Meishubao offers artificial intelligence-based online arts classes for young students. Like many other edtech ventures, the company’s growth …