Adding Things Up: Behind the Success of Motion Math’s Suite of Apps
Building a brand, especially in a Wild West world like the App Store, is no small feat. But there are a number of companies that have managed to rise to the top of the charts in the app stores without established brand power behind them. Motion Math, born from a couple of guys who met […]
It’s Time: Connecting What Students Need & What Entrepreneurs Create
I recently participated on a Digital Promise panel about whether what economists call“pull mechanisms” can create more incentives for innovation in education technology. Pull mechanism refers to things like challenges, prizes, and advanced market commitments – ways of paying for innovations based on their actual performance. This in contrast to government agencies and philanthropists making upfront investments in […]
K-12 District Leaders Evolving Into Smarter Ed-Tech Consumers
School leaders debating whether to buy educational technology often find themselves weighing the promised benefits against their worst fears—soaring costs, disruptive breakdowns, and befuddled teachers and students—not knowing whether they’re about to make a purchase their districts will come to regret.
Investors Debate Possible Bubble in the Ed-Tech Marketplace
A sharp rise in investment flowing into K-12 educational technology and a flood of new startups entering the market have longtime players cheering the attention to what they call a previously undervalued sector, but have also spurred concerns that this surge could foreshadow a boom-to-bust phenomenon.
Co.lab Game Accelerator Opens Applications for Next Round
One of the primary ways in which firms are getting products to market or ready to seek larger VC funding is by entering incubators and accelerators. One of the only out there that focus on learning and games is Co.lab, a partnership between the New Schools Venture Fund and the non-profit wing of mobile game […]
Strong standards, political air cover, and talent: Exporting the success of Boston’s charter school sector
Here follows the third entry in Fordham’s “Charter School Policy Wonk-a-Thon,” in which Mike Petrilli challenged a number of prominent scholars, practitioners, and policy analysts to take a stab at explaining why some charter sectors outpace their local district schools while others are falling behind.
Venture capitalists make a big deal over education
Venture capitalists are pouring money into educational technology. If last year’s numbers are any indication, the amount of spending could double to more than $2 billion in 2014. The above graphic uses data from the New Schools Venture Fund, a public charity that invests in educational technology. The Fund estimates that $452 million was invested in […]
Venture capitalists learn to love education
Education isn’t what you’d typically think of as sexy. It’s practical. It’s serious. But add a little tech and vavoom! Venture capitalists are very, very into it. Michael Moe is CEO of GSV Capital, which has invested $100 million in education technology companies like Coursera and 2U. He said there’s a lot to like about education these days. Read […]
Baltimore, Boston Move to Build Ed-Tech Hubs
Baltimore and Boston are cities with their own distinct economic identities, but more recently they’ve shared an economic-development strategy: Both have organizations working aggressively to establish their metro regions as hubs for educational technology companies and startups. Read the full article on Education Week
Shauntel Poulson, Principal, NewSchools Venture Fund
Shauntel Poulson is helping to shape this transition. As a principal with NewSchools Venture Fund (for which my Bellwether colleagues recently led a successful CEO search), Polson identifies and makes investments in technology companies and models that are at the cutting edge of developing new personalized learning models with the goal of dramatically improving outcomes for schools and students.