Ed Tech Market Map Goes Live Today; Helps Investors, Donors, and Entrepreneurs

October 12, 2011

Visual Presentation of Ed Tech Ventures Cuts through Clutter Created by Highly Dynamic Market

San Francisco, CA— October 12, 2011—NewSchools Venture Fund announced the release of a graphical, interactive representation of the burgeoning K-12 education technology market to help investors, donors, and entrepreneurs better evaluate today’s landscape of education technology ventures. After launching at The Philanthropy Roundtable’s K-12 Education conference today, the education technology market map of more than 230 companies is available at www.newschools.org/entrepreneurs/edtechmap.

Created in collaboration with the Laura and John Arnold Foundation of Houston, Texas, the market map captures a snapshot of the educational technology landscape and organizes ventures into core areas to give users an overview of the current market.

“The transformation that the rest of society has experienced as a result of technology has left schools largely untouched,” said NewSchools CEO Ted Mitchell. “Investors understand that technology will play an increasingly important role in improving student achievement, and they want to make smart investments in tools that will help the most children succeed.”

Among the features of the education technology market map are:

  • An interactive graphical representation of the market that captures education technology ventures currently in the space
  • Color indicators organizing ventures into core areas such as assessment tools, data systems, online instruction, games, professional development, and performance systems
  • Profiles of each venture providing additional context and organization information

Technology is the next frontier for education reform, and the possibility of customizing education for the way each child learns best is just one example of the transformational power of technology in schools,” said Meredith Simonton of the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. “Yet the rush of interest and activity in blended learning has led to a confusing landscape and a duplication of efforts and mirroring of organizations, so this mapping effort is an important step toward organizing and accelerating education innovation.”

The market map was created with the help of leading experts in the education technology field, including Michael Horn of Innosight Institute and Anthony Kim of Education Elements.

About NewSchools Venture Fund

NewSchools Venture Fund is a not-for-profit organization working to close the achievement gap by funding and supporting entrepreneurs who are creating innovative solutions to the problems in public education so that all children have the opportunity to succeed in college and beyond. Since our founding in 1998, NewSchools has invested $180 million in more than 40 nonprofit and for-profit educational organizations working to promote student achievement. Recognizing that neither private charity nor capital markets alone are enough to solve the problem of education inequality, we blend the best of both approaches to ensure an excellent education is available to every child. We actively share what we’ve learned through our investments, bring together educational leaders from across the country, and advocate for smart policies at the federal level. For more information, visit https://www.newschools.org.