Ed Tech about Profits NOT Education
By Thomas Ultican 12/10/2019
Anthony Kim founded Education Elements in 2010. He sold Provost Systems – which built virtual schools – to Edison Schools in 2008 and was ready for a new project. His new company sells personalized learning systems and consulting services to several school districts. Education Elements is one of more than a hundred ed tech companies being supported by venture capital organizations hoping for one big score. It is representative of the education technology startup business.
With education businesses there is opportunity for magnificent profits because of the large scale of education spending. The United States alone spends $650 billion dollar a year on public education. If businesses can convince people that learning at a digital screen is equivalent to or even better than a teacher led classroom, education technology would become America’s next great profit center minting many new billionaires. This allure of lavish profits is driving education technology.
The Venture Capital Firms
Crunchbase, which analyzes venture capital and startups, lists five venture capital companies investing in Education Elements.
Harmony is the only one of the five venture funds that does not focus specifically on education technology. They simply say, “Over the past 20 years, we have invested over $750 million in 80 companies.” They list their current investments which includes Education Elements.
NewSchools Venture Fund is the most strident in its commitment to disrupting public education. NewSchools is a non-profit that claims they are a “venture philanthropy working to reimagine public education investing in education CONTINUE READING: Ed Tech about Profits NOT Education | tultican
