Photo by Thomas Kolnowski on Unsplash
At Social Starts and Joyance Partners, we are not investors in traditional education/edtech. However, we see a confluence of trends from our current investments that moves education in a direction with investment potential for us. Specifically:
In-market alternatives to the traditional education constructs (pre-K-12, post-secondary, trade schools) and personalized learning (continuing, additive K-12 learning, post-secondary, and pre-secondary.
Education directed toward the acquisition of skills and experiences emerging from the changing definition of “work.”
Platforms and Content/Experiences, respectively. Game dynamics, emerging from commerce, and AI machine learning techniques blend in new two-sided market approaches to bringing students and teachers together effectively.
These, together, result in education solutions that:
Offer the student low-cost skills, tutorial or experience education
Bring teachers desperately needed additional income
Represent critical first steps toward a new market-based model for education
For 2020, we’ll increase the attention we pay to professional development/up-training where the benefits are direct and great enough that the student is the payment target. These include skills that can maximize income for those in the gig economy, as well as traditional freelance or contract employment areas such as long-term-care nursing or teaching. This differs from market-based education where the employer pays; those are motivated by recruitment or retention. These platforms are focused on income acquisition or increase by the individual.
Companies we will seek out in H1 2020 will include:
Alternative schools (e.g., our current investments Lambda and Osmosis)
Higher Ed advancement (e.g., PeopleGrove) and pricing transparency/alternative college placement (e.g., our current investment Concourse)
Platforms enabling additive learning for K-12 (e.g., Outschool)
Personalized learning/community-based (e.g., our current investment Monti Kids)
Software/service models enabling education alternatives (e.g., infrastructure software solutions for trade schools)
Childcare/early childhood education (e.g., our current investments Monti Kids and Toybox Labs)
Professional development and up-training/retraining/freelancers (as noted above)
Millions of people of every age and situation require education. The need is manifest. But traditional education is no longer the vehicle for delivering these services. The students of today are eager to learn in new and more effective ways, and we are eager to find the companies that will support and cultivate their brilliance.
By Managing Partner Mike Edelhart
@MikeEdelhart