Projects and ideas in educational technologies: the financiers are starting to believe in it!

Good ideas in educational technology often come up against one problem: funding. In many cases, investors find these projects too risky financially or deem them insufficiently profitable. Is this era about to change?

According to the article " Silicon Valley Turns Its Eye do Education », Appeared in the New York Times on January 12, 2015, more and more investors would be interested in financing companies working in the field of educational technologies. Different types of projects seem to enjoy the confidence of investors.

A first category of projects includes pedagogical management systems, classroom management systems and messaging systems. Among these we can mention as an example the email software Remind, a free application which aims to facilitate communication between parents, school counselors and students. In particular, it allows you to make due reminders and share important class or school news with parents. According to data reported by the New York Times, Remind, identified as a relevant start-up, has reportedly secured $ 40 million in funding to continue its development. The social network intended specifically for the education sector, Edmodo, was also identified as a high potential company and secured $ 30 million in funding.

Another category of projects includes companies providing services to the world of education. This is the case, for example, of Pluralsight, a company that offers specialists in the field of technologies various training courses and e-learning modules. Pluralsight managed to secure $ 135 million in investment.

Two main schools of thought seem to exist among investors. Some are of the opinion that given the reality of the education community, investments in free applications like Remind or Edmodo should be favored. This approach believes that their use will spread and that the profits will come later through the sale of modules or adapted services and by the sale of advertising space. Instead, others believe that educational technology companies that can generate quick revenue by offering paid apps and services, like Pluralsight, are the safest ones to invest in.

The world of education and educational technologies is no different from others and investors are looking to find the next Google, YouTube, Facebook or Twitter! In the meantime, many entrepreneurs are turning to “crowdfunding” to ask who wants to help them.