Investors only want to see ‘uppy-righty’ charts in a pitch, according to a story told across all industries today. However, in the last 18 months, edtech development has accelerated to the point where startups must show 3x+ annual recurring revenue growth to even is noticed by their preferred funders. Some companies, such as GoStudent, Ornikar, and your school, have blasted this out of the park, but others, probably less suited to the pandemic’s conditions, have found it more difficult to exhibit this kind of growth.
The emphasis on foreign expansion for growth is one of the most prominent themes Brighteye detects in fledgling organizations. To gain a better understanding of this trend, we polled edtech companies on their expansion strategies, priorities, and obstacles. We got 57 replies and reinforced them with interviews with top companies and investors. 49 of the surveyed companies are based in Europe, six in the United States, and three in Asia.
The poll found a fairly equitable distribution of target customers across enterprises, institutions, and consumers, as well as a wide range of home markets. The United Kingdom and France had the greatest contingents, with 13 and nine responders each, followed by the United States with seven, Norway with five, and Spain, Finland, and Switzerland with four each. About 40% of these businesses had yet to venture outside of their home country, while the rest had already done so.
International expansion is a fascinating and nuanced component of an edtech company’s growth journey. Unlike their fintech counterparts, it’s anticipated that edtech companies will need to expand to a number of large markets in order to attain a scale that will appeal to venture capitalists. This is less true now than it was in early 2020, because digital education and work are so widespread that a billion-dollar edtech company can now be built in a single, larger European market.
Since studies show that women investors are up to three times more likely to invest in women founders, it’s evident that hiring more women investment partners with check-writing abilities is the quickest method to fund more women. What impact will this have on venture capital firms?
According to Lisa Stone of WestRiver Group, when VC companies in the United States raised the share of female partners, they saw a 9.7% rise in profitable exits and a 1.5 percent increase in overall fund returns yearly.
