Over and over, I hear from education business and edtech entrepreneurs:

• The sales cycle can be slow
• Principals get too many emails
• Innovation in education is behind other industries

So, to an extent, it does beg the question: why try to make an impact on education by building a product or service for schools?

Hearing a perspective from outside North America can help illustrate some of the assumptions that people take for granted in the US and Canada.

In a recent conversation I had online, the account for a Cape Town-based company MindZu wrote this:

It is fascinating to me how edtech seems constrained in America and Europe as a b2b or b2g sector. Even the normally visionary giants of cloud computing still see edtech only in terms of solutions for schools, teachers and classrooms - not for learners.

By contrast, in Asia (particularly in India and China) the direct-to-learner b2c edtech market is vast and expanding rapidly. Parents there will spend up to 40% of their household income on supplementary education to get their kids through exams and into better options for prosperity. Some Indian b2c edtech companies have attracted successive rounds of funding which give them valuations in excess of $5 billion. And the edtech industry is only just beginning. In many countries in Africa, where traditional education systems serve only a small privileged minority, b2c edtech is growing to educate the masses via mobile phone.

Of course, there is innovation happening directly for learners in America.

I'm thinking in particular of Outschool, the company I've worked with for almost two years, that is creating a marketplace for live online classes for K12-aged students taught by independent teachers.

But back to MindZu's insight...

Notice that this highlights that the explosion of EdTech in Asia is focused around "better options for prosperity" through "supplementary education." I.e. move up the social ladder by investing in resources, spending more time studying, and possibly getting the help of a tutor, virtual or in-person.

It's interesting to note that there is a shaky perception among American Millennials about the possibility of upward economic mobility through education. Trends like massive college debt and growing income inequality affect the trust that people have in the traditional path of public school --> college --> job.

At the same time, homeschooling in the USA has doubled in the past twenty years. This is according to a report from the National Center for Education Statistics. With that growth not showing signs of stopping, it makes sense that more money will be invested in the space and more companies will begin to serve it.

In one way, I see it as somewhat of a race: will American K12 public schools innovate fast enough to better address the needs of American kids and the expectations of American parents who can afford to take another route? Or will the options for getting an education outside of the traditional model become more practical, effective, and affordable?

Curious about your opinion on this.

Thanks for reading,

Gerard Dawson

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