On January 31st, 9 emerging edtech startups showcased their companies following a 4-month immersive and intensive Accelerator program. Demo Day, hosted at the Annual Across Boundaries Conference, was the culmination of the LearnLaunch Accelerator Boost Program, an early stage accelerator focused on helping entrepreneurs successfully enter the market, double down on building their product for a specific user, and design strategies around hiring, fundraising, and partnerships.
Demo Day is a leading edtech showcase where companies from the LearnLaunch Accelerator showcase to an audience of investors, strategics, educators, and other potential partners. This year was no different. The event featured these 9 startups spanning the education market, from Early Ed, K-12, Higher Ed, and Workforce.
Meet: Beagle Learning, Capti Voice, Cue Career, Curio Learning, hihilulu, Just Learn, Majorwise, Orbit, and Proprep.
Beagle Learning
Turner Bohlen, the Co-Founder & CEO of Beagle Learning, which helps Higher Education instructors identify and address gaps in student understanding and drive improvement in 21st-century skills using real-time analysis of student questions, reflected on his experience in the program.
*Photo Credit: Niki Fandel
“We think that without having come here we would still be stumbling around, trying to figure out what our market was. But, now we have 10x growth with instructors who are using our product and LearnLaunch helped us identify what the best opportunity was.”
According to Bohlen, being part of the cohort also offers unique opportunities to interact and network with other edtech entrepreneurs, both in the program and in the LearnLaunch Network.
“The Boost program offers a unique, focused community where edtech is [more often than not] the center of discussions and being a part of that community [where we could interact with other entrepreneurs who are at the similar stage and have similar experiences] is just phenomenal. You can always turn to the person right next to you for guidance and can take advantage of a huge wealth of knowledge.”
Turner stated that the key goal for the next 6 months is to take the initial connections made by their Venture Partners and LearnLaunch Accelerator and turn them into valuable partnerships for the future. He pointed out that 3 of their pilots are ready and right now Beagle Learning is working to take their free use cases in 15 institutes over to paid pilots.
Proprep
We also talked with Itay Koppel Co-Founder & CEO of Proprep, which develops online video tutorials and study guides for STEM courses customized according to the syllabus of the university. The company, founded in Israel, uses proprietary technology that enables them to create customized course of about 75-90 video hours and 1,200 practice problems in less than 50 minutes. After Demo Day, Itay reflected on his experience.
*Photo Credit: Niki Fandel
“The LearnLaunch team supports us all the way, they suggested more US industry-aligned directions for the product as well as the selling process and the go-to-market. My favorite part was meeting with leading industry players during a trip to New York and New Jersey. In that trip we met with ETS, Cooley, and Pearson which ultimately really helped us sharpen our strategy.”
When looking back on Demo Day and the Across Boundaries Conference, Itay mentioned,
“The conference was amazing. It had very productive sessions about the future of workforce, as well as an impressive keynote about Education as Science and SEL. They’re all big factors in our market and pose similar challenges we’re trying to tackle.”
Itay went on to discuss what’s next for Proprep, including increasing their team in the US and expanding their B2B activities through channels that we built with the help of LearnLaunch.
Curio Learning
We also talked with Ashley Lamb-Sinclair Founder & CEO of Curio, which is a resource sharing and visual organizer for K-12 teachers to revolutionize the way they collaborate and deliver lessons. Following Demo Day, Ashley reflected on her experience.
“I cannot say enough positive things about the Boost Program. I came into it without a fully finished product or a viable go-to-market plan. Since joining LearnLaunch, we have a growing active user base and feel more market ready. Not to mention, the wealth of knowledge, expertise, and support provided by the LearnLaunch network. LearnLaunch believed in us and because of that, we are thriving.”
*Photo Credit: Niki Fandel
When looking back on Demo Day and the Across Boundaries Conference, Ashley mentioned,
“Across Boundaries and Demo Day was a proud moment for Curio. For the first time, I felt empowered and prepared on the stage, whereas before, I felt like I was selling an idea. Now I have tangible results to prove that the idea I was selling is going somewhere.”
What’s next for curio now that you’ve exited the program?
Ashley went on to discuss what was next for Curio.
“We’re going to continue along the path laid out for us by our advisors at LearnLaunch. We trust their advice and are ready to take the next step toward putting into action the strategy we’ve developed through LearnLaunch’s expertise and insight.”
And there you have it! While this is just three of the nine companies that took part in Boost, Demo Day, and the Across Boundaries Conference, you can find more on these companies and the rest of our portfolio here.
We’re also excited to announce that we have open applications for our Breakthrough Program. Learn more about this later stage recurring revenue and proven product-market fit program. Applications close February 22nd!
*Photo Credit: Niki Fandel, njfandel.com, @njfandel
