Pearson is Set to Invest $50 Million in Edtech Startups

Pearson, the British education company, announced Pearson Ventures, a fund that is set aside for investment in education technology startups.

The fund has committed an initial amount of $50 million for Series A and B financing of edtech startups that are have innovative business models and create Gen-next edtech technologies.

Pearson will invest in about five global companies every year, in the next three years. The focus will be on education bootcamps, tools for assessment and credentialing, AR (augmented reality), and other learning tools.

?Because education will look very different in 2030, Pearson, like learners all over the world, will need to continue to learn, adapt and reinvent itself: finding new business models, incorporating emerging technologies into its products and services, and finding new ways to collaborate with education institutions, government, and businesses.?

Company’s statement announcing Pearson Ventures.

“While Pearson Ventures will pursue competitive financial returns, equally important is its ability to collect shareable insights and drive organizational learning to help future-proof the company. As a result, they will be doing things a bit differently than a typical venture fund.”

Pearson’s website: Pearson Venture

Owen Henkel, the investment director at Pearson told TechCrunch that Pearson is not looking to lead rounds or dictate terms. Instead, they will co-invest with experienced institutional investors.

The main motive of this activity for Pearson is to keep track of the pulse of the market. They wish to keep their ‘ear to the ground in the relevant markets and verticals’, as per Henkel.

Besides capital support, Pearson will support the chosen companies with Pearson’s in-house expertise in content, product design, businesses development and market expansion.

Similar to Pearson Ventures, the company had earlier launched Pearson’s Affordable Learning Fund, which invested $20 million in many education companies.

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Shivani Ahuja (@AhujaShivani) is Editor & Founder at EduTech Post, where she covers business and other trends in the edtech industry. Reach her at theedutechpost [at] gmail [dot] com.