A market-intelligence firm that monitors the global education and edtech markets, HolonIQ has just published its annual list of the 100 most promising digital education companies out of almost 2,000 edtechs evaluated in Latin America and the Caribbean.
They did that based on HolonIQ’s scoring fingerprint that includes criteria such as capital (the startup’s financial health and its ability to secure resources), team (expertise and diversity), market (the relative attractiveness of the startup within its area of activity), product (quality and uniqueness), and momentum (the trajectory of the startup when it comes to size, velocity and impact).
In the first half of 2021, venture capital firms poured as much as $299 million into these companies, and they are on their way to reach $1 billion in investments since 2010, says HolonIQ.
There have been twelve $5M+ rounds raised by edtechs in HolonIQ’s list in the last two years, including blockbuster fundraising from online learning platform Crehana, study support and test prep platform, Descomplica and coding school, Digital House.
The country with more edtechs on HolonIQ’s list Brazil (39 of the total), followed by Mexico (16), Argentina (13), and Colombia (11). HolonIQ’s map also included platforms from Guatemala (such as Programa Valentina and Afinidata), Venezuela, Ecuador (Idukay), Costa Rica, and Jamaica for the first time.
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Just over a third of the 100 select startups have less than five years of foundation — 12% of them started between 2019 and 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic was a catalyst for the sector.
Among the activities most performed by these startups, workforce training and education systems management are the two most explored areas, accounting for almost half of the edtechs on HolonIQ’s list.
2021’s list it’s the second one made by HolonIQ (the first was released in June last year). To be eligible, startups are either headquartered in Latin America and the Caribbean or predominately focused on the region, with 80% of their revenue/customers coming from LatAm.
