What’s New: The Updated Edtech Insiders Generative AI Map
A major expansion on our previously released market map, use case database, and AI tool company directory.
View the original release for The Edtech Insiders Generative AI Map here.
What’s New: The Updated Edtech Insiders Generative AI Map
By Alex Sarlin
Since our initial release of the Edtech Insiders Generative AI Map in November 2024, we've witnessed a continued acceleration of AI integration into education. Today, we're excited to announce the release of a significant expansion of our Generative AI Map, offering even deeper insights into this rapidly evolving landscape. Here’s what’s new in this release!
125 New Companies
We added 125 new AI companies to our Use Case Database and AI Company Directory, bringing our total coverage to over 400 companies. This expansion reflects not only the growing number of entities in the AI education sector but also the enhanced sophistication and specialization of AI solutions in this field. What's particularly striking is that these new companies represent a maturing market, each addressing increasingly specific educational needs and challenges.
These new additions came primarily from community feedback on LinkedIn and our website feedback form, so thanks again for taking the time to send us your thoughts! Please continue to send any feedback through the suggestions form at the bottom of every page on our site.
Detailed Descriptions for Every Use Case
In collaboration with Laurence Holt, we enhanced our analysis of each of our 60 education use cases for AI, providing detailed editorial descriptions. Each narrative explains the key use case, delves into emerging trends, and highlights specific insights across diverse educational contexts.
New Market Maps
Alongside an update to our primary market map, which we have released today, we designed four new market maps that offer detailed visualizations of our six core use case categories. These maps extend beyond mere categorization by illustrating the relative size and significance of each use case within the educational AI ecosystem. These visualizations are designed to aid educators, entrepreneurs, and investors, in identifying areas of high activity and, perhaps more importantly, where opportunities for innovation still remain.
Keep your eye on our LinkedIn and Substack for the use case category market maps, releasing soon.
New Funding Information
We incorporated funding information into our database for the first time to provide essential context regarding market development. All of our funding data is publicly available and sourced through Crunchbase. By tracking funding amounts, investment stages (from seed to later stages), and key investors, we now provide a more comprehensive view of financial trends in the AI education sector. This data highlights which approaches and solutions are attracting the most investor interest, and which areas still offer opportunity for exploration.
Updated Reach Data
We updated our reach data with current web traffic and app download metrics from October 2024 to December 2024 using publicly available data from Similarweb. This update allows us to approximate the most scaled companies in each category, providing valuable insights into which solutions are achieving the strongest product-market fit. These metrics are crucial in distinguishing promising technologies from those gaining widespread adoption in educational environments.
Expanding Global Perspective
Our coverage now spans more than 30 countries, including innovative AI companies from India, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Australia, and South Africa. These international additions bring valuable new perspectives on how AI can support learning across different cultural and educational contexts.
In India, for example, we're seeing creative approaches to language learning that address the unique challenges of a multilingual society, while Brazilian companies are pioneering ways to support teachers in resource-constrained environments.
We recognize that we're still only scratching the surface of global innovation in educational AI. There are countless entrepreneurs and educators developing solutions for local contexts across Africa, Asia, and Latin America whose work deserves greater visibility and support. As we continue to expand our global coverage, we're particularly excited to discover and highlight more solutions that address the diverse needs of learners and teachers worldwide.
Future Additions: Efficacy Research
Looking ahead, our next major initiative will be to incorporate efficacy research into our site. While tracking the growth and evolution of AI education tools is crucial, understanding their actual impact on learning outcomes is even more important.
We're in the early stages of working with an amazing partner that is collecting and analyzing research studies, implementation data, and outcome measurements from across the field. Their work is designed to help funders, entrepreneurs, educators and leaders identify which use cases are building a genuine evidence base for improving student learning, rather than just promising technological innovation. We expect this evidence-based layer will become increasingly important as the field matures, helping to distinguish truly transformative educational AI applications from those that merely digitize existing practices. More to come on this soon.
Coming Soon: Use Case Articles and an Exclusive Webinar
To celebrate and highlight key insights from our latest update, we're excited to bring you more content coming soon, including four in-depth articles by Alex Sarlin, Ben Kornell, and Laurence Holt. These pieces will explore use cases in Instructional Materials, Assessment and Feedback, Teacher Practice Support, and Student Support, shedding light on our research and compilation processes.
Additionally, we will be hosting a webinar to explore the latest version of The Generative AI Map and discuss significant changes in the AI education landscape. Details coming soon, so keep your eye on our LinkedIn and Substack for updates!
Send Us Your Feedback
As we continue to track and analyze this evolving landscape, we remain committed to providing educators, entrepreneurs, and investors with the insights they need to make informed decisions about AI in education. This expansion represents not just growth in our database, but a deeper understanding of how AI is reshaping educational possibilities.
We invite our community to explore these new resources and continue contributing to this evolving understanding of AI's role in education. Your insights and feedback remain crucial as we work to maintain this as a living resource for the education community. Please continue to send any feedback through the suggestions form at the bottom of every page on our site.
Calling All Education Entrepreneurs! The Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition (EBPC) is accepting applications now through February 19, 2025. Compete for over $200,000 in cash and prizes and connect with global education leaders and investors. Since 2010, the competition has awarded $2 million, with winners and finalists securing over $200 million in funding.
The EBPC is the world’s premier competition for early-stage ventures tackling inequities in education through innovation. It's open to education ventures worldwide addressing learning at any level, with less than $2M raised or earned in the past year—no Penn affiliation required!
Upcoming Events
CooleyEd Bay Area Edtech Summit
Join edtech-dedicated entrepreneurs, investors and thought leaders at the 2025 CooleyED Bay Area Edtech Summit on Wednesday, February 12 in San Francisco!
Held in partnership with Edtech Insiders, the EdTech MBA Community and Owl Ventures, the Edtech Summit will provide attendees an opportunity to hear from education leaders and top edtech innovators, connect with thought partners and leaders, and listen to and engage in thought-provoking discourse. The afternoon will include a fireside chat and panel discussion on cutting-edge issues in edtech. Participants are invited to join small-group dinners after a networking happy hour.
Want to join? All Edtech Insiders+ members are automatically added to the invite list! If you’re already a member, check your email or the Edtech Insiders + group chat.
We’ve also just opened up the public registration link with only a 20 spots left, so register while there is still room!
2025 Common Sense Summit on Kids & Families
After an incredible experience at last year's inaugural Summit, where we recorded live conversations with icons and leaders like Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sam Altman, we're excited to return to San Francisco for the second annual Common Sense Summit on Kids and Families (March 24-25, 2025).
This extraordinary gathering brings together leaders from education, technology, policy, and advocacy to explore how we can better serve children and families in the 21st century. Confirmed speakers already include Daniela Amodei, President of Anthropic, former Secretary of Education John King, award-winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay, and other leaders shaping the intersection of education, policy, and media and technology.
As an Edtech Insiders member, you can use code EDTECH10 for 10% off your registration fee!
This edition of the Edtech Insiders Newsletter is sponsored by Tuck Advisors.
Since 2017, Tuck Advisors has been a trusted name in Education M&A. Run by serial entrepreneurs with over 25 years of experience in founding, investing in, and selling companies, we believe you deserve M&A advisors who work as hard as you do. Please enjoy access to The M&A Matrix by Tuck Advisors™ on ChatGPT—tailored to support founders and CEOs like you in navigating the M&A world.
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Top Edtech Headlines
1. OpenAI Launches Operator
OpenAI announced that it is launching a research preview of Operator, a general-purpose AI agent that can take control of a web browser and independently perform certain actions.
2. New Google Education Tools
Google is starting off 2025 by rolling out new updates to Google Workspace for Education and introducing enhanced Chromebooks, aimed at improving class management and personalizing learning through advanced AI tools. These updates include new class tools for educators, AI-generated lesson content, and more robust online safety features
3. Microsoft and Pearson Partner on AI Upskilling Initiative
Microsoft and Pearson have joined forces to launch a groundbreaking AI upskilling initiative, aiming to equip learners with essential skills for the evolving digital workforce. This partnership focuses on integrating cutting-edge AI tools into Pearson's education platforms to enhance learning experiences and career readiness.
4. Federal Edtech Dollars Are Running Out
As federal edtech dollars from pandemic relief funds dwindle, a new report highlights the uncertainty among state tech officials about continuing support for technology initiatives. Only a quarter of those surveyed have plans for future funding, raising concerns about sustaining technology upgrades essential for educational equity and digital learning.
5. Owl Ventures Leads Jotit's $10M Seed Round
A notably large funding round in the edtech world, Jotit has just secured a $10 million Seed Round led by Owl Ventures to enhance digital learning with a handwriting focus. The platform merges the tactile benefits of traditional methods with the efficiency of digital tools to foster better learning and creativity in classrooms.
Cooley LLP is the go-to law firm for edtech innovators, from early childhood through workforce. Informed by decades of experience in the education vertical, Cooley created the first edtech practice to provide industry-informed, business-minded counsel to companies and organizations at all stages of the corporate lifecycle. Cooley provides a multidisciplinary approach to client needs, offering seamless collaboration across offices and practices.
To learn more about what Cooley can do for you, reach out to Naomi May.
Postcards from Google’s "Learning in the AI Era" Event
We have had some amazing guests on The Edtech Insiders Podcast in the last few weeks. One of our stand-out episodes is our Postcards from Google’s "Learning in the AI Era" Event!
In this episode, we have a mix of exclusive interviews with Google leaders, recorded during their "Learning in the AI Era" Event, including:
Ben Gomes, SVP, Learning & Sustainability, Google
Maureen Heymans, VP of Engineering, Learning & Sustainability, Google
Shantanu Sinha, VP & GM, Google for Education
Jennie Magiera, Global Head of Education Impact, Google
Steven Johnson, Editorial Director of NotebookLM and Google Labs
Yossi Matias, Vice President, Google & Head of Google Research
Obum Ekeke, Head of Education Partnerships, Google DeepMind
Jonathan Katzman, Director, Product Management, YouTube Learning
Lisa Gevelber, Founder, Grow With Google & CMO, Americas Region
and audience members from the event as well:
Isabelle Hau, Stanford Accelerator for Learning
Libby Hills, Jacobs Foundation
Adele Smolansky, AI-Learners
Ishan Gupta, Paper
There’s so much packed into this episode that we can’t do it justice by giving you a recap. You’ll just have to listen yourself!
Full Length Interviews with the Google Team
While our Postcards episode gives you a slice of our day at Google, you can also listen to full length interviews with each member of the Google team mentioned above. Once you listen to the Postcards episode, dive deeper by jumping into our individual interviews:
Episode 2: Benedict Gomes and Maureen Heymans on AI, Learning, and Sustainability
Episode 3: Shantanu Sinha, Jennie Magiera, and Steven Johnson on AI in Education
Episode 4: Yossi Matias and Obum Ekeke on AI’s Transformative Role in Learning
Episode 5: Jonathan Katzman on YouTube Learning and Lisa Gevelber on Workforce Training