The Education sector is one of the biggest in the world. The global industry market value represents $5 Trillion. In 2030, this figure will double, reaching a market value of $10 Trillion according to estimates of Holon IQ, a market intelligence company.
Undoubtful, education plays an important role in the life of most people around the world. According to Wittgenstein Centre, in 2050 there will be 2 billion more students. However, this sector is highly fragmented and under-digitized. Investment in technology is scarce and only represents 4% of the expenditure of the industry. Furthermore, the educational sector only receives $300 Billion of capital, a tiny figure that only represents a sixteenth part of the current value of the market.
Pandemic COVID-19 showed the importance of boosting the digitization of the education sector and invest in innovation in this area. China is driving the growth of VC investment. Meanwhile, the US remains the largest market in the world. What is the role that is Latin America playing in this transformation?
EdTech in Latam
From 2013 to 2018, the Latin American e-learning market grow by 14% annually. The region adopted educational policies that encourage digitalization. In terms of revenue, LatAm is the fourth largest EdTech market, according to a report of EdTechXGlobal and IBIS Capital.
Fernando Valenzuela, a Managing Partner of the Global Impact Alliance, pointed out that Latin American is a diverse region with high inequalities. Meanwhile, a lot of Latin Americans have access to the last technological devices. However, a huge portion of the population doesn’t own any device to connect. In these cases, countries need to rely on Television and Radio for creating educative content.
Valenzuela considered that connectivity is the main issue in the region. Also, he commented about the collaboration of companies such as Google and Microsoft that work in the area to understand which tools can potentially have a meaningful impact. Availability of content in Spanish and Portuguese are is an issue and teachers sometimes adopt the tool that reaches first to them than the most useful tools for them.
In the opinion of Valenzuela, Uruguay and Chile have stood out in the adoption of digital technology. He highlighted that innovation is spreading in the region and all of them are facing similar challenges.
EdTech Startups Standing Out in Latam
Holon IQ presented a list of Top 100 Latin American EdTech Startups in 2020. In a statement, the market intelligence company mentioned that the companies “were selected by HolonIQ’s Education Intelligence Unit from over 1,000 applicants and nominees. The selection was based on HolonIQ’s startup evaluation rubric incorporating company-submitted data and assessing each company on Market, Product, Team, Capital and Momentum”.
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