Listenwise is featured in on a French news site! Read the entire article here in French. Or below is the English translation of the article, thanks to Google Translate.
LearnLaunchX, Education for Start-ups
With its 57,000 primary and secondary students, and especially its 250,000 students and 50 universities, Greater Boston is alive with school and university life. For five years, no less than 240 start-ups focused on educational technology ” edtech ” hatched in the region. I must say that the forecasted growth of the sector are enticing: + 17% per year over the next six years, according to the firm Capstone, which estimates the size of the e -learning world market at $168 billion in 2018, against $58 billion today.
These start-ups also benefit from the presence of the titans of the technology sector (Amazon , Apple , Google, Microsoft all have an offices in Boston) and many institutional investors increasingly interested in these off shoots.
This is the case of Jean Hammond. She is an angel investor who launched LearnLaunchX in 2013, an incubator for start-sups dedicated to edtech in downtown Boston. Companies selected in the two annual sessions receive a capital investment of $18,000 (just over 13,000 euros), offices and various services (courses, meetings with schools, universities). “I ‘m interested in this area because I think it is now ready to evolve and there are brilliant ideas that can make a difference,” she says. “It is no coincidence that more and more young graduates of business schools decide to launch their start- up in this area instead of going to Wall Street. ”
Among the first class of LearnLaunchX some startups create software for schools, others are developing tools for teachers, and developing games or applications of e-learning.
NEW EDUCATIONAL TOOLS
Monica Brady-Myerov, a former journalist, has launched a platform that allows teachers to have access to radio reports illustrating some parts of the program to use in class. “It appeals to students and teachers who want to teach them to listen. I have good feedback,” she says. Listenwise, sold as a subscription , boasts 800 teacher users, a few months after its launch.
In the same open space, Miro Kazakoff a young MIT graduate, has meanwhile launched a support school online. More specifically, support for preparing tests like the SAT (for integrating American universities). His start-up, Testive, allows young people to be put in contact with tutors and have access to personalized coaching, through a paid subscription, with some free modules. 70,000 people have used Testive since its launch in 2012. “More and more young entrepreneurs are interested in edtech, because this is an area where it is possible to change things,” says Miro Kazakoff. “And then you feel useful. It is satisfying to help people grow. ”
From our special correspondent in Boston , Jessica Gourdon | Published on 10/02/2014 at 12:17 , updated on 10/02/2014 at 24:17
