DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ These education-tech startups are aiming to help kids with autism, ADHD and dyslexia in school
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A new group of startups are helping children with conditions like autism and ADHD learn in schools. And neurodivergent students that require special education assistance and mental health support are behind the learning curve. Staffing qualified special education teachers has also become a problem for schools. As more districts look for solutions that can help address these problems, startups can be the ones offering the tools. In the last two years, though, more generalist investors have begun to invest in startups in this area.

Persons: Vanessa Castañeda Gill wasn't, Castañeda Gill, Gill, Vanessa Castañeda Gill, Guadalupe Lara, Edweek, Rebecca Kaden, Vijay Ravindran, Suchi Deshpande, Ravindran, Floreo, Alex Alvarado, Alvarado, Daybreak's, Diana Heldfond, Dan Povitsky Organizations: Venture, Morning, Progress, Staffing, National Center for Education Studies, ABC News, Union Square Ventures, Meta, Vine Ventures Locations: Manhattan Beach , California, Floreo, America

☆ The pandemic learning loss was worse for kids with special needs. Now, startups are helping students with autism, dyslexia, and ADHD get back on track.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A new group of startups are helping children with conditions like autism and ADHD learn in schools. And neurodivergent students that require special education assistance and mental health support are behind the learning curve. Guadalupe Lara, an intensive behavioral instruction aide for students with special needs at Pacific Elementary in Manhattan Beach, California, said helping her students recover from the learning losses during remote learning during the pandemic has been very tough. Staffing qualified special education teachers has also become a problem for schools. In the last two years, though, more generalist investors have begun to invest in startups in this area.

☆ Bruno Mars credits his success to this one skill—and it's not musical talent: 'It's become the most important thing for me'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-13 | by ( Morgan Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Bruno Mars has built his career on infectious pop melodies and perfecting one key skill: honesty. "Whatever you're doing just has to be honest — that's really become the most important thing for me in my career," Mars explains. "There's something beautiful about being young, naive and uneducated ... you're just free to fly," Mars says. As Mars has learned, success feels "a lot better" when it's something you genuinely want, and worked hard for. Check out:3 things you're getting wrong about success, according to a millennial CEO: It's not just about 'money, control and power'

Persons: Bruno Mars, Mars, Elvis, Adele, Alicia Keys, Seth Gold, Marc Gold, Robert Herzig, SelvaRey, Warren Buffett, It's Organizations: CNBC, Altria, Marlboro, TakeLessons Locations: Hawaii, Los Angeles, U.S, SelvaRey Rum, Los, Angeles

☆ 3 millennials who pivoted from 6-figure corporate jobs for more meaningful careers share why the pay cut was worth it
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Anastasia Chernikova | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The narrative around remote learning and teaching during this time was "pretty abysmal," Clark told Insider. The tech job market was so bleak, she didn't consider looking for a similar position. She told Insider the work inspires her writing and is an opportunity to meet interesting people. He also told Insider he thought there "was potential to make this pursuit a full-time business." He told Insider the most dramatic change was abandoning desk work.

Persons: Paige Webster, Kat Clark, Adam Parmer, Clark, Webster, Meta, Parmer, It's, it's Organizations: Big, Service, Apple, Meta, LinkedIn Locations: Big Tech, Wall, Silicon, Wisconsin, Midwest, Northern California, Meta, Silicon Valley, Bay

☆ The edtech startup funding slowdown may be hitting the 'bottom of the market'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Edtech venture capital funding in 2023 may be on pace for its lowest annual total since 2016. The one exception to this edtech funding dropoff is in AI tools for education and upskilling. This puts the estimated total funding for 2023 at only $3.5 billion, the lowest annual total since 2016, according to HolonIQ. Additionally, there has not been a single edtech "mega round," or a startup funding round valued at over $100 million since 2022, with the exception of the Indian edtech unicorn Byju's $250 million fundraise this spring. Pujji and Mushin also indicated that AI edtech deals were the exception in this slowdown period.

Persons: VCs, It's, Vinny Pujji, Iynna Halilou, Leeor Mushin, Avalanche's Katelyn Donnelly, Mushin, they've, Chegg's, Cheggmate, Khan, Pujji Organizations: Left Lane Capital, Global, Bloomberg, Investors

☆ Byju’s blowup makes its investors look bad
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Pranav Kiran | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Adnan Abidi/File Photo/File PhotoBENGALURU, Aug 7 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Byju’s says it provides learning programs to over 150 million students. The biggest lesson may be for the Indian education giant’s global investors including Prosus (PRX.AS) and Peak XV, formerly part of Sequoia, who watched founder power run amok in a country they have pinned high hopes on. But so long as the blowup at the hot startup once valued at $22 billion goes from bad to worse, its backers will struggle to create enough distance. For early supporter Peak XV Partners, the mess comes at a sensitive time, hot on the heels of announcing a separation from its U.S. parent. Representatives of the Amsterdam-listed investor and Peak XV Partners, formerly Sequoia’s India unit, both quit Byju’s board in June.

Persons: Adnan Abidi, Byju Raveendran, Davidson, Byju’s, Reuters Breakingviews, Prosus, Una Galani, Thomas Shum Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Bloomberg, XV Partners, HK, Thomson Locations: New Delhi, India, BENGALURU, Sequoia, U.S, Byju’s, Amsterdam, China, Delaware

☆ Edtech Chegg rallies as strong quarter eases fears about ChatGPT impact
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Aug 7 (Reuters) - Chegg (CHGG.N) rallied 25% in extended trading on Monday after better-than-expected quarterly sales and an in-line forecast for the current quarter eased worries about the impact of ChatGPT on the educational services company's business. The Santa Clara, California-based firm expects revenue to be in the range of $151 million to $153 million for the third quarter, compared with analysts' average estimate of $152.37 million, according to Refinitiv data. "We launched the beta version of our initial generative AI experience in May and feedback has been very positive," CEO Dan Rosensweig said. The company reported second-quarter sales of $182.9 million, compared with analysts' average estimate of $176.51 million. Reporting by Pratik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Shilpi majumdarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Dan Rosensweig, Pratik Jain, Shinjini Ganguli, Shilpi majumdar Organizations: Thomson Locations: Santa Clara , California, Bengaluru

☆ Paper, the online tutoring unicorn, just had a second round of layoffs. The cuts come a year-and-a-half after raising $270 million in Series D funding.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Paper, an edtech unicorn focused on online tutoring for K-12 students, has laid off staff. The cuts come as edtech startups are facing increasing pressure amid a downturn. The Canadian online tutoring startup Paper has laid off 106 employees, or 4% of staff, Insider has learned. Unlike other online tutoring companies, the bulk of the startup's online tutors are categorized as employees, not contractors, according to Paper's website. Other prominent edtech startups including Byju's, GoStudent, and Degreed have also cut jobs in the past year.

Persons: Slack, we've, Cutler Organizations: Employees, SoftBank Investment, Sapphire Ventures, Los Angeles Unified Locations: Canada, Los Angeles

☆ The real reason Marc Andreessen is urging billionaires to homeschool their kids
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Marc Andreessen told billionaires to homeschool their children at the Sun Valley conference. Legendary venture capital investor Marc Andreessen has used this week's Sun Valley conference to espouse the benefits of homeschooling. Musk and Zuckerberg have been been trading barbs online since Musk summoned Zuckerberg to a cage fight last month. Meanwhile, it's not the first time that Andreessen has called for more homeschooling. "It certainly feels like we're on the front end of a pretty dramatic homeschooling boom," Andreessen said.

Persons: Marc Andreessen, “ We’re, Puck's Dylan Byers, Peter Thiel, Andreessen, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Byers, Musk, Zuckerberg, it's, Colossus, Andreessen Horowitz, Ben Horowitz Organizations: Sun, Morning

☆ 17 top venture capitalists to know who specialize in education-technology investing
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Edtech funding has seen a slump since its pandemic highs, but deals are still getting done. But the global venture slowdown has affected edtech investing. In 2022, global edtech funding barely cracked $9 billion. Still, deals are still getting done, and behind these chosen companies are the savvy venture capitalists that fund these startups and help them scale to new heights. Insider compiled a list of 17 venture capitalists that specialize in investing in edtech startups based on recommendations from other venture capitalists and a review of their investments in the sector.

Persons: edtech VCs Organizations: . Venture

☆ India's Byju's seeks investors for Aakash Education stake, ET Now reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BENGALURU, June 30 (Reuters) - Embattled Indian edtech startup Byju's is looking for investors to sell a part of its stake in the educational institute Aakash Education Services, television news channel ET Now reported on Friday, citing sources. Byju's holding company, Think and Learn (THIK.NS), is looking to dilute up to 20% of its total 70% equity stake in Aakash Education, sources told ET Now. The company bought Aakash Education for $950 million in 2021. The talks with prospective investors are early and preliminary, the broadcaster reported in a tweet. The reported plans of stake offloading come as a sharp contrast to the edtech's earlier plans of listing Aakash Education through an IPO by mid-2024.

Persons: Byju's, Hritam Mukherjee, Eileen Soreng Organizations: Education Services, Aakash Education, Deloitte, Thomson Locations: BENGALURU, Bengaluru

☆ My brother and I make 7 figures in revenue from our AI newsletter. Here's how ChatGPT helped us grow and bring in more money.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Ellen Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Zain Kahn and his brother, Awais, are the cofounders of the AI newsletter Superhuman. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Zain Kahn, the 29-year-old cofounder of an AI newsletter based in Pakistan. As cofounders of the AI newsletter Superhuman, my brother, Awais, and I lead a team of eight, which consists of six full-time and two part-time employees. I first tested the newsletter content in Twitter-thread format, where I have a following of more than 400,000, and it went from there. When I launched a course last December, I saw more conversions from my 5,000 newsletter subscribers than I did from my 500,000 online followers.

Persons: Zain Kahn, Awais, I've, We've, we've, I'm Organizations: Flair, Twitter, LinkedIn Locations: Pakistan, Canada, Dubai

The hectic pace of activity comes after private credit funds targeting Asia jumped 76% last year to a record $11.2 billion, driven by both regional and India-dedicated strategies, according to Global Private Capital Association. As large global sponsors continue to invest into multi-billion dollar Asia-focused credit funds such as Apollo, Blackstone and KKR, the Asian private credit industry is set for further boom, Robert Wright, partner in law firm Baker McKenzie, said. The string of new private credit funds come against the backdrop of startups facing the threat of having down rounds. Nevertheless, alternative financing such as private credit does not come cheap, industry experts warned. Private credit firms usually arrange loans, with assets secured, on a floating rate basis.

Persons: GPCA, Singapore's SeaTown, Europe's 21yield, Nicholas Mairone, Robert Wright, Baker McKenzie, SeaTown, Rakshat Kapoor, Camille Krejci, Parthiv Rishi, Sidley Austin, Siew Kam Boon, Yantoultra Ngui, Sumeet Chatterjee Organizations: Asia, SINGAPORE, Global Private Capital Association . Industry, Silicon Valley Bank, Blackstone, KKR, Reuters Graphics, Bain Capital, India's, Mahindra Bank, Hong Kong's ADM, SoftBank Investment Advisers, Reuters, Prosus NV, Thomson Locations: Asia, India, Singapore, United States, North America, Silicon, Pacific, Japan, Hong Kong

☆ Prosus slashes India's Byju's valuation to $5 bln
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BENGALURU, June 27 (Reuters) - Dutch-listed technology investor Prosus NV (PRX.AS) has slashed the valuation of troubled Indian edtech startup Byju's to $5.1 billion according to its annual report, a fall of more than 75% from the startup's $22 billion valuation last year. Byju's told investors it will file 2022 audited earnings by September and 2023 results by December, Reuters reported. Earlier this year, Blackrock, too, had cut Byju's valuation to $8.3 billion. India's Employee Provident Fund Organisation on Tuesday observed a shortfall in payments from Byju's, Reuters reported. Byju's deposited 1.23 billion rupees ($15.01 million) after the EPFO asked it to.

Persons: Prosus, Byju's, Manvi, Sriram, Pooja Desai Organizations: Prosus NV, Atlantic, BlackRock, Deloitte, Reuters, Blackrock, India's, Provident Fund, Thomson Locations: BENGALURU, Byju's, U.S, Blackrock, Manvi Pant, Bengaluru, Mumbai

☆ India's Byju's seeks to raise $1 bln to stave off investor revolt - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 27 (Reuters) - Indian edtech startup Byju's is in advanced talks with potential new shareholders to raise $1 billion in funding as it attempts to sidestep a revolt by some investors, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the matter. Reuters could not immediately verify if existing shareholders in Byju's have that option. It was not clear if founder Byju Raveendran will ultimately secure a capital influx, the sources, who asked not to be named as the information isn't public, told Bloomberg News. Byju's and its lenders are involved in legal cases in the United States over the restructuring of the loan. Reporting by Mrinmay Dey and Varun Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Nivedita BhattacharjeeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Chan, Byju Raveendran, Byju's, Mrinmay Dey, Varun, Sonia Cheema Organizations: Bloomberg, Prosus NV, Zuckerberg, Deloitte, Reuters, Bloomberg News, Varun Vyas, Thomson Locations: Byju's, United States, Bengaluru

☆ Byju's staff say morale waning amid turmoil at Indian edtech firm
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A boy walks past an hoarding of Byju's IAS coaching center in New Delhi, India on June 24, 2023. Fresh troubles at Indian edtech startup Byju's this week have escalated concerns among employees who were already uncertain about their future after several rounds of job-cuts, more than a dozen current and former staff told Reuters. Everyone wants to leave desperately before they are asked to pack up overnight," said a senior manager at Byju's, requesting anonymity. Several employees, all of whom requested anonymity, said they had received no memos about the exits of auditor Deloitte and the board members. A Byju's spokesperson did not respond to Reuters queries on staff morale, the lack of communication from management or other issues raised by employees.

Persons: Byju's Organizations: Reuters, Deloitte Locations: New Delhi, India, Bengaluru

The resignations of GV Ravishankar of Peak XV Partners, earlier Sequoia Capital India, Russell Dreisenstock of Prosus, and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's Vivian Wu mean Byju's board now only comprises the founder's family. In a statement to Reuters on Friday, Byju's said it is in discussions with investors about reshaping the board, including the addition of independent directors. A "few" investors had to vacate their board seats as their shareholding dropped below the required minimum threshold, necessitating a board reshuffle, it said. The confirmation of the resignations comes after Reuters and other media outlets reported on Thursday that three Byju's board members had quit recently. On Friday, sources told Reuters that the edtech was asking its three global investors to reconsider their decision to quit its board.

Persons: Russell Dreisenstock, Chan Zuckerberg, Vivian Wu, Byju's, Akriti Sharma, Shivani Tanna, Shounak Dasgupta, Anil D'Silva Organizations: GV, XV Partners, Sequoia Capital, Blackrock, Reuters, Deloitte, Thomson Locations: Sequoia, Sequoia Capital India, Bengaluru

☆ Here's an exclusive look at the pitch deck that Kira Learning, a startup that provides AI-powered software to help teach computer science to K-12 students, raise $15 million from investors like NEA
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Edtech startup Kira Learning uses AI-powered software to help K-12 students learn computer science. The idea was to help students become familiar with computer science before they get into college. Teachers in these schools had never taught computer science before, and many were new to learning coding skills themselves. The partnership will make Kira Learning's computer science courses available to all public middle and high schools in the state, at no cost to schools, Pasinetti said. Check out the 16-slide pitch deck that Kira Learning used to raise $15 million in Series A funding from NEA and the AI Fund:

Persons: Andrea Pasinetti, Andrew Ng, Pasinetti, Ng, Kira, Jagriti Agrawal, Kira Learning's, Kira Learning Organizations: Stanford University, Stanford, NASA, NEA, AI, AI Fund, Innovation Network Locations: Tennessee

☆ Here's an exclusive look at the pitch deck that Trala, a startup offering virtual violin lessons, used to raise $8 million from investors like Alexis Ohanian's Seven Seven Six
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

TralaTrala is a startup that helps adult violin students learn to play from virtual lessons. Now, the company has raised $8 million in Series A funding led by Alexis Ohanian's Seven Seven Six. For Trala cofounder and CEO Sam Walder, music has always been a huge part of his life. That app, called Trala, allows students to take virtual violin lessons with an instructor, and follow a practice and lesson plan. Check out the 18-slide pitch deck that edtech startup Trala used to raise $8 million in Series A funding:

Persons: Vishnu Indukuri, Sam Walder, Alexis Ohanian's Seven, Alexis Ohanian, Trala, Indukuri Organizations: University of Illinois, Seven Locations: University of Illinois Urbana, Champaign

☆ Edtech startup VC funding has slowed to a crawl. The number of deals done so far this year has dropped more than 50% year-over-year.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The number of new funding deals so far this year is less than last year's Q1 total. The trend is in line with the larger VC funding slowdown in 2023, with the exception of AI deals. That's more than a 50% drop in the number of deals and total deal value from Q1 2022, which had 161 edtech venture deals totaling about $1.3 billion. Reach Capital recently raised a $215 million fund to fund both early and later stage edtech startups. Amid dismal funding for startups this year, the one bright spot has been for AI startups with some generative AI startups raising rounds well over $100 million.

Persons: That's, Katelyn Donnelly, Andressen Horowitz, Kira, Avalanche's Donnelly, there's, Donnelly, Sosnik Organizations: edtech, Reach Locations: edtech

☆ VC Ian Chiu's passion for education began when he shared his secrets to getting scholarships in a book. Now he helps edtech startups make a difference as a top investor at Owl Ventures.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

At 18, Ian Chiu started writing a book with his brothers on how to land college scholarships. Now as managing director at Owl Ventures, Chiu has coached founders that are edtech success stories. If you ask Owl Ventures' Ian Chiu about the moment he first realized he could help others through education, he will immediately have an answer. So the three brothers decided that writing a guidebook on getting scholarships could be a fun project to share their newly acquired knowledge. But beyond the business side, writing the book also showed Chiu how his work helping others access better education opportunities could make a difference in people's lives.

☆ How artificial intelligence could threaten major industries and business models
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

Meanwhile, limits on applicable copyright rules make it simpler to train AI tools. Nevertheless, accuracy issues with AI tools, Redburn said, could boost the use case for Pearson. Copyright issues are another major obstacle for music companies. Some potential copyright violations include replicating an artist's likeness or voice, and that could weaken the catalog value for many music companies, analysts said. Similarly, Deutsche Bank analyst Matthew Niknam highlighted in a recent note AI presents more opportunities than risks and offers "underappreciated upside tailwinds" for Five9.

Persons: GOOGL, Goldman Sachs, Dan Rosensweig, Chegg, Brad Erickson, Hayden Brown, Brown, BTIG, Chegg's, Pearson, Redburn, Morgan Stanley, Brent Thill, Thill, Douglas Mitchelson, Rosenblatt, Barton Crockett, Morgan Stanley's Omar Sheikh, Ygal, Nat Schindler, Wix, Jefferies, Oppenheimer, Timothy Horan, Matthew Niknam, Meta Marshall, Marshall, Michael Bloom Organizations: Wall Street, Microsoft, Nvidia, Goldman, Chegg, Companies, Freelance, Upwork, RBC Capital, Pearson, Bank of America, UBS, Jefferies, Industry Music, Spotify, Credit, Warner, Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, Citi, NICE, Deutsche Bank Locations: Nice

☆ Indian Tech’s Promise of Rivaling China Is Falling Apart
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Megha Mandavia | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Technology-education company Byju’s is the most highly valued Indian startup—on paper. Photo: manjunath kiran/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesThe Indian edtech company Byju’s was the poster child of the Asian country’s startup boom, attracting a lofty valuation while meeting the needs of millions of students across the country as the pandemic hurt their access to schools and education. It is now turning out to be a symbol of everything that went wrong with India’s promise of creating internet companies to rival such Chinese titans as Alibaba and Tencent. The country’s hot startup ecosystem, which lured such investors as SoftBank and Tiger Global, is facing questions on financial accountability and discipline, expensive acquisitions, heady valuations and whether investors overestimated India’s total addressable market, or TAM. Public listings have been delayed, and layoffs are now almost a daily occurrence.

Researchers have also sought to quantify fairness and bias in AI models through various socio-ethnic parameters. For example, Stanford University's artificial intelligence index report scores for bias across AI models. It found a "counterintuitive" correlation between fairness and bias: models that scored better on fairness metrics demonstrated stronger gender bias, and less gender-biased models were more toxic. Driving AI technology advancements — being a "key player or enabler across the AI ecosystem to make businesses and society better." Some investors believe AI itself can help investors monitor and track ESG efforts by companies.

☆ The CEO of this edtech company says A.I. can help unlock growth in the space. Here’s how
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Christina Cheddar Berk | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

PWSC YTD mountain PowerSchool shares have fallen sharply since January, when they traded as high as $26.05. "For us, it's not a disruption from a negative perspective, it's actually phenomenal," he said, of the advancements in generative AI. Gulati expects generative AI will make it possible for PowerSchool to accelerate its goals to offer personalized learning plans. Still, PowerSchool shares are down 27% since the start of the year. Generative AI systems must be "trained" on data.

Search resuls for: "edtech"

25 mentions found