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LearnSimple's ASU+GSV EdTech adventure in San Diego - PART 3

Sun, 28 Apr 2024 18:43:44 GMT

A San Diego adventure at the 15th Annual ASU+GSV Conference ('Here Comes the Sun...and AI') - PART 3 of 3

Rob Strulowitz, Managing Director

April 28, 2024

To memorialize our trip to the 15th Annual ASU+GSV Summit , we took a journalistic view of this year's event to capture the essence for those who haven't been. For our money, this is THE edTech conference to attend each year to not only connect to macro and micro industry trends, but more importantly to connect in person (in our case the Edtech investment community).

In Part 3 of 3, we'll look back at the conference in full swing , with a focus on Tuesday and Wednesday, culminating with a memorable Closing Dinner ceremony at the Shell on the San Diego Waterfront.

TUESDAY, APRIL 16, 2024

Tuesday morning was a return to The Landings Bar at the Manchester Grand Hyatt for a series of meetings with our private equity investor network. We arrived early, knowing that seats are a premium and was fortunate to find an open table for the morning block. The overriding theme was enthusiasm. Edtech investment is slowly returning, although more in conversations than actual transactions, but the mood is definitely improving.

We believe that Edtech (as GSV calls it 'Pre-K to Grey') has never seen a more interesting time, with post-pandemic blues impacting the boom of 2020-2022 and the shadow of AI creating more questions than answers on where Edtech is heading. The innovation opportunities are immense but it's still too early to say how it will all shake out. We believe business fundamentals will be more important than ever with the market getting more crowded and fragmented.

After our meetings wrapped, we headed upstairs for lunch at the SunStageX Tuesday lunch...

In the first panel, " Here Come the Stars: The Co-founders of Physics Wallah ", we were blown away by the sheer magnitude of impact by the founders of Physics Wallah, one of the largest edTech companies in the world. Moderated by GSV Ventures Managing Partner Deborah Quazzo, this session featured the amazing story of Physics Wallah and their mission to democratize technical skills education in India. Founded by Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari (which have a BeatleMania type following in India), the company has exhibited immense growth and impact, making technical skills education affordable for all. From our time (and love) for India and its people, Physics Wallah is truly an inspirational story.

We caught the second panel " The Role of Universities in Advancing Democracy " featuring Arizona State University President Michael Crow and former US Senator and current University of Florida President Ben Sasse. This talk focused the state of American democracy and the many roles that colleges and universities play or can play in shaping positive outcomes for everyone. We found it interesting and timely that higher education institutions are rethinking their relationship with its customers, looking to engage with individuals throughout their lives, not just during the traditional college-age years, emphasizing the need for lifelong learning in a rapidly changing world.

We then shifted gears for our afternoon meetings, taking advantage of a truly beautiful day on the waterfront. We weren't alone as it seemed many conference attendees had the same idea...

We stopped by a few early evening gatherings (skipping the Cooley party of the USS Midway, just too tired and jetlagged!) and made an early night of it.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17, 2024

Wednesday was the final day of the conference, and it felt like things were slowing down. We just had a few meetings throughout the day, and looked for additional inspiration before heading back to Paris. We wandered upstairs to the StageX Wednesday lunch and did not leave San Diego disappointed.

We caught the first panel, " Barbies, Beyonce, Swifties…The Women’s Revolution is Here ", we witnessed a truly powerful collection of Edtech women executives including Ashley Andersen Zantop (Chairman and CEO, Cambium Learning Group ), Jamie Candee (CEO, Edmentum ), Kate Eberle Walker (CEO, Presence ), Phyllis Lockett (Founder & Senior Advisor, LEAP Innovations ). Moderated by Jane Swift (Former Governor and President, Education at Work ), the panel discussed ongoing progress and challenges in the empowerment of women in leadership roles, especially in the education sector. Jamie Candee said it best, "Never forget what it felt like to be the only woman at the table. Each and every day, wake up thinking about how you give that back, how you empower every other woman, getting more women to the table."

We ended our ASU+GSV Summit experience at the Closing Dinner Ceremony at The Shell on the San Diego Waterfront.

It was a beautiful sunny early evening at The Shell, a unique waterfront amphitheatre located a ten minute walk from the Manchester Grand Hyatt. Smiles were everywhere as you just couldn't ask for better weather in a better venue.

The highlight of the evening was the " Lifetime Achievement Award for Luis von Ahn, the CEO of Duolingo ". Duolingo has a pretty amazing origin story with an unlikely founder who has impacted the world of language learning at global scale. If you didn't know, Luis is from Guatemala and started Duolingo as a thesis project at the University of Pittsburgh, with the goal of providing free language learning for all. He's certainly achieved this mission and was both humble and ambitious in his plans for Duolingo's next wave of global impact.

After a festival dance party courtesy of a seasoned and diverse cover band playing the hits of yesterday and today, the 15th ASU+GSV Summit wrapped under the stars.

Hope you enjoyed our ASU+GSV travelogue. See you next year in San Diego!

LearnSimple's ASU+GSV EdTech adventure in San Diego - PART 2

Thu, 25 Apr 2024 17:54:19 GMT

A San Diego adventure at the 15th Annual ASU+GSV Conference ('Here Comes the Sun...and AI') - PART 2

Rob Strulowitz, Managing Director

April 24, 2024

In our last post, we reflected upon the quick hit of AI innovation we received upon our arrival to the 15th Annual ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego. It was immediately apparent that this year's edition would be dominated by talk of artificial intelligence and its impact on what GSV calls 'Pre-K to Gray', with uncertainty as to where it all might land.

With seemingly an unending amount of edtech and learning technology conferences to choose from, the ASU+GSV Summit has become a conduit for industry trend predictions, new ways of thinking, showcasing innovation, and most importantly, networking. There simply is no better outlet for old-fashioned in-person connection.

In Part 2 of this Multi-Part series, we'll look back at ASU+GSV's Real Day 1 , where a majority of the conference attendees had arrived, ready to be immersed in a sea of conference halls, meeting rooms, lobby conversations and outdoor walks along the San Diego Seaport.

MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2024

Properly rested and ready for the actual conference to begin, we ventured over to the Manchester Grand Hyatt where the bulk of the conference was being held. The buzz was immediate, with a flurry of activity in the lobby and filtering into The Landings Bar, where we would spend a majority of our time over the next few days.

At first, it's somewhat difficult to get a sense of audience and the overall themes and focus areas that would give conference attendees some direction in where to best spend their time. The overarching feeling that you get at ASU+GSV is the immense size of the Edtech industry which is so vast and ever intertwining, it can't possibly be packaged and segmented into an easily digestable format.

The conference agenda wasn't much help as there were numerous panels and talks we could attend, but chose to play in safe and sit in on the largest venue, the ASU+GSV Stage X Monday Breakfast which featured two really interesting talks.

In the first Higher Education panel " Aligning the Planets...Students Are From Mars, Universities Are From Venus ", we learned more about the misalignment between what students want in 2024 and what universities actually offer. Moderated by Bridget Burns (CEO, The University Innovation Alliance ), this session highlighted the need for educational models to adapt to rapid societal changes and evolving student demographics. The panelists advocated for integrating real-world economic needs into education, emphasizing innovation and adaptability in meeting the diverse needs of today’s students. Michael Sorrell (President, Paul Quinn College ) said it best, "We love our students more than our traditions". It will be interesting to see how the Higher Ed market evolves with ripe opportunities for software providers to serve Higher Ed and a new breed of skills hungry micro-credential seeking students. (or both)

We caught the second panel, " AI and the Future of Education with Google DeepMind ", where leaders of the Google DeepMind team explored how AI can personalize learning and provide immediate feedback in ways not imaginable a few years ago. The discussion led into a familiar terrain from our time in ethics and DEI...highlighting the need for responsible AI development and inclusivity to ensure that technology benefits everyone. Arena Jena (Google DeepMind) said "We need to think about how we apply this technology responsibly so that we reap the benefits while minimizing the risks." Sounds like ethics and compliance to us. We're projecting numerous opportunities in both the compliance and DEI markets to ensure this promise is met, which will continue to be an area of focus as AI continues to permeate society.

With our macro-trend appetite satisfied, we ventured through the large crowds to where we'd spend a majority of the afternoon - The Landings Bar at the Manchester Grand Hyatt. (ie MeetingCentral)

In The Landings Bar, currency is valued as an available table or couch which were in short supply. The bar was buzzing with activity of new meetings, high stakes deal making and emerging investment opportunities. We were fortunate to find a few couch seats and managed to connect with our private equity network in a series of half-hour meetings throughout the afternoon. So great to catch up in person with our private equity friends, an occurrence not frequent enough in our Zoom-driven culture of fake backgrounds and home office distractions.

We were reminded in real time and scale of private equity and venture capital's ongoing interest in the Education and Training sector. While 2023 was a down year in terms of Edtech investment, we are hearing that deal flow is picking up with more opportunities in the pipeline in 2024. Let's all hope the trend continues.

With our Monday meetings complete, we headed to Edtech Insiders ASU+GSV Happy Hour on the upstairs deck of The Brigadine Bar & Restaurant overlooking the Pacific Ocean and not far from the conference. We were fortunate to secure an invite to this packed event (thanks Ben Kornell!) and met with some great folks including:

Kyron Learning has integrated AI into its learning platform, allowing teachers to create a truly adaptive learning environment that responds in real-time to the needs of each student. We're seeing this as a common AI user case with many flavors. Great execution will continue to drive market adoption. The platform allows for a highly personalized educational journey, dynamically adjusting content and pacing to suit individual learning speeds and styles. Keep an eye on this company, seems like they are just getting started.

Stride (formerly K12 Inc) focuses on lifelong learning, a trend that we think will continue to become more mainstream as technology enables true disruption of traditional educational systems. We love their mission - "We serve learners, not students — a state of mind, not an age. Stride’s learning solutions meet the needs of learners at every stage of life." We believe that forward thinking entrepreneurs will look to extend this concept at the industry level across the learning spectrum as learners find their passion earlier in life and look to build brand relationships with learning providers across their lifetimes.

We ran into our new friends at Copper Wire Ventures (a New York based venture capital firm supporting female Edtech entrepreneurs) who were also en route to The Oxford Club for the Transatlantic Mixer: Euro Edtech VC hosted by Brighteye , Educapital , Emerge Education , Mediahuis Ventures , Sparkmind and Amanda Nolen .

We've been spending most of 2024 between North America and Europe, with a focus on getting a better feel in for the European Edtech market. We've been struck by the level of innovation, sophistication and business savvy of this community and inspired by many of the venture capitalists and edtech entrepreneurs that are driving the future of learning. It's a very different market than North Americans are used to, with regional cultural differences impacting go-to-market strategies for international expansion.

We loved learning more about Boclips , a London based digital platform that curates high quality content aligned to educational curriculum standards. We've always been bullish on high quality engaging content driving customer acquisition retention. Boclips has focused its content acquisition strategy on high quality curation which we think is a great play.

The Transatlantic Mixer was a blast with a truly inspiring group of people. Looking forward to getting to know this community better with our presence in Europe.

With another packed day ahead, we realized its on Monday....

Stay tuned for Part 3 of 3....

LearnSimple's ASU+GSV EdTech adventure in San Diego - PART 1

Mon, 22 Apr 2024 13:46:06 GMT

A San Diego adventure at the 15th Annual ASU+GSV Conference ('Here Comes the Sun...and AI') - PART 1

Rob Strulowitz, Managing Director

April 23, 2024

As Springtime blossoms each April, it seems the entire world of educators, thought leaders, politicians, edtech providers and investors take a pilgrimage to San Diego for the Annual ASU+GSV conference to gauge the direction of the wind blowing for all things Learning.

This April 2024 was no different with over 7,800 attendees gravitating towards the sunny California coast at the Manchester Grand Hyatt for five days, with this year's conference aptly named ' Here Comes The Sun '.

LearnSimple has been spending quality time in Europe, surveying a burgeoning culture of Edtech innovation (more on this later), and took the transatlantic journey from Paris to Los Angeles to overcome jetlag and return to our familiar North American west coast time zone.

After reconnecting with our Los Angeles friends and network, we headed south down the San Diego Freeway...

SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2024

After a quick dropoff at our downtown hotel, we ventured over to the ASU+GSV Air Show , a first-time conference addition at the San Diego Convention Center intended on showcasing the best of AI driven educational technology.

Described as ' An AI Revolution in Education ', the ASU+GSV Air Show was indeed an immersive experience that 'explored how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the educational landscape'. The event showcased 125+ of the world's leading AI in education companies and feature hands-on workshops, live demos, insightful keynotes, and fun community building. (Plus keynote speaker Bill Nye, who we missed)

We saw some great AI innovation and met some outstanding entrepreneurs looking to disrupt education from the ground up, leveraging the power of artificial intelligence and large language models. Not all these companies will make it, but we found a few standout companies to keep an eye on.

Genius Academy is a unique workforce learning platform that leverage what we believe is a strong use case for AI....behavior based application simulations, starting with mental health training. Genius Academy's platform puts learners in virtual immersive simulations to develop therapy skills and prepare students for real-world practice. We were really impressed with Genius Academy's combination of advanced learning methodologies, Hollywood styled production and personalized learning via AI integration. Mental health is a logical starting point with numerous behavior based use cases ahead (i.e. compliance training, DEI training to name a few). Will be excited to see how this platform evolves over time.

Yeti Confetti Kids by Lirvana Labs is a super-engaging and smart K-12 AI learning platform that is sure to gain traction in the K-12 curriculum market. Founded by brother-sister duo Clement and Christie Pang, Yeti Confetti harnesses the power of AI to create a Learning Companion that could teach every single child the critical literacy and reasoning skills that change lives and destinies. Lirvana Labs has debuted the product at Air Show after months in stealth mode. From our time in the K-12 market, we think Yeti Confetti marries technology and creativity designed to engage, a critical component to unseat larger curriculum players in the marketplace. Execution is everything, with Lirvana Labs a likely acquisition target in the future.

Doowii may sound less engaging on the surface, but we can attest to the strong market need in Education for great analytics to inform K-12 and Higher Education Administrators on the effectiveness of their educational programs. Founded by former Google, Microsoft and Twitter veterans, this powerful tool leverages the best of AI to integrate data from multiple sources and provide meaningful insight with numerous integration capabilities. Doowii can "unify all your educational data streams with Doowii's centralized hub. Simple access to attendance, grades, and beyond in one place streamlines strategy and drives informed decisions." This company has great potential in both K-12 and higher learning with corporate learning use cases not far behind.

We ended the first night back at the Manchester Grand Hyatt for ASU+GSV's Opening Reception, conveniently located on the pool level overlooking the beautiful San Diego Harbour.

The promise of 'here comes the sun' was met, and it was a great opportunity to reconnect with friends and colleagues while meet some new and talented folks over drinks and hors d'oeuvres, including the good people at Tyton Partners and Fortitute Advisors before the sun set on a great first day at the conference.

Already exhausted and exhilarated with only a half a day in....time to rest up for the week ahead.

PART 2 - coming later this week...