Education technology investment has taken 2014 by storm, already accumulating over $550 million dollars in the fiscal first quarter. According to CB Insights, a large venture capital database that tracks promising private companies, this accounts for nearly 45 percent of the sector’s total funding in all of 2013.
Investors spent $559 million dollars in 103 deals in the fiscal first quarter. Since 2012, the ed-tech sector has seen over $1 billion in investments annually. The average investment size in 2014 rose to a new eight-quarter high of $6.21 million.
It may come as no surprise that Silicon Valley secured the most amount deals, accounting for roughly 16 percent of the contracts made in the last two years. New York was in a close second with 14 percent. The average deal size was $6 million and nearly $4 million, respectively.
Market forces are at work as startups seek to take advantage of the explosion of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), help K-12 schools meet common core standards in innovative ways and work to develop new digital tutoring hubs. This year is on track to set a new record of investment in ed-tech and it is certainly going to play a large role in defining the future of education.