Top Ed-Tech startups to watch in 2024

Online education is an extremely profitable growth area with the overall market expected to grow to over $239 billion in the next four years. The result? More accessible education across every sector. From hyper-growth scaleups to small innovative startups and everything in between we’ve rounded up the ten ed-tech startups we believe are set to take the sector by storm.

The Top Three

Skiller Whale

Skiller Whale is an online training platform that provides personalised technology coaching for engineers. By identifying skill gaps likely to impact your business priorities, Skiller Whale creates personalised plans to help upskill your team to ensure you meet your goals.
1
.

School of Humanity

School of Humanity offers high school learners around the world the ability to develop the skills, mindsets, and behaviours they need for the future. The four-year online secondary school focuses on solving real-world problems in a collaborative and project-based way.
2
.

Socratic

Powered by Google AI, Socratic, helps secondary school and university students better understand their school work. All users need to do is ask Socratic a question and the app will find the best online resources to help answer their questions.
3
.
1
.

Skiller Whale

Skiller Whale is an online training platform that provides personalised technology coaching for engineers. By identifying skill gaps likely to impact your business priorities, Skiller Whale creates personalised plans to help upskill your team to ensure you meet your goals.
Why we’re excited:
All too often businesses think that knowledge gaps can be filled by hiring new employees but we know this isn’t always the case. Recruitment can be expensive, time consuming and risky. We love Skiller Whale’s ambition to encourage businesses to reinvest their time and resources into upskilling existing employees. Afterall, stagnation comes when businesses fail to invest in the people that make them great.
Founded by:
Founded date:
2018
Funding:
Seed £2.8M
# Employees:
1-10
Location:
London, UK
2
.

School of Humanity

School of Humanity offers high school learners around the world the ability to develop the skills, mindsets, and behaviours they need for the future. The four-year online secondary school focuses on solving real-world problems in a collaborative and project-based way.
Why we’re excited:
We all learn in different ways so it’s inspiring to see a curriculum that promotes learning through real-world projects instead of exams. We believe the School of Humanity allows for a more personalised learning journey and one that focuses on developing an individual's personal skills, network, and portfolio. What better way to inspire the next generation to contribute to human progress and prepare for the ever-evolving workforce!
Founded by:
Founded date:
2021
Funding:
Seed (Undisclosed)
# Employees:
1-10
Location:
Dubai, UAE

70% of startups use Freelancers to scale

3
.

Socratic

Powered by Google AI, Socratic, helps secondary school and university students better understand their school work. All users need to do is ask Socratic a question and the app will find the best online resources to help answer their questions.
Why we’re excited:
In a world where individuals increasingly head online for help, Socratic provides accurate and trustworthy information in seconds. Whether you enjoy education or not, you’ll love this startup. You might even wish you had a similar tool when you were at school (we do).
Founded by:
Founded date:
2013
Funding:
Series A US$ 7.5M
# Employees:
1-10
Location:
New York, U.S.A
4
.

Esme Learning

Esme Learning provides direct access to professional development courses from top-tier universities. This allows users to accelerate their careers, launch new ventures and improve their business acumen. Powered by clever AI and peer-reviewed cognitive and neuroscience research, Esme Learning is reinventing remote learning.
Why we’re excited:
Interest in skills-based, online learning, tied to career progression has seen rapid growth over the last 24 months. With a 3300% higher completion rate than typical online courses, it's clear Esme Learning is onto a winner. Whatsmore we love Esme Learning's interactive approach to learning as it helps students gain confidence and establish themselves subject matter experts.
Founded by:
Founded date:
2019
Funding:
Series A US$ 22.5M
# Employees:
101 - 250
Location:
Boston, U.S.A

How ORCA became BBC News #1 most-read article

ORCA was featured in The Telegraph, The Independent and they became the most-read article on BBC News. They were able to generate over 100 pieces of global coverage, all from working with a PR freelancer one day per week.

Learn how
dashboard illustrationpassionfruit logo
5
.

Academy

The Academy scouts out the top University graduates to prepare them for a high-impact career in tech. Using world-class technology training, advanced leadership programmes and performance coaching Academy provides rising stars with the foundations to kick-start their career. And, all in just 15-weeks!
Why we’re excited:
The Academy is one of the most accessible e-learning platforms. Not only does it actively promote social mobility - over 50% of students are female and a further 60% are from minority ethnic backgrounds. The Academy is also cutting through economic barriers, by offering its training programme to candidates for free.
Founded by:
Founded date:
2020
Funding:
Seed US$ 4M
# Employees:
11-50
Location:
London, U.K
6
.

5Mins AI

5Mins helps businesses unlock the true potential of their employees through gamified learning that supports the development of hard, soft and life skills. With over 14,000 micro-lessons to choose from, 5Mins is for everyone from the newest intern to CEO.
Why we’re excited:
Poor growth and development opportunities are one of the most common reasons for high staff turnover. 5Mins AI is tackling this issue head on by helping businesses better invest in their existing employees to unlock their true potential. The result? Improved employee retention and increased innovation - something which when combined will help to save your startup money.
Founded by:
Founded date:
2021
Funding:
Seed £5M
# Employees:
11-50
Location:
London, U.K
7
.

RangeForce

RangeForce is the world's most comprehensive cybersecurity upskilling platform. By helping businesses identify the skills required to defend against current cyber threats, RangeForce helps businesses bring SOC and cybersecurity professionals up to speed with defensive skills training.
Why we’re excited:
Given the ongoing shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals - there are currently more than 700,000 unfilled cybersecurity positions across the U.S alone. And, the rate at which cybercrime is evolving, it is essential companies have access to resources that can help combat this, and fast. RangeForce’s cutting-edge training does just that, reducing cybersecurity risks and retaining critical talent.
Founded by:
Founded date:
2019
Funding:
Series B US$ 38.1M
# Employees:
51-100
Location:
Virginia, U.S.A
8
.

Ethena

Ethena is a compliance training platform dedicated to helping businesses build ethical and inclusive teams. Ethena teaches employees to navigate tricky situations, solve problems, and view HR and Legal as trusted partners by delivering bite-sized, anti-harassment training.
Why we’re excited:
Employees expect companies to build inclusive and ethical workplaces—and compliance, when done right, does exactly that. Ethena’s superpower is in delivering training that actually educates employees and helps to proactively spot issues. The best bit? 61% of participants have admitted to feeling more confident when it comes to intervening on behalf of a colleague in the workplace.
Founded by:
Founded date:
2019
Funding:
Series B US$ 45.5M
# Employees:
51-100
Location:
New York, U.S.A
9
.

Sales Impact Academy

Sales Impact Academy (SIA) is the world’s leading go-to-market learning platform. SIA offers ongoing education and professional development across the go-to-market function covering sales, customer success, marketing, management, and operations. All taught by the world’s best talent.
Why we’re excited:
There is a distinct lack of accessible and quality education for go-to-market professionals, meaning education falls on individual companies who are not natural educators. The net result is average learning programs that underdeliver. We believe there is a huge opportunity for SIA to become the digital-first standard for achieving early go-to-market excellence. That’s why we love that the platform encourages communication and collaboration amongst participants. Plus, SIA’s roster of coaches are unmatched. Listen, learn and talk to the best talent out there.
Founded by:
Founded date:
2019
Funding:
Seed US$ 22M
# Employees:
51-100
Location:
Seattle, U.S.A
10
.

Parallel Learning

Parallel is the first tech-forward provider to help schools support students with learning difficulties. By helping to build confidence, Parallel empowers students to use their unique strengths and create strategies that work around their weaknesses.
Why we’re excited:
Parallel is solving one of the most pressing educational issues facing teachers and pupils around the world. By building a platform that delivers positive outcomes for less, Parallel helps children unlock their potential. Education should be attainable and accessible to all and we look forward to watching this solution scale.
Founded by:
Founded date:
2020
Funding:
Series A US$ 22.8M
# Employees:
11-50
Location:
New York, U.S.A
PASSIONFRUITS TOP STARTUPS

Check out startups in other sectors

Click on each sector to discover some of the top startups driving innovation
across these industries.