Almost 500 startups in Germany are pursuing the goal of digitising education and making it accessible to as many people as possible. The EdTech Startup Monitor, published for the first time in 2024, provides a detailed overview of the sector and the backgrounds and challenges of its founders.
The EdTech Startup Monitor was compiled by the German Startups Association in cooperation with the Founders Foundation from Bielefeld. A total of 493 EdTech startups were identified as such in advance, 98 of which took part in the survey. Almost all of them agreed on one point: 91% consider the pace of digitalisation in the German education sector to be too slow. This is partly due to the lengthy decision-making processes in educational institutions, which 50% of respondents criticised.
More than half of EdTechs are concentrated in five locations: Berlin (142), Munich (37), Hamburg (34), Cologne (28) and Düsseldorf (14). The focus on the metropolises is even stronger here than in other sectors. The proportion of female founders is encouraging. While it has fallen to around 19% overall, it is 36% for education startups. The figures for founders with professional experience and a degree in the humanities and social sciences are also above average. This suggests that practical experience often led to the founding. Identification with the startup and the desire to contribute to social change are correspondingly high.
The business models can be divided into three categories: Career & Further Education, School & Higher Education and Lifelong Learning. While the majority of startups operate in the B2B market, the customer structure of EdTechs is more balanced. The sectors B2C and B2G, i.e. the public sector, also play a major role here. As mentioned, the decision-making processes here are often long and complicated, which may act as a deterrent to investors. In any case, only 4% of the startups surveyed have received venture capital to date, compared to 19% across all industries. Financing is therefore a major challenge for EdTechs, although customer acquisition is cited as the top priority. However, this is not an insurmountable obstacle either; over 90% of those surveyed would found again at any time.
