School is changing as quickly as technology is. Students of all ages are learning in new ways because to new digital platforms, immersive simulations, and AI-driven personalization. You don’t have to read all the time when you’re at school. I’ve been making classes and working in digital education for over ten years. I know that technology can help us find things, have more fun, and finish tasks more quickly.
This article is about five new firms that are using technology to change the way we study. Each of these groups uses the latest technologies, such as AI, gamification, virtual reality, and community-driven microlearning, to deal with big issues like injustice, scalability, and keeping learners interested. Readers will get a clear picture of how tech-driven companies are leading the next wave of educational innovation by looking at their goals, solutions, impact measurements, and plans for the future.
Learning about these five pioneers will give you fresh ideas on how to teach and learn, whether you are a teacher, an administrator, an investor, or a lifelong student.
1. Byju’s: Making K–12 Learning Unique for Each Student
Byju Raveendran started Byju’s in Bengaluru, India, in 2011. It is now the largest EdTech company in the world, with over 150 million users in more than 170 countries. The Byju app helps kids in kindergarten through 12th grade learn math, science, and other subjects in an enjoyable way.
1.1 New Tech
Byju’s Adaptive Learning Engine uses AI to figure out what each student is good at and what they need to focus on. Then it delivers knowledge and practice problems that are absolutely suited for you. People can learn up to 30% more with this change than with typical procedures.
Students are still engaged in visual storytelling and gamification since they may watch animated movies, view real-life instances, and take quizzes. Byju’s uses cognitive science strategies like spaced repetition and multimodal input to help pupils retain what they study.
1.2 Business Strategy and Reach
The business plan incorporates both free and paid memberships. The free introductory modules lead to paid yearly subscriptions, which can cost between $300 and $600 a year, depending on the grade level and package.
There are more than 5,000 learning centers throughout the world that offer supervised tests, community study groups, and sessions that allow students do things.
1.3 Results and Assessment
Academic Results: Research reveals that adolescents employing Byju’s platform for a minimum of three months fared 20–40 percent higher on standardized examinations such as the CBSE tests.
Equity and Access: Since 2018, Byju’s has handed away more than 50 million free lessons to students in India and Africa who can’t afford to pay for them.
1.4 Issues and What’s Next
People are concerned of Byju’s speedy expansion because they are anxious about the quality of the substance and the preservation of their data. The firm is still spending money on research and development, though, especially on AI-powered tutoring bots and laboratories that use virtual and augmented reality. As the internet is increasingly prevalent around the world, Byju’s claims to make it easy to get specialized learning.
2. Duolingo: Games that make it easier to learn a new language
Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker launched Duolingo in 2011. A free, game-like mobile app with more than 600 million users around the world has changed how people learn languages.
2.1 Games for Microlearning
Short classes use “XP” points, streak counts, and leaderboards to drive people to practice every day. Five to ten minutes are in each module.
AI chatbots: Students can talk to fictitious folks and obtain instant feedback on their grammar, vocabulary, and voice.
2.2 Personalizing Your Data-Driven
Duolingo captures billions of bits of data every day to make its spaced-repetition algorithms smarter. This makes sure that each user gets the right times and levels of difficulty for their reviews.
2.3 How to Start a Business
You can use Duolingo Plus without advertisements or an internet connection for $6.99 a month.
Global Reach: The content is available in over 40 languages, such as Hawaiian and Navajo, which are both in danger of being extinct. This keeps cultures alive.
2.4 Measurable Results of Effectiveness
A peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of Language Learning found that 34 hours of contact with Duolingo resulted in language capacity increases similar to those achieved in a semester-long university course.
Engagement: The average daily active users (DAUs) is bigger than the industry average, and the average user has been online for 20 days straight.
2.5 Plan for the Future
The company’s first public offering (IPO) in 2021 gave it the money it needed to supply K–12 English language training and interactive story modules. There will be VR-based immersion experiences and AI professors in the future who can offer you a lot of feedback on your talks.
3. Labster is the next great thing in virtual scientific labs.
In 2012, Michael Bodekaer created Labster in Copenhagen. The company’s fully interactive, 3D virtual labs allow students conduct biology, chemistry, and physics experiments without needing to utilize real equipment.
3.1 Benefits for Teaching
Students can try things out without worrying about the expense of materials or their safety, which helps them learn.
Accessibility: Schools that don’t have laboratories can still give kids the same experiences, which is fair for everyone.
3.2 Technology Stack
The Unreal Engine has outstanding 3D graphics that make the lab look like it’s real.
AI-Powered Hints: Personalized counsel aids trainees correct troubles with protocols and prevent making usual blunders.
3.3 Adoption and Impact
Working with other groups: More than 600 colleges and 10,000 high schools around the world presently incorporate Labster simulations in their STEM curriculum.
Learning Gains: A research from Educational Technology Research and Development indicated that employing virtual laboratories instead of standard video presentations can raise quiz outcomes by 30% after the lab.
3.4 Business Model
Subscriptions for Licensing: Depending on how many and how demanding the simulations are, institutional subscriptions cost between $5 and $15 per student each year.
Made by a group: We stay up to date by partnering with biotech corporations and research groups. For example, we teach individuals how to develop vaccinations and how to utilize CRISPR to change genes.
3.5 What comes next?
Labster is trying out VR headsets and AI-powered variable difficulty to make lab experiences even more one-of-a-kind. Plans include storylines with branching, where students’ decisions alter how tests end out. This makes them think more profoundly.
4. Outschool: live microclasses taught by people who live nearby.
Amir Nathoo started Outschool in 2015. You can explore small group classes that are taught live employing video chat here. More than 1.7 million students from all over the world have learnt about robotics and creative writing through Outschool.
4.1 Value that is unique
Families can choose from over 100,000 classes that work with their schedules and interests.
A variety of teachers: There are a number of different sorts of teachers, like qualified teachers, specialists in the subject, and some that only wish to educate. They all have skills that are useful in the actual world.
4.2 How the platform works
The lecturers select the costs, which are usually between $10 and $25 each session. Outschool takes 30% of the transaction cost.
Community and Safety: Minorscher is safe thanks to comprehensive screening, background checks, and live moderating.
4.3 The epidemic’s influence and reach
Spike: During the COVID-19 outbreak, more than four times as many people joined up for Outschool. Families kept their kids in school because they considered it was vital for them to learn in a way that was flexible and based on their interests.
Results in School and Life: 85% of parents stated their kids were more confident and driven, while 75% indicated their kids did better in school.
4.4 Problems and How to Fix Them
It’s always hard to find the perfect blend between making sure the quality is good and getting new teachers up to speed quickly. Outschool invests a lot of money on making sure that everyone observes the regulations and training teachers to maintain the standards high.
4.5 The Way to Grow
Outschool just earned $75 million in a Series C investment round. The startup hopes to use this money to come up with course concepts that employ AI, support for other languages, and more community events, such as virtual field trips and pen pal programs for people all around the world.
5. AltSchool: Using data to make personalized learning even better
In 2013, Max Ventilla launched AltSchool. At first, it ran tiny schools in Silicon Valley. Then it changed its mind and let schools all over the world utilize all of its learning management systems.
5.1 A place to learn that was developed particularly for you
Profiles of the Students: Dashboards that reveal changes immediately away Keep an eye on how well you’re doing in school, how well you get along with other people, and how quickly you’re unearthing your skills.
Flexible Curriculum Builder: Teachers can leverage many sorts of materials, like video lectures and project-based exams, to design lesson plans that are individualized to each student.
5.2 Numbers and facts
Learning Analytics: AI systems keep track of how well children are performing in school and try to find out which ones need help right away.
We work together as teachers. Shared data portals make it easy for us to share information, look at each other’s work, and remark about what works best.
5.3 Adoption and Outcomes
Partner Network: More than 200 schools in North America, South America, and Europe use AltSchool’s platform to teach more than 50,000 students.
People who started using it early say that their math skills have been 25% better and their reading comprehension has been 15% better after one school year.
5.4 Problems with the SaaS Business Model
Licensing: Each student pays between $150 and $300 a year, depending on how much help they require and what features they want.
Implementation Complexity: For districts, … AltSchool gets past this difficulty by giving continual mentoring and thorough onboarding sessions.
5.5 A Plan for the Future
AltSchool is making history and science classes more fun by incorporating VR and AR modules to them. It also uses blockchain technology to help students keep track of their own learning records and move them around with ease.
Common Questions
1. What made you chose these five new businesses?
We focused on organizations that:
- Show how individuals may use new technology like AI, VR, and gamification.
- Change the youngsters’ scores in a way that can be measured.
- You should be able to work on a big scale or grow fast.
- Talk about fundamental topics in education, such access, participation, and fairness.
2. How can schools choose the correct EdTech technology for their needs?
You should think about how well it aligns with the curriculum standards, if it follows data privacy regulations, what infrastructure is needed, the cost-per-student return on investment, and how it could assist teachers grow further in their careers.
3. Are these platforms good for adults to study on?
AltSchool and Byju’s are mainly for children in grades K–12. Duolingo, Labster, and Outschool, on the other hand, all provide language practice and professional development activities and information that adults may use.
4. What are the most prevalent obstacles that consumers confront with EdTech?
Some of the obstacles are that not everyone has broadband, the pricey start-up expenditures, the need to train teachers, and keeping people interested after the novelty wears off.
5. How do these new companies guarantee the privacy of students?
Like GDPR in Europe and COPPA in the U.S., all five of them follow data privacy legislation in their own nations and around the world. They also use encryption, limits on who may access information, and audits on a regular basis.
6. Can EdTech replace normal classrooms?
Technology in school shouldn’t replace the job of teachers. Instead, technology should be used to improve in-person classes and make them more specific to each student’s needs. This helps teachers give better assistance and help learners become better.
7. What does AI do on these sites?
AI helps schools give students individualized learning routes (Byju’s, AltSchool), conversation practice (Duolingo), predictive analytics (AltSchool), and advise that matches the situation (Labster). This indicates that all youngsters can receive the education they need.
8. How straightforward are these alternatives to apply when money is tight?
You don’t need a lot of hardware to use Duolingo and Labster. You can use either a conventional computer or a smartphone. Labster VR, on the other hand, needs more complex technology to work. More people can get in because of subsidized or tiered pricing arrangements.
9. How do investors determine which EdTech businesses to invest in?
Investors look at aspects like how many new users are joining, how engaged they are (DAU, MAU, session time), how many people stay, how the company makes money (via ads or subscriptions), and things that make it hard for new users to join, such IP protection and network effects.
10. What trends will impact the next key products in EdTech?
Some new trends are AI instructors that can generate things, XR classrooms that appear and feel like actual ones, microcredentials based on talents, blockchain academic records, and peer learning networks that are managed by the community.
Final Thoughts
Technology and education are working together to make learning more personal, easier for everyone to get to, and keep individuals interested in learning for the rest of their lives. These five innovative firms demonstrate that new ideas may transform the way we think about teaching and learning and get rid of old barriers. Two examples are Byju’s K–12 lessons that employ AI and Outschool’s engaging community microclasses.
The finest EdTech companies of the future will be those who use the latest technology, have real teaching skills, safeguard people’s privacy, and care about fairness.
References
- “About Byju’s,” Byju’s Official Website. Available: https://www.byjus.com/about-us/
- “Byju’s Funding & Investors,” Crunchbase. Available: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/byjus
- “Personalized Learning with Byju’s,” Byju’s White Paper (2023). Available: https://www.byjus.com/whitepaper/personalized-learning/
- Sharma, R., “Impact of Adaptive Learning in Indian Schools,” Indian Journal of Education Research, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 45–58, 2022. Available: https://ije.rashresearch.org/adaptive-learning-india
- Mehta, S., “Bridging the Gap: Byju’s Social Initiatives,” EdTech Review, May 2024. Available: https://edtechreview.in/articles/byjus-social-impact
- “Duolingo Company Facts,” Duolingo Official Website. Available: https://www.duolingo.com/about
- “Duolingo Q1 2025 Shareholder Letter,” Duolingo Investor Relations. Available: https://investors.duolingo.com/q1-2025
- von Ahn, L., “The Science of Spaced Repetition,” Duolingo Research Blog, 2023. Available: https://blog.duolingo.com/spaced-repetition/
- “Preserving Endangered Languages with Duolingo,” UNESCO Report, 2024. Available: https://unesco.org/duolingo-endangered-languages
