The next wave of edtech is designed to mold the minds and sharpen skills of everyone from young students to working professionals. Breakthrough technologies, like VR and AI, are being employed throughout the learning process to make the experience more engaging and ultra-efficient.
San Francisco is on the cutting-edge of edtech technology. San Francisco edtech companies are helping educators better communicate with parents and craft more personalized lesson plans, while students reap the benefits of gamified learning and smart studying platforms. Edtech even helps adults learn new skills, both in the office and in their personal lives. These 15 San Francisco edtech companies are at the head of their class when it comes to innovating in education.
Founded: 2012
What they do: Clever builds edtech software to help teachers and administrators extract student data to optimize the learning experience. The single sign-on platform allows teachers to experiment with different learning apps and assign them to a student’s portfolio, where, the teachers can track and assess learning progress. The Boston, Denver and Nashville public school systems are just a few major systems nationwide to implement Clever into their curricula.
Founded: 2007
What they do: Quizlet gives students access to a library of millions of study guides. The study sets encompass just about every subject imaginable, including biology, social sciences, humanities, math and reading. Since each student learns differently, every Quizlet study set comes with the ability to learn through a game, through flashcard methods or through a quiz format.
Founded: 2011
What they do: Remind is a communication tool that connects all parties involved in a student’s educational success under one platform. With the platform, administrators are able to make school-wide announcements and view engagement statistics, teachers can directly message parents to update them on their student’s learning progress and parents are able to reach school leadership to volunteer for events and stay in-the-know.
Founded: 2012
What they do: MasterClass lets students take online classes from world-famous experts. For $15 a month, students have access to everything from filmmaking classes with Martin Scorsese to tennis lessons with Serena Williams and cooking courses from Gordon Ramsay. MasterClass features classes from experts in disciplines ranging from business to comedy.
Founded: 2011
What they do: ClassDojo is a communication app that allows for teachers to connect with students and parents. Teachers use the app to send photos, videos or messages to keep students and families updated on projects, tests or anything else happening in the classroom. The ClassDojo toolkit also features instant translation into more than 30 languages, a scheduling tool and a classroom noise monitor.
Founded: 2013
What they do: Springboard offers flexible online courses in tech sectors like data science, marketing, cybersecurity and UX/UI design. The part-time online bootcamps are six months long and help students to prepare for a career in tech. Throughout a Springboard program, students will work with mentors to study, ask questions, receive feedback and prepare for a career in tech.
Founded: 2015
What they do: Sixup is an online student loan platform for underbanked students. The company offers loans to those students who traditionally can't obtain one to cover the gap between financial aid and the total cost of attendance. While going through school, Sixup helps students build credit and will even offer loans at reduced interest rates if a student’s grades consistently improve.
Founded: 2013
What they do: Kiddom brings teachers, parents, students and administrators together under one platform to boost communication and un-silo the learning process. Using Kiddom, teachers are able to deliver digital curriculum to students, monitor performance in real-time, personalize learning based on a student’s strengths and weaknesses and even detect early signs of bad learning habits that need correction. Meanwhile, families are able to view their student’s learning habits and administrators are able to look at real-time data on school and district-wide trends.
Founded: 2014
What they do: Volley realizes that learning technology isn’t just for students. The business platform uses AI to continuously synthesize company briefings, micro-courses and quizzes to help employees fill critical knowledge gaps in the enterprise. JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and KPMG all use Volley to help employees gain critical company knowledge at a quicker rate.
Founded: 2011
What they do: Verbling is an e-learning platform that features language lessons from native-speaking professional teachers via video chat. The company lets students customize schedule and curriculum and offers language study tools like collaborative textpads and vocabulary reviews. The platform currently features language teachers for more than 60 languages ranging from Arabic to Norwegian and Yiddish.
Founded: 2012
What they do: Degreed is a platform for individuals and companies to learn new skills and certify expertise. The platform uses AI and machine learning to tailor content, articles, videos, podcasts and courses to each individual’s learning goals. Degreed currently has dedicated learning content across more than 1,500 skills, including international marketing, business consulting and blockchain development.
Founded: 2017
What they do: Homework Lab helps students manage and get help with homework. The platform allows students to upload their homework, describe their tasks in detail and then match a “geek” who is there to help walk them through the parts of the work that are confusing the student. All Homework Lab geeks are MA, MBA or PhD students or professors who have a wide-range of expertise in everything from nursing to finance and math.
Founded: 2013
What they do: Cerego’s adaptive learning platform measures and improves memory and information retention. The platform’s AI-assisted predictive analytics focus on how students or employees are learning and will use real-time assessments to improve a learner’s agility and memory retention with personalized lesson planning. Universities like NYU and the University of Texas, as well as organizations like The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the U.S. Air Force, all use Cerego to optimally educate their students and staffs.
Founded: 2017
What they do: Juni Learning is an online coding class for children. The private, one-on-one courses is designed to give students the confidence to pursue technical topics on how to build video games, websites and apps. The platform is backed by advisors from Google, Pinterest and Youtube, as well as professors from Harvard and Princeton.
Founded: 2016
What they do: Lalilo is an online literacy platform for kindergarten, first and second grade students. The platform, designed by teachers, uses personalized and interactive games to help students learn in engaging way. Lalilo, based in Paris but with an office in San Francisco, automatically tracks whole class and individual learning progress to ensure that students are reaching their objectives.
