Twelve Australian EdTech Leaders joined EduGrowth to embark on a whirlwind US education market development tour. They met with some of the world’s education, EdTech and innovation leaders who converged on San Diego for the annual ASU+GSV Summit.

The aim of the mission was to provide delegates with a deep understanding of the US market and to establish meaningful connections to support their international growth strategies. Activities included:

• Masterclasses: Sessions with leading US EdTech thinkers, investors, and strategic consultants to provide actionable insights for Australian companies.
• Curated Networking Opportunities: Private dinners and informal gatherings to connect delegates with key stakeholders in the US EdTech ecosystem.
• Aussie EdTech and Educator Breakfast: An event designed to facilitate connections between Australian delegates and US educators, including superintendents and university presidents.
• Investor Connect Sessions: Opportunities for one-on-one interactions with prominent EdTech investors such as Owl Ventures, GSV Ventures, and IBIS Capital.

EduGrowth’s program was designed around the prominent ASU+GSV Summit – which has two key functions – the thought provoking conference streams with globally significant keynotes, and the side meetings! Where the who’s-who of education in the US are meeting – these meetings are efficient, with clear objectives and it’s at these side meetings where valuable connections, partnerships and deals are done.

“EduGrowth’s mission truly set us up to connect with the right people to advance our strategy. David truly ensured that we left San Diego with the information and the connections we needed for the business right now.”
Colin Anson, CEO & Co Founder, Pixevety

Key themes from the mission included:

It is generally accepted that AI will be in all EdTech products in the future, it is now just part of the conversation. AI enabled development allows rapid prototyping, rapid minimum viable product (MVP) creation, frees founding teams to focus on product-market-fit (PMF) instead of coding!

Revolution or Evolution in Higher Education? Discussion continues to focus on transforming ‘the university,’ improving student experience and the delivery of quality education. This conversation is not new, and is unlikely to go away, especially in the US where student debt has such a huge economic impact. The debate centres around a simple premise – are students getting what they paid for, and is there a better way.

This year’s Mission coincided with a tumultuous time for education in the United States, as the Trump administration dissolved the Federal Department of Education (DoE). The heartening message was that whilst the DoE might go away, federal funding will not, it will just be delivered in block grants to the States. The big impact is that most experts speculated that the States will now need to take over policy development, program development, curriculum development and most don’t have the skills – so get ready for a huge growth in the Bureaucracy.

ASU GSV is the gathering place for all the world’s leading EdTech investors. They come to San Diego to connect with their peers, set up or close deals and connect with the world’s leading EdTech entrepreneurs. You get to hear in real-time that way they’re processing the data points we are all seeing, but from the lens of their 5-10 years investment horizon.  This year the overwhelming narrative was that AI is no longer a standalone investment category; it’s just part of all EdTech investments. 

We heard that 2024 was a really tough year, so if you felt that, then so did the rest of the EdTech sector. These tough conditions lead to significantly depressed valuations – noting that with the IPO market no longer a viable exit path, the valuations need to meet more realistic numbers. 

Every VC Partner that we met with reminded us of the gap between the valuations that Founders want for an exit, and the best offers from acquirers. This gap between the Ask and the Bid in 2024 was too big for most transactions, which is why there were really only 5-6 notable exits last year. 

The 2025 US EdTech Trade Mission was part of EduGrowth’s Global Connections initiative to facilitate opportunities for Australian EdTech to reach global audiences, connect and understand international education markets, and build the skills to help develop a company’s international market entry strategy.