By Erica Alini, Maclean's | October 29, 2012

Ed-tech sector is booming

By Erica Alini, Maclean's | October 29, 2012 Anyone who s e!er sat in on a "00-#ndergrad#ate lect#re $nows that ta$ing good notes can get tric$y, says 2%-year old &ac$ 'ai( )*hat i+ yo# ha,,en to be sitting too +ar to hear ,ro,erly-. Or, worse still, )what i+ yo# re an international st#dent-. 'hat was the case +or 'ai s classmate &ac$ey /i, who d 0#st landed at the 1ni!ersity o+ 'oronto +rom 2hina( B#t their +riend 3e!in *#, a nati!e 2anadian, also had tro#ble transcribing what he heard in class( 'he three bonded o!er those str#ggles with s,otty annotations, they started sharing noteboo$s and s,ending a+ternoons together at the library

going o!er material co!ered in class( 4o#r years and three Bachelor s degrees later, in 5e,tember 2010, 'ai, *# and /i la#nched 6otesol#tion, a website that lets st#dents share notes online witho#t ha!ing to line #, at the ,hotoco,y machine( 'hey started

mar$eting the ser!ice at their alma mater, and )within the +irst year we had 9,000 registered #sers,. says 'ai( 'oda 70ames worm8y, the com,any co#nts o!er 90,000 #sers across 2anada and 1: em,loyees( 6otesol#tion is ,art o+ 2anada s so-called ed-tech boom, with so+tware com,anies catering to st#dents, teachers and
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,ro+essional trainers s,ro#ting #, all o!er the co#ntry( 'he last +ew years ha!e seen ed#cation shoot to the to, o+ the charts in terms o+ start#, acti!ity( According to a recent 2;B2 st#dy, the ran$s o+ sel+-em,loyed 2anadians wor$ing in the sector grew by a staggering 9" ,er cent between 200< and 2012( By com,arison, the second-best ,er+orming start#, ind#stry in 2anada, healthcare, saw growth o+ less than 2" ,er cent d#ring the same ,eriod( 2anada s ed-tech cham,ion is arg#ably =esire2/earn, a ,ro!ider o+ so+tware sol#tions +or ed#cational a,,lications that has boldly>and s#ccess+#lly>ta$en on 1(5( giant Blac$board( 'he 3itchener, Ont(based start#, sec#red ?@0 million in +#nding in its latest ro#nd o+ +inancing earlier this year, a signi+icant !ent#re ca,ital in!estment e!en by 1(5( standards and the largest s#ch

By Erica Alini, Maclean's | October 29, 2012

in!estment on record in a 2anadian ed#cation-related b#siness( 'he 2anadian trend mirrors what s ha,,ening so#th o+ the border( ;n 2ali+ornia, ed-tech is the latest hot thing( 5tart#, +or#ms are ab#BB with chatter abo#t how ed#cation so+tware will sa!e the world, +rom re!ol#tioniBing academia to bringing +ree $nowledge to the low-income st#dents and the de!elo,ing world, as ,#r,orted by 2o#rsera, which o++ers online co#rses on anything +rom 2ontem,orary American Aoetry to 2om,#tational 4inance at no cost( ;n!estment in ed#cationrelated so+tware com,anies has nearly tri,led between 2002 and 2011, rising to ?:29 million +rom ?1:9 million, according to the 6ational Cent#re 2a,ital Association( Aerha,s #ns#r,risingly, those n#mbers are m#ch smaller in

2anada, where similar deals by local !ent#re ca,ital +#nds acco#nted +or only ?119 million between 200@ and 2012, according to 'homson De#ters data( Between 200< and the +irst hal+ o+ this year, ed-tech com,anies made #, only %(9 ,er cent o+ so+tware in!estment, and a meager 0(9 ,er cent o+ o!erall in!estment( 'he sector, it seems, hasn t esca,ed the +amiliar constraints so many 2anadian entre,rene#rs come #, againstE relati!ely scarce ca,ital and ris$-a!erse in!estors( *hene!er ,itching to a 2anadian !ent#re ca,ital +#nd, says 6otesol#tion s 'ai, the +irst F#estion that comes #, isE )are yo# ,ro+itable yet-. ;n the 1(5(, he says, it s abo#t )selling a !ision,. rather than ha!ing established re!en#e +lows( /#c$ily, 6otesol#tion and se!eral others are getting some lo!ing +rom 5ilicon
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Calley( ;n &#ne, 'ai and *# were in 5an 4rancisco schmooBing with 1(5( in!estors and +ac#lty +rom 5tan+ord and the 1ni!ersity o+ 2ali+ornia, Ber$ley( 'hey attended the /a#nch Ed#cation 2on+erence, an e!ent hosted by Microso+t where ,romising start#,s in the +ield got a chance to mingle with a who s who o+ 2ali+ornia s tech ind#stry( 5till, 2anadian in!estors seem to be warming #, to the idea that there s money to be made o#t o+ the digitaliBation o+ ed#cation( Growth*or$s Atlantic, a retail !ent#re ca,ital management com,any that concentrates on Atlantic 2anada, doesn t normally +oc#s on the b#siness o+ ed#cation, b#t in 2009 it di,,ed its toes in the ed-tech sector with an in!estment in ABor#s ;nc(, a Hali+aI-based com,any that hel,s #ni!ersities connect with ,ros,ecti!e st#dents and im,ro!e their enrollment rates(

By Erica Alini, Maclean's | October 29, 2012

'he com,any is recei!ing great interest +rom #ni!ersities in the 1(3( Decent c#ts to higher ed#cation +#nding there are ma$ing college a,,licants more selecti!e and heightening com,etition among schools trying to attract a,,licants, according to Growth*or$s Atlantic 2EO 'om Hayes( )*e !e been !ery ,leased,. he says, )we re ,retty b#llish abo#t where that might ta$e #s(. Works Cited
Alini, Eric( Canadian Business; Ed Tech Sector is Booming. October 29, 2012( htt,EJJwww(canadianb#siness(comJ articleJ10::%:--ed-tech-sector-isbooming 7accessed 6o!ember 1", 20128(

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