Venture capitalists chat edtech’s new normal after COVID-19

There’s no doubt that the coronavirus has had a monumental impact on the way we deem technology’s relationship with education. For now, students are learning from home. But what happens when they return to school?
Picking up where we left off in last week’s survey, we asked top investors in the cavity for their projections on what is ahead once life resumes to its brand-new normal. One investor mentioned how in March, they devoted a third of their time in edtech. Now, they’re spending almost all their time vetting startups there. Another said that the sector has always been underfunded. Time will tell if venture capitalists become more bullish on the various sectors, and more importantly, if following from schools with strict plans becomes more lenient.
A coarse statistic parts the dynamic of adoption and financing pretty well: according to Tetyana Astashkina and Jean Hammond of Learn Launch, less than 5% of the $1.6 trillion spent on education in the U.S. is attributed to edtech. Let’s see if other investors considered that percentage will change forward after the pandemic ceases.
Jenny Lee, GGV Tetyana Astashkina, LearnLaunch Jean Hammond, LearnLaunch Marlon Nichols, MaC Venture Capital Mercedes Bent, Lightspeed Venture Partners
Jennifer Carolan, Reach Capital Shauntel Garvey, Reach Capital Jan Lynn-Matern, Emerge Education Tory Patterson, Owl Capital Ian Chiu, Owl Capital Tony Wang, 500 Startups
Their responses have been edited for segment and clarity.
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