EduCanon Leans On Accelerators For Growth

A group of teachers got together a few years ago to launch an edtech company. Their strategy of seeking help and joining accelerators in every corner of the country helped push the company's product into the hands of over 100,000 teachers. 

EduCanon recently graduated from AT&T’s Aspire Accelerator, one of several business programs and collaborative environments that’s helped the startup grow quickly, says founder Ben Levy, here with co-founder Sue Germer. EduCanon has been through GSVLabs in DC, LearnLaunch accelerator in Boston, 1776 (winning its first Challenge Cup) in DC, and Stanford’s StartX Accelerator. The DC-based startup, whose product is used by teachers to create and share interactive video lessons, was one of five chosen (out of 345 applicants) to participate in AT&T’s program, which included a small investment, counseling, access to tech experts and mentorship. 

Ben, whose third co-founder is Swaroop Raju, says Aspire gave the company an opportunity to talk to big companies, double its traction, build out a business model and hire three sales people. The plan for the next six months is to use the new business model to grow and focus on the K-12 market. EduCanon has raised $300k and may raise a seed round once the business model is tested, says Ben. For now, the company is splitting its time between Silicon Valley and DC. 

EduCanon already counts over 100 school districts as paying customers, including public schools in DC, Virginia Beach and Alexandria. Some inbound interest is also coming from the higher ed market, including Loyola and the University of Maryland. Ben says the company will soon start to target the higher ed business and eventually expand into corporate training.