2026 Australia & New Zealand EdTech 50

The Australia & New Zealand EdTech 50 is aligned to the Global Learning Landscape, an Open-Source Taxonomy that maps the education and talent market

K-12 and Workforce Organisations lead the Cohort

K-12 Education is back on top, accounting for 36% of the 2026 cohort versus Workforce Training's 34%, a narrow lead, but a lead nonetheless. Curriculum and content are back in focus as predicted earlier in earlier trends reports: Spellcaster gamifies spelling for ages 9–15 through a fantasy lesson-planning platform, Ripyl delivers digital engagement tools for commerce subjects, and Careerwise runs a career discovery hub built directly for schools and students. On the support side, TeacherGPT builds AI lesson-planning tools tuned to the New Zealand curriculum specifically, a sign that even in a regional list, "localized" can mean even more for learner-facing products.

Early Childhood Education, meanwhile, holds a modest 10% of the cohort, up from 8% last year, but a smaller and steadier gain than early data suggested. Mana is building AI-powered tools for early learning, OWNA continues expanding its childcare management platform, and marketplace players like Kindello round out a persistent category.

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Exhibit 2. 2026 ANZ EdTech 50 alignment with the Global Learning Landscape Taxonomy

Workforce Training has overtaken K-12

A long-anticipated crossover, workforce and training startups have edged past K–12 in volume capturing 42% of this year’s cohort. This six-year climb mirrors the global pivot to employability and upskilling. For founders and funders, the future of education is employability. Partnerships, investment, and fresh ideas lead the way in this sector. For example, Go1, a 9+ year old B2B business, didn’t report a cash injection this year, but partnered with Decidr to build AI into its on-demand training platform. Peeplcoach, GetMee and Maxme are Career Support platforms with recent deals, and Mypass Global is worth noting again, as workforce compliance via skills passports are steadily being adopted as employers increasingly accept new credentials for employability metrics.

Exhibit 3. 2020-2026 ANZ EdTech 50 - Cohort Distribution by Sector

New Zealand doubles its footprint.

New Zealand startups claim 32% of the cohort, double the seven-or-eight-company showing New Zealand has typically had in recent years. Komodo, a Christchurch-based student wellbeing platform, raised $680K in a November 2025, and Kai's Education, an AR/VR coding robot maker for Pakuranga kids, picked up $890K. Regional returning players in K12 are seen in the cohort and newcomers like  Arq Innovation, Nextwork, and Supahuman stretch into the workforce and post-secondary. ‍

Career support and K-12 support tie for the lead sub-sector.

K12 Support and Career Support & Development are now tied as the cohort's largest sub-sectors, each accounting for 12% of the fifty. On the K-12 side, Success Tutoring continues expanding its English and math tutoring services globally, while Komodo and Teacher's Buddy round out a support cluster focused on wellbeing and teacher capacity rather than content delivery.  In Workforce, Peeplcoach, Maxme, and TEX.inc are all coaching- and mentoring-led plays targeting leadership and soft-skills development, a sign that “support," not curriculum, is where ANZ founders currently see a critical need.

Exhibit 4. 2020-2026 ANZ EdTech 50 - Cohort Distribution by Sub-Sector

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Consumer models catch up to enterprise for the first time.

B2C startups now make up 50% of the cohort, matching B2B for the first time. Direct-to-learner and direct-to-professional plays growing with companies such as GetMee, who launched an AI coaching program at universities in Yucatán and partnered with Y Careers on a coaching platform; Teacher's Buddy, an AI assistant built to give educators time back, closed two seed rounds in five months; and MarsLadder and Polymath are both betting that direct-to-parent, consumer-grade, game-like math products can out-compete institutional procurement cycles. Enterprise has its place; for example, Sonder still landed the cohort's largest raise, providing institution wellness services, but the market is favoring direct sales over institutional procurement cycles, likely to demonstrate outcomes sooner.

Exhibit 5. 2020-2026 ANZ EdTech 50 - Business Model Distribution

Age is about staying steady and relevant.

Nearly half the 2026 list is between four and six years old, a notably younger skew than in recent years when the ecosystem was seen as aging in place. At the youngest end, Red Velvet AI, founded in 2025 to remove barriers to workforce upskilling represents a fresh wave of entrants. At the other end, the veterans aren't sitting still PeopleBench (2017) acquired the Resilience @ Work Framework in April 2026, and Edalex (2016) integrated its openRSD Library into Muzzy Lane's SkillBuild platform and partnered with a Canadian firm. Longevity in this cohort looks less like full scale and more like buying & building capability.

Exhibit 6. 2020-2026 ANZ EdTech 50 - Age of Organisation

Track the 2026 Cohort

Customers can track the data for the most promising EdTech startups in the region on the HolonIQ by QS Analytics Platform. Look for the 2026 Australia and New Zealand EdTech 50 list and double click into the data behind the charts. Request a Demo if you are not a customer and would like to learn more.