BrazilBrazil dominates Latin America's EdTech investment scene
The education technology (EdTech) scene in Brazil is booming and investments are expected to continue making stars of local companies in the sector.
With the largest economy in Latin America, it is no surprise Brazil leads the way in EdTech compared with the rest of the region. The EdTech sector is set to continue to grow with potentially more big investments destined for the BRICS country, according to a report from L.E.K. Consulting.
Investment in EdTech has been booming around the world since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The report identified six segments of the EdTech sector in Brazil that are particularly attractive for investors. Courseware, upskilling, online tutoring, learning management systems, online English learning, and higher education top the list.
Some recent high-profile investment deals have put Brazil at the top of the list for the largest investments in EdTech in Latin America. From 2017 to 20122, 13 investments in digital courseware companies were worth a total of around $689 million and 20 deals with corporate training companies were worth about $235 million.
Notable examples include: venture capital firm Base Partners acquired ~11% of upskill startup Trybe in its series B funding round in 2021, while private equity firm General Atlantic acquired ~37% of Arco, a digital courseware company, in a deal worth around $122 million in 2022.
Brazil also had a larger number of deals than other Latin American companies in the EdTech sector in recent years, together worth hundreds of millions of dollars. 2020 and 2021 saw the most deals yet – and more investment is likely to follow in 2023.
The report from L.E.K. Consulting identified 41 potentially strong EdTech companies across several Latin American markets, with upskilling being a major segment of the sector. These key companies, with the majority based in Brazil, are at different stages of their lifespan, but all share a record of successful fundraising and scaling up.
Brazil shows promising growth in technology in general – and the country is not just a regional player. The Brazilian tech industry as a whole has been performing strongly compared with other major tech stocks, two-thirds of which are still trading below pre-pandemic levels.
