The Bay was a unique non-profit organization based in Lincoln, Nebraska, that provided a welcoming third space community for kids who did not fit in, affectionately known as misfits. The Bay grew to include a hang out, skate park, music venue, and art gallery, and it partnered with the public school system to offer diplomas and gap year education. By 2025, having successfully served Lincoln youth for over a decade, the charismatic founder, Mike Smith, .....more

Faced with a lagging domestic tech industry, serial entrepreneur Diyor Latipov needed to determine the next steps of his technology education for kids start-up, Unicode. Founded during Uzbekistan’s tech boom in 2021, Unicode taught coding basics to over 500 children ages 4 to 18 in a three-year period and developed a self-sustaining business-to-business model. In April 2024, Uzbekistan’s tech bubble had burst. Faced with budget cuts, schools were .....more

The COVID-19 pandemic abruptly disrupted school education in India, prompting the Ministry of Education to repurpose DIKSHA, a pre-existing digital platform for teacher training, as the country’s primary channel for remote learning. The platform scaled rapidly, reaching millions of students and teachers, and emerged as a national success story in crisis-driven digital innovation. When schools fully reopened, the Ministry of Education faced a strategic .....more

In 2023, generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications such as ChatGPT were proving to be transformative in many industries, bringing the potential of AI to common users across many industries. The AI-based education technology (edtech) start-up Flint Inc. (Flint), based in San Francisco, faced competitive pressures as well as heightened customer interest at this time. As the founding team was working to develop its flagship platform, technology .....more

The case of LinguaVerse LLP revolves around the unravelling of a promising entrepreneurial venture due to a misaligned partnership. The founder, Joseph Mathew, driven by a passion for cross-cultural communication, initially thrived with Jay Rai, a charismatic sales partner whose efforts helped the company scale rapidly. However, differing values and expectations around financial management, ethical business practices, and leadership styles soon caused .....more

Dr. Bijayashree Satpathy, the founder of Agzistence, a digital platform offering industry-aligned certification courses in agricultural education, faced a difficult challenge. Despite growing recognition of the need for industry-readiness among agriculture students in India, Agzistence struggled to attract consistent student enrolment on its knowledge platform. The case explores the challenges Agzistence faced in dealing with limited awareness about .....more

In 2015, a Vietnamese entrepreneur formulated a business idea to create a digital window into children’s classrooms that would not only inform parents but also engage and reassure them throughout the day. By late 2016, KidsOnline One Member Company Limited (KidsOnline) had been launched and the company had created an app. However, the founder and her team still had many critical strategic questions to answer: How could KidsOnline go about adapting .....more

The case highlights the evolution of ISL, a non-profit based in India, which aimed to empower disadvantaged communities through innovative education and technology. Its founder and executive director, Leo Joseph, was conscious of the importance for ISL to evolve, making its offering as targeted and impactful as possible. The net promoter score ratings from ISL’s last two community changemakers programs were extremely high—96.5 per cent—but Joseph .....more

Byju’s was founded in 2011 under the company name Think and Learn Pvt. Ltd. in the Indian city of Bengaluru. The 2015 launch of the Byju’s Learning App helped transform kindergarten to grade 12 education in India. With capital funding from major investors, the company achieved unicorn status by 2017, reaching a valuation of US$1 billion. Between 2018 and 2021, the company scaled up rapidly through high-profile acquisitions. At its peak, Byju’s employed .....more

Launched in 2021 by the Punjab Information Technology Board Pakistan, Regional Plan9 (RP9) aimed to foster entrepreneurship in secondary cities by establishing nine incubation centres throughout Punjab. These centres supported start-ups with mentorship, networking opportunities, office space, and financial assistance. Despite its early achievements, RP9 faced an uncertain future due to the impending withdrawal of funding. The original funding, provided .....more