United States education technology - Canadian Technology Accelerator

The Education Tech (EdTech) Canadian Technology Accelerator (CTA) is a seven-month hybrid program meant to accelerate the business development of high-growth potential startup companies in the United States (US).

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Important dates

Benefits of joining

The CTA will give you:

• A deeper understanding of the K -12 education market in the US via curated webinars and workshop sessions
• Coaching via company-specific strategy sessions with a market expert to make insights actionable
• Develop your company's marketing and sales strategies and prepare to pitch your product to superintendents through the in-person component of the program.
• Access to program partner's innovative platform that gives participating companies a central hub for resources and access to the CTA network, providing 24/7 access to key intelligence such as US education policy, federal funding, and state-level insights.
• An in-person program at the Education Research and Development Winter Institute, to pitch solutions directly to school district superintendents and decision makers

Who should apply

Companies must be student-oriented solutions targeted at the K-12 public school market and be interested in expanding into the United States. We are looking for high-potential, scale-up stage companies that provide:

• Supplemental programs and instructional software: Plugs into an existing comprehensive program and is not designed to be the sole instructional resource for a subject or course. Instead, supplementary materials complement, enrich, or extend the content of comprehensive resources. This can be software or resources that support classroom instruction. It can be core or supplemental but must be a standalone digital solution.
• Data and administrative tools: Software that configures and runs data pipelines and collects configuration data or facilitates improvements in school and district administration. It may be an assessment tool or an LMS-type solution
• Professional learning: Providing professional development that advances the careers and capabilities of teachers, leaders, and other K-12-based personnel working with students.

Your company must be able to demonstrate traction and have:

• Three to five school implementations in Canada or the US
• At least two years of experience servicing customers
• Primary product elements out of beta
• Can dedicate two team members consistently to the six-month engagement
• Preferably some recurring revenues

The Trade Commissioner Service supports equity, diversity, and inclusion in trade. We strongly encourage companies led by Canadians of all backgrounds to apply.

What you need to apply

How the program works

The CTA program will be delivered using a hybrid model, including both virtual and in-person programming. The program includes:

•  20+ hours of Workshops with US Education experts
•  8+ hours of 1:1 mentorship and strategy sessions
•  1:1 connections with program alumni and other Canadian EdTech leaders
•  Access to the ERDI Winter Institute in Palm Springs, California. This includes one week of in-person B2B meetings with US-based superintendents, and edtech leaders.

Testimonials

"The accelerator gave us new ideas and tactics to implement and try around research, ambassador programs, and more. It gave us a lot of information we didn't have previously re: Funding in the USA."

"For us, it was imperative to understand the process from start to finish (lead gen to onboarding). The sessions were very detailed and addressed all the necessary steps. Our highlight was finalizing a 7-year contract (through RFP) that overlapped with our time during the program".

"Through our participation in the program with RYE and our interactions at ERDI, we've pinpointed a significant need among school districts for our offering of helping teacher automate their joyless administrative tasks. This validation from potential customers confirms the alignment of our product with the current needs of educational institutions and is currently helping us refine our product and communication strategy."

"Navigating Funding and K12 Sales [workshops] taught us new things that we can take action on. One-on-one meetings about building a sales team were valuable because we've been exploring this recently and they were able to give us expert opinions and new ideas."

Contact us

Learn more about this program by contacting:

Isabella Schilpp
Senior Trade Commissioner and Program Co-Director
Canadian Technology Accelerator: Los Angeles
Canada's Trade Commissioner Service
isabella.schilpp@international.gc.ca

Safia Morsly-Fikai
Senior Trade Commissioner and Program Co-Director
Canadian Technology Accelerator: New York
Canada's Trade Commissioner Service
safia.morsly-fikai@international.gc.ca