I run a website called “EdTech of the Week,” where I provide weekly analyses of edtech startups and their offerings. When I started my column on the Bett Blog in October 2024, there were 100 edtech companies analyzed; today, just over a year later, there are already more than 300.

When looking at this group, it’s impossible not to notice that the vast majority are from the United States. Those who work in education, technology, and the intersection of the two fields tend to look to the U.S. as their primary point of reference. And for good reason: the U.S. is home to the largest number of edtech companies and resources, dominates rankings and conferences, and, in a way, shapes the global perception of educational innovation.

When we look at the economic landscape and income distribution, there is little in common between Brazil and the United States. Furthermore, we must remember that Brazil is home to several “countries” within itself, with differences in culture, income, and language. Treating it as a homogeneous nation would be a mistake. Low levels of digitization, cultural and contextual diversity, and a limited domestic market are characteristics found in our country. If we want educational technologies that serve everyone, we need to look at the different realities around the world.

These infrastructure and connectivity challenges are shared by many countries in the Global South, from Latin America to Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. It was based on this observation that a question arose in my mind: why not turn our research focus toward the Global South? Giving greater prominence to edtech companies that engage with our reality could reveal new points of reference and models that are more closely aligned with our context.

Different aspects of these regions can offer different lessons. In Latin America and Southeast Asia, the domestic market is still limited and lacks the scale to sustain corporate growth on its own. This is largely due to the low levels of digitalization in these regions. Therefore, with rare exceptions, edtech companies in these markets need to view the internationalization of their products and services as an essential expansion strategy.

One example is the Colombian company TOMi, which offers interactive lessons to schools without internet access. Founded in 2019, the company has already distributed 20,000 devices across five continents and more than 30 countries, including Guatemala, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Kenya, and the United Arab Emirates. The device functions as a local hotspot capable of connecting up to 80 devices simultaneously, eliminating the need for an external connection. Because it is a universally applicable piece of hardware, independent of cultural context, its model is highly scalable.

In addition, it incorporates features such as character recognition for automatic test grading, presentation creation, and content review, further expanding its potential for global application.

Meanwhile, in Brazil, edtech companies tend to believe that, because we have a domestic market with a large population, that will be enough. However, when we consider that: a) most are focusing on the private market, which accounts for only 20% of students; b) the average transaction value is much lower than in countries of the Global North; and c) an edtech company is not only competing with those that do the same thing as it does, but also with edtechs operating in other sectors—it is important to understand that it may be wise to be prepared for the possibility of eventual international expansion.

But of course, there are sectors where navigating the differences in culture, language, and context is more complex when expanding operations to other countries. One interesting example is Bee Readers, a Chilean startup that uses artificial intelligence to adapt texts to each student’s reading level, with versions in Spanish and English. Also present in Mexico and the United States, the platform already reaches 250,000 students and 20,000 educators.

Another company worth highlighting for its ability to adapt its technology to different languages is Ambani, a South African edtech company specializing in interactive books with augmented reality, available in 15 African languages. Since its inception, the company has embraced the principle of multilingualism and, like Bee Readers, recognizes the importance of linguistic resources in expanding the reach of its solutions. Its technology architecture was designed to scale independently of language, enabling a more inclusive expansion.

See also:

• How Data Can Humanize School Management
• Challenges and Opportunities of AI in Education
• Educational Assessments in a World Dominated by Artificial Intelligence

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the population’s low average income and limited connectivity mean that local entrepreneurship makes educational inclusion a central principle in the design of solutions.

A good example is Rori, a startup from Sierra Leone that developed a chatbot for teaching math via WhatsApp, using AI to interact with students and teachers. By leveraging a technology that is widely used in people’s daily lives, the platform is able to reach 150,000 students in Sierra Leone, Ghana, Rwanda, Nigeria, and Kenya.

Ubongo, based in Tanzania, develops educational programs focused on numeracy, health, social-emotional skills, and literacy, reaching 32 million African households, translated into 12 languages, and distributed in 41 countries. In settings with limited educational resources, television still has a significant impact, and Ubongo harnesses this potential responsibly by limiting screen time in accordance with international standards, so as not to replace other forms of learning.

India, on the other hand, presents a whole new level of scale and complexity. With 1.4 billion people, the country has a highly diverse market, with 22 official languages recognized by the Constitution and tens of thousands of other spoken languages and dialects. It was in this context that Wadhwani AI emerged , developing technology capable of assessing children’s reading fluency and generating simple reports that are also accessible offline.

The system recognizes speech even on basic cell phones, making it particularly well-suited for low- and middle-income countries. Because it does not rely on advanced equipment, the solution works well in areas with poor infrastructure: a clear example of innovation tailored to local conditions.

The Middle East offers us another kind of learning experience. Alef Education, based in the United Arab Emirates, is an adaptive platform that brings together content in various subjects—such as English, Arabic, math, science, social studies, and Islamic studies—through exercises, videos, and interactive games. Founded in 2016, the company originated from a contract with the Abu Dhabi Education Council and currently derives 55% of its revenue from the government. It operates in multiple languages—English, Arabic, Bahasa (Indonesian), Uzbek, Hindi, Urdu (Pakistan and India), Spanish, Portuguese, and Malay—and is present in countries as diverse as Indonesia and Morocco, reaching more than 1 million users in 14,000 schools.

The case of Alef Education demonstrates the strategic role that governments can play in promoting educational technology when investment is aligned with local culture and public policies on learning.

By understanding the scope and unique characteristics of these markets, we can view edtech companies in the Global South as sources of insight into how to implement educational technologies in diverse contexts.

The Global South is far from being merely a passive consumer of technology; it is also a hub of creativity and innovation, where solutions designed for complex realities emerge and, increasingly, offer valuable responses to the challenges of contemporary education.

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