According to research by the World Economic Forum and PwC, half of all employees worldwide will need reskilling by 2025. Indeed, due to factors such as rising populations and significant technological advances, many jobs are being reconfigured. Furthermore, as a result of the rise in new digital tools, it’s estimated that 60% of all talent will need to be upskilled in the next five years. Although a significant chunk of the edtech market targets student learning, corporate learning is increasingly leveraging edtech solutions, namely due to these factors.

Indeed, employers are recognising the importance of training and upskilling their workforce. Beyond the need to ensure their employees’ skills stay up-to-date, training also plays a growing role in employee satisfaction and engagement. Moreover, employers increasingly understand that old training methods provide little effectiveness. The Covid-19 pandemic helped boost the adoption of digital training tools such as VR and e-learning apps.

On the other hand, employees are increasingly demanding better training from their employers. Various surveys have shown many workers are fearful that automation will make cost them their job. At the same time, the World Economic Forum estimates 97 million new roles may emerge in the future, more adapted to the division of labour between humans and machines. As a result, upskilling these workers on new digital tools can help them better prepare for an increasingly digital future. Aside from this, generational factors also play a role. For example, a US-based survey showed 84% of Millennials view an employer’s development and training offering as an important consideration when accepting a job.

In this infographic, we look at some key trends and recent news in the edtech space when it comes to employee training. We also highlight a few startups offering innovative solutions to help train the workforce of tomorrow.

What is Edtech?

Before we delve any deeper into the topic, let’s briefly define what exactly edtech is. Edtech, short for education technology, involves the use of software and/or hardware to facilitate learning. The technologies edtech companies develop generally follow educational theory to achieve the best results. As training and education continues to become more digital, edtech solutions help ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of digital learning. The edtech sector has namely brought many benefits, such as more personalised learning tools that can adapt to each individual’s level and learning needs.

Recent trends illustrating the rise of Edtech for corporate learning

A plethora of recent research and surveys have highlighted the growing role of edtech in corporate learning and its benefits:

• The global e-learning market is projected to be worth $1 trillion by 2027

• 59% of French employers cite efficiency as why they opted for digital training for their employees, according to Bpifrance

• Over 40% of UK employers plan on increasing their investments in training

• 60% of employees that underwent gamified training increased their productivity

• 67% of surveyed companies use mobile learning for their employee training programmes

3 startups to watch

The edtech sector was among those that experienced a significant boost in VC funding throughout 2021. On a global scale, they raised $20bn in 2021. 62% of those deals were mega rounds. If we look at Europe, edtech startups raised $2.5bn in 2021, triple the amount in 2020.

Futur Composé, one of Early Metrics’ rated startups, develops Dokki, a micro-learning platform for employees. Employers can easily transform their trainings into short, easy-to-digest learning sessions (30 seconds to 15 minutes). The app is also gamified, with quizzes, videos, games and simulations to further facilitate the retention of information.

Immersive Factory, another one of our rated startups, develops VR-based employee training for health and safety purposes, tu reduce accidents and improve security. The immersive VR training experience helps employees learn more effectively and safely simulate their reaction to risky situations.

Sharpist develops in-app coaching and e-learning for employees. The startup uses a machine learning algorithm to match employees with the best coach based on their needs. Each employee has a personalised learning plan and corporates can closely track engagement and progress levels.