🚀 AI at Work: $4B Synthesia, Workday’s new AI play, and the 2025 SE Asia EdTech 50. See you at Reimagine Dec 1-3 🇬🇧
Synthesia’s $4B valuation and Workday’s Sana Labs deal show how fast AI is becoming core to workforce learning. Investors and Innovation and more at Reimagine Education in just a few weeks.
Hello 👋
Alphabet’s $200M investment in Synthesia, valuing the AI video firm at $4B, and Workday’s acquisition of Sana Labs both show how quickly AI is becoming embedded in workforce learning. These platforms promise to cut production time, streamline compliance, and deliver scalable, branded learning experiences—no L&D team or design skills required. With estimates claiming that 90% of knowledge workers in India and China are already using generative AI at work, adoption is accelerating fastest where productivity gains are clearest.
As enterprises normalize AI-created content and workflows, education institutions are facing the same tension: how far can AI go in learning before it risks replacing the human connection that makes learning meaningful?
Asia leads global workplace GenAI adoption
👉 Explore global AI and workforce learning trends on the HolonIQ Analytics Platform.
🏆 The 2025 Southeast Asia EdTech 50
Each year, HolonIQ by QS identifies the 1000 most promising EdTech startups globally. Region by region, we build a picture of each market and how technology is used in education, from PreK to Lifelong Upskilling. This week, we are announcing the 2025 Southeast Asia EdTech 50
The 2025 Southeast Asia EdTech 50 spotlights the region’s most promising education technology startups, reflecting a maturing ecosystem anchored by Singapore and powered by innovation in Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand. Nearly half the cohort focuses on K–12 learning, while workforce and skills solutions maintain strong momentum. Direct-to-consumer models dominate, underscoring a vast learner market, as mid-stage companies drive depth and scalability across the sector.
Drawing on data from HolonIQ’s Global Analytics Platform, the list highlights Southeast Asia’s growing strength in foundational learning, digital education infrastructure, and workforce upskilling as the region’s EdTech market continues to evolve and expand.
Check out the analysis here. If you are a customer, access the full list on the platform! Want Access? Reach out for a demo.
🌍 Reimagine brings together the capital and creativity driving the next wave of learning innovation.
🇬🇧 London, UK. 1-3 December
Register today!
Whether you’re investing in the future of education or building it, Reimagine is where ideas, partners, and opportunities align across higher education and workforce ecosystems.
Are you an investor and looking for a curated experience?
Connect with our team directly (serena@qs.com) for opportunities that align with your thesis.
⭐ AI & Digital Innovation Spotlight
⚛ Cengage Group has expanded its partnership with AWS to develop scalable AI solutions in education, combining AWS’s AI technologies with Cengage’s expertise in learning design.
🤝 Cintana Education, Arizona State University (ASU), and AWS have launched a global partnership to develop open-source agentic AI tools for higher education, centred on student developers and a network of 33 partner universities across 28 countries.
⚙️ Firstsource Solutions has signed a strategic MoU with Monash University to co-develop next-generation AI solutions and integrate real-world research into scalable applications, and provide Monash students with internships and placements.
🤝 Policy & Partnerships
🔠 Anthropic has partnered with the Ministry of Education and Children of Iceland to launch a national AI education pilot. All teachers in Iceland will gain access to the AI system Claude for lesson planning, differentiated learning, and administrative tasks.
✨ British Council has launched Ai BC, an AI-powered engine that enables English learners to practise speaking through simulated conversations and receive real-time feedback on grammar, vocabulary, fluency, and clarity.
🌡️ Disrupt‑X, Intel, and Taaleem have partnered to deploy ClimaCert‑X, an AI-driven certification and auditing platform for education, and will be implemented at Taaleem’s schools to monitor safety, air, and water quality, and operational sustainability in real time.
💪 Power Moves & Funding
🎥 Synthesia, a UK-based AI video generation company, secured $200M in funding to transform corporate video training and marketing worldwide.
🛡️ SimSpace, a US-based AI-powered instructional support solution, closed a $39M to expand its AI-powered cyber range capabilities, strengthening enterprise cyber readiness amid escalating AI-driven threats.
🎓 Flint, a US-based AI-powered instructional support, raised $15M to scale its AI-native teaching platform, designed to deliver personalized learning experiences and empower teachers across all subjects.
💼 RePlayce, a career education startup from Greece, raised $11.7M to advance its mission of enhancing student employability through interactive career learning programs.
🤖 VideoTutor, an AI-powered tutoring firm, secured $11M to expand its operations and development, partner with universities, and enhance its AI models.
