🥽 XR goes to work. 🏆 Announcing the 2025 Australia & New Zealand EdTech 50. Join us for Reimagine Education 🇬🇧.

Hello 👋

Extended reality and Immersive learning is fast becoming a cornerstone of workforce development, moving from tech-hype to hands-on impact. AI-enhanced XR platforms like Transfr Train and VR Vision are shaping how learners build technical and soft skills through adaptive, simulated experiences. Universities are following suit; for example, Maryland’s Smart Surgical Performance Center blends AI, robotics, and simulation to advance clinical training, while companies like zSpace are extending XR into industrial settings. Immersive learning is becoming critical infrastructure for skills-based training across industries. As employers face widening skill gaps and demand faster, measurable upskilling, XR offers a scalable bridge between education and real-world performance.

Explore the Education XR Market Map to see who’s shaping the future of experiential learning.

Extended Reality in Education Market Map

If you aren't already a customer and want full access to these insights, click here for a demo.

🏆 The 2025 Australia & New Zealand 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 revisiting the 50 most promising EdTech startups in Australia and New Zealand.

Innovation meets impact in learning, teaching, and upskilling. This year’s cohort reflects a maturing ecosystem: deeper partnerships, smarter infrastructure, and sharper focus on employability. From AI-powered coaching to immersive XR tools, these are the companies shaping education technology across Australia and New Zealand.

Check out the analysis here. If you are a customer, access the full list on the platform! Want Access? Reach out for a demo.

🌍 Join University Leaders at Reimagine Education Awards & Conference 2025 🇬🇧 London, UK

Register today - Early Bird pricing finishes this Friday!

Don't miss the premier forum for educational innovation, technology, and transformation—spanning all sectors, with a strong focus on higher education and workforce development.

You’ll hear directly from the leaders impacting global education: visionary university heads, founders of promising EdTechs, forward-looking investors, and policymakers driving innovation. Reimagine Education brings together this dynamic mix of global stakeholders to share insights, challenges, and what’s next. Whether you’re transforming your institution, building the next breakthrough in learning technology, or crafting policy for the future, this is your platform to engage, learn, and lead.

⭐ AI & Digital Innovation Spotlight

⚛  Google has launched the “AI Literacy Hub,” a centralized platform offering AI learning tools and resources for parents, students and educators, featuring resources, such as curriculum and game-based experiences, that assist in AI literacy teaching.

🤝 Hugging Face partnered with DataCamp to launch the “Hugging Face Fundamentals” interactive skills track, offering browser-based courses, such as Working with Hugging Face, Introduction to LLMs in Python, Multi-Modal Models, and AI Agents.

⚙️ Cengage has launched a new curriculum that blends foundational AI concepts, video assignments, and instant feedback tools to build students’ AI literacy across disciplines and prepare them to engage with AI in the workforce.

🤝 Policy & Partnerships

🧑‍💻 A new cybersecurity apprenticeship programme has been launched in Ireland for local government staff, featuring a 70% on-the-job and 30% off-the-job training split.

🏫 OpenAI released a Workforce Blueprint, a framework that recommends providing access to AI tools and training, using AI for job matching and re-skilling, and building local AI talent hubs aligned with infrastructure investments.

🤖 Workforce Solutions Borderplex and SuperCity AI have launched a apprenticeship program named SuperForce AI Apprenticeship, designed to train participants in coding foundations, APIs, machine learning and real-world AI project experience.

💪 Power Moves & Funding

⚡ Arizona State University (ASU) and Intel have partnered to develop a course for Intel's employees to learn the latest skills in semiconductor device physics and engineering.

🗣️ SpeakX, an Indian English learning platform, raised $16M to expand its platform across India.

🖥️ Learning Pool, a UK-based digital learning provider, acquired WorkRamp to strengthen its presence and market reach in the United States.

🏫 K12 Coalition, a US-based educator support solutions provider, acquired Keys to Literacy and Professional Development Institute to drive positive student outcomes.

👶 OWNA, an Australian childcare management platform, acquired Juice Technologies to expand its offerings in the early childcare space.