Redefining Learning Forum

Key topic

Evidence, Trust, and Market Signalling - What Truly Drives Investment Decisions?

In the last session, we saw how evidence shapes trust and decision-making in EdTech.

This session builds on that discussion by exploring how evidence, trust, and signalling mechanisms effectively influence investment decisions and market confidence across the sector.

• EdTech companies often struggle to define and demonstrate meaningful evidence. The language of ‘evidence’ is confusing.
• Buyers, schools and institutions often face challenges determining what constitutes credible proof of impact/KPIs. Many frameworks who to trust and why.
• There is currently no industry-wide agreement on evidence definitions and/or standards.
• There is a need for evidence literacy
• Even when strong evidence exists, it is often difficult to access in particular when working with corporate clients due to:
• Reluctance from customers to share data
• Risk of damaging commercial relationships
• Startups often lack clarity on what data to collect and how to present it
• Demonstrating clear ROI remains particularly important when selling to senior leadership and executive-level stakeholders.
• Disconnect between traction and proven impact
• Difficulty translating usage data into meaningful outcomes

• The funding gap is about fit. Many EdTech companies are sound, steadily growing businesses that don’t match VC’s growth and exit model. Seen as a human-development business, closer to sport and healthcare than to consumer tech, EdTech points towards patient capital aligned to people and place, such as philanthropic and impact funding, public–private partnerships and recoverable funding models.
• Shared milestones could connect founders, funders and ecosystem support. A common set of progress markers could show founders what to aim for, help support providers target their help and give investors clearer evidence of progress. This also makes milestone-based funding possible.
• The story matters as much as the instrument. Startups need to articulate their investment case early, since fundraising can take a year and the sector needs a shared story about why these businesses are worth backing. Differences in storytelling culture between the US and Europe offer something to learn from.
• Other sectors and regions have tested models worth borrowing. Health’s innovation networks (London), company-led mergers in Catalonia and public-sector challenge programmes such as Scotland's CivTech show how collaboration can reduce risk. Investors still look for demand that outlasts any single policy initiative. Exchanging knowledge across sectors and borders is itself part of the answer.