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Physics Wallah Makes Its First Overseas Acquisition With UAE-Based EdTech Knowledge Planet

By
Jaswinder Singh
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Physics Wallah Makes Its First Overseas Acquisition With UAE-Based EdTech Knowledge Planet
Physics Wallah Makes Its First Overseas Acquisition With UAE-Based EdTech Knowledge Planet

India’s top online education technology platform, Physics Wallah, has recently acquired UAE-based K-12 online learning platform Knowledge Planet for an undisclosed sum, marking its first international acquisition. With this acquisition, Physics Wallah is looking to expand across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region in the coming year. It will also invest an undisclosed amount in the Dubai-based EdTech company.

The Delhi-based startup said in a statement while it will leverage Knowledge Planet’s school partnership machinery to reach students in UAE, Knowledge Planet will benefit from PW’s tech stack to strengthen its online and hybrid offerings. It will offer SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) preparation courses for students looking to move abroad for higher education in the Middle East.

Commenting on the acquisition, Founder & CEO of Physics Wallah, Alakh Pandey, said:

We are delighted to announce our very first international acquisition in the UAE. With 13 centres operating across the Middle East and a well-established school partnership model, Knowledge Planet, the most trusted exam preparation network, is the perfect brand to champion our foray into this promising market. This is a critical milestone in PW’s journey, and we are excited to welcome students from this region into the PW family.

Founded in 2011 by Monika Oli and Sachin Bharti Gupta, Knowledge Planet provides test preparation and training for major competitive exams such as JEE and NEET. Within seven years of the institution’s existence, the platform has fast emerged as the most trusted Entrance Exam preparation institute, with one of the fastest growth in student numbers over the last few years for any institute in the entire Gulf region. It has more than 2000 students from various Indian schools in the UAE studying with the startup at its education centres in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Ajman.

As part of the deal, Knowledge Planet’s founders will continue to lead the startup and scale its operations in the GCC region. Chief Executive Officer of Knowledge Planet said:

We are well-aligned with Alakh Pandey’s vision to offer high-quality education at scale in the Middle East. Our combined expertise will be able to add immense value to the test prep segment in UAE.

Started as a bootstrapped company in mid-2020 by Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari, Physics Wallah strives to develop a comprehensive pedagogical structure for students, where they get a state-of-the-art learning experience with study material and resources. Apart from catering for students preparing for JEE/NEET, the platform also provides study material for each state board, like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and others. The startup focuses on making the learning experience as economical as possible for all students.

For regular updates about Moodle, eLearning and edtech industry, please visit us regularly at https://lmsdaily.com. You can also like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, or Subscribe our YouTube Channel.

Canva is the winner of Edtech Madness 2023 challenge

By
Jaswinder Singh
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Canva is the winner of Edtech Madness 2023 challenge
Canva is the winner of Edtech Madness 2023 challenge

Canva – one of the best design tools available for the educators, has been nominated as the winner of Edtech Madness 2023 challenge. After a total of 30,000 votes on twitter, Canva became the choice of educators around the world.

The Edtech Madness 2023 challenge started among the top 16 best edtech tools available. The tools list includes Blooket, Quizizz, Pear Deck, Nearpod, Mote, Quizlet, Flip, Kami, Kahoot and many others. Quizziz has been selected as the runner up after missing narrowly to Canva.

Here is the tweet from Kyle Niemis:

Here are the reactions from the Edtech Community:

What are the other best edtech tools which you would like to be in the list above. How many of these, you are using for your online classroom.

For regular updates about Moodle, eLearning and edtech industry, please visit us regularly at https://lmsdaily.com. You can also like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, or Subscribe our YouTube Channel.

Moodle Plugins – Restrict course activities access based on cohorts

By
Jaswinder Singh
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Moodle Educators - Restrict course activities access based on cohorts
Moodle Educators - Restrict course activities access based on cohorts

Moodle LMS is used by more than 350 million users across the globe. The vast collection of Moodle plugins is one of the main reasons behind its popularity. There are more than 2,100 plugins contributed by the community in the official plugins directory. In this post we will see the Restriction by cohort Moodle plugin.

The Restriction by cohort Moodle plugin is an availability restriction plugin which allows you to restrict access to course activities, resources based on the cohorts. In Moodle, cohorts are site-wide or course category-wide groups which allows all members of the cohort to be easily enrolled in a course.

If you are looking for a solution to restrict course activities and resources to students who are part of a cohort, then this plugin is tailor made for you. As a teacher you can add the “cohort” availability condition to activities / resources / sections in your courses.

You can download the latest version of the Restriction by Cohort Moodle plugin from the official directory here. In case you are new to Moodle please check out this guide to learn how to install Moodle plugins.

Once installed, you can directly start using the plugin. All you need to do is to select the Cohort availability condition to activities and then choose the cohort in which students are a member in to access the activity / resource / section.

What are the other handy Moodle plugins which you are using on your Moodle site? Do share with us in the comments sections below.

For regular updates about Moodle, eLearning and edtech industry, please visit us regularly at https://lmsdaily.com. You can also like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, or Subscribe our YouTube Channel.

Join Ellucian Live 2023 from March 26-29, 2023 in New Orleans, LA

By
Jaswinder Singh
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Join Ellucian Live 2023 from March 26-29, 2023 in New Orleans, LA
Join Ellucian Live 2023 from March 26-29, 2023 in New Orleans, LA

Explore higher education’s greatest opportunities with future-ready ideas, solutions in the Ellucian Live 2023. The edtech conference is scheduled from March 26-29, 2023 in New Orleans, LA.

Leaders from institutions around the world will converge at Ellucian Live 2023 to discover game-changing solutions, industry insights, and powerful connections.

The 2023 conference themes includes:

  • Build Institutional Resilience
  • Empower Faculty and Staff
  • Accelerate Student Success
  • Drive Innovation

The registration for the Ellucian Live 2023 Edtech Conference is still ongoing. You can register your spot for the edtech event here.

Ellucian Live is the annual conference for the Ellucian community and offers an excellent opportunity to network, learn about our portfolio of solutions, and share ideas with more than 4,000 participants.

Check out the complete details about the event here.

For regular updates about Moodle, eLearning and edtech industry, please visit us regularly at https://lmsdaily.com. You can also like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, or Subscribe our YouTube Channel.

Internet Startup Maqsad Scores Pakistan’s Biggest Edtech Round

By
Jaswinder Singh
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Internet Startup Maqsad Scores Pakistan’s Biggest Edtech Round
Internet Startup Maqsad Scores Pakistan’s Biggest Edtech Round

The Karachi-based edtech company – Maqsad has raised $2.8 million in an oversubscribed seed round led by Speedinvest GmbH, one of Europe’s largest seed investors, and existing backer Indus Valley Capital, according to co-founder Rooshan Aziz. Stellar Capital, Alter Global and angel investors also participated.

Pakistan’s Maqsad raised the nation’s largest funding round by an education technology provider, showing that some startups in the nascent market are attracting investors despite a global venture financing slump.

Rooshan Aziz – co-founder of Maqsad said in an interview:

The ecosystem is going through a bit of a shake, but the companies which you know are solving fundamental basic problems, they’ll survive

Taha Ahmed, co-founder of Maqsad added:

This is an interesting time for edtech because globally the hype has kind of settled down after Covid. So only serious companies are being funded in this space.

The mobile-only service targets students on grades nine to twelve and offers cheaper rates than brick-and-mortar tutoring companies. Its services include a feature that allows students to take a photo of a question and receive an answer instantly.

The app has been downloaded more than a million times and it has answered 4 million queries in the past 6 months. The startup can impact millions of students and become one of the most successful businesses in Pakistan, said Philip Specht, a partner at Speedinvest, which has one edtech unicorn in its portfolio.

The startup was founded by high-school friends Taha Ahmed and Aziz, who went to the London School of Economics and worked in the city before returning to Karachi to start the venture. The startup will start monetization in the coming months and may partner with other public and private institutions, Aziz said.

For regular updates about Moodle, eLearning and edtech industry, please visit us regularly at https://lmsdaily.com. You can also like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, or Subscribe our YouTube Channel.

Tunisian EdTech Startup Shape Raises Undisclosed Amount of Funding From OTF

By
Jaswinder Singh
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Tunisian EdTech Startup Shape Raises Undisclosed Amount of Funding From OTF
Tunisian EdTech Startup Shape Raises Undisclosed Amount of Funding From OTF

Tunisian EdTech startup Shape has raised an undisclosed amount from The Oman Technology Fund (OTF).

Founded in 2021 by Rahma Abid, Shape has developed a digital platform that allows professionals to access continuous learning programs. The platform allows users to develop a personalized training plan that meets their career goals. The startup has more than one thousand users on its platform.

The Oman Technology Fund has been actively investing in North African startups. The fund has also participated in the financing of several Tunisian startups such as Galactech, SgharToon, Wattnow, Avidea, Seemba, Homzmart, Bekia, and SWVL.

Sharing how she started her journey, Founder & CEO of Shape, Rahma Abid, wrote on her LinkedIn page,

I started with a simple story on my Instagram account on September 29, 2021. I launched the first cohort in October 2021 with 12 candidates. I generated revenue from the first cohort. The first cohort was with Google Meet, Slack and Teachable. I had a lot of technical and logistical problems. I spent a lot of time with the candidates. I got sick. I had Covid for 20 days. The program was stopped for 20 days because, without me, the program doesn’t exist. I did the entire process by myself. Then I developed the idea and automated the entire process so that it works without me.

Abid further wrote that she faced unfamiliar problems as she didn’t have enough resources to have an excellent product. She applied to the flywheel AIR 1 program in March 2022 but said she got a rejection. However, Abid didn’t give up and she continued to build a newer version of Shape and launched the coaching program for future employees.

Abid said she received more than 400 candidates but could only accept 20 candidates. The first cohort was in partnership with Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program.

On November 8, 2022, Abid applied for a startup label, and she was awarded the startup label from Startup Tunisia, par Smart Capital on December 1, 2022.

According to Abid, by the end of 2022, Shape had three cohorts in the Shape your future program; 20 people have been recruited by its partners; 30 partners including two universities; 1 cohort in the highlight your skills program with 20 candidates selected and 350 candidates in progress for future cohorts. Shape also has partners in France and Canada.

For regular updates about Moodle, eLearning and edtech industry, please visit us regularly at https://lmsdaily.com. You can also like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, or Subscribe our YouTube Channel.

Wingspan raises $14M for its all-in-one payroll platform for contractors

By
Jaswinder Singh
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Wingspan raises $14M for its all-in-one payroll platform for contractors
Wingspan raises $14M for its all-in-one payroll platform for contractors

Wingspan, a payroll platform aimed at firms employing mainly freelancers, has closed a funding round — a $14 million Series A — led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) with participation from existing investors including Distributed Ventures, Long Journey Ventures, Ludlow Ventures and 186 Ventures.

Wingspan founded by Anthony Mironov and Greg Franczyk, replaces multiple categories of tools typically used by mid-market businesses. Wingspan provides onboarding and management tools that allow companies to invite contractors with just an email, perform background checks and make same-day payments. Contractors can add a bank account, W-9 and any necessary e-signed documents themselves.

On the back end, employers get automated workflows for generating and filing contractor 1099 tax forms that attempt to identify write-offs and estimate withholdings. They also have the option of offering contractors access to discounted health, vision, dental and life insurance through the platform, Mironov says.

Cofounder of Wingspan, Mironov said:

Contractor data is spread across multiple business systems across orgs and needs to be maintained and updated manually when a contractor’s status changes (e.g. when they leave, change their address, change their bank account) — creating significant administrative overhead. Wingspan solves this by acting as a system of record for contractor identities. Our company-contractor graph allows companies to pay contractors who already have a profile on the system much quicker while giving contractors a single home for their administrative and financial needs across all clients

The new round f funding brings the company’s total raised to $23.5 million, which Mironov says is being put toward expanding the Wingspan platform and team. Wingspan plans to double its 20-person team by the end of the year.

For regular updates about Moodle, eLearning and edtech industry, please visit us regularly at https://lmsdaily.com. You can also like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, or Subscribe our YouTube Channel.

European Healthcare Recruitment Startup Medwing Raises $47M in Series C Round

By
Jaswinder Singh
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European Healthcare Recruitment Startup Medwing Raises $47M in Series C Round
European Healthcare Recruitment Startup Medwing Raises $47M in Series C Round

Medwing, a European startup that has developed a recruitment marketplace for healthcare workers, has recently raised $47 million (€44 million) in its Series C round led by Northzone, Cathay Innovation, with participation from Cherry Ventures, Quadrille Capital, Atlantic Labs, Hambro Perks and despite its well-publicized problems, SVB Capital, the VC entity of Silicon Valley Bank.

Founded in 2017 by Johannes Roggendorf and Dr. Timo Fischer, Medwing provides digital HR management tools for the healthcare sector. It targets customers using a platform to connect hospitals and clinics with nurses and older care providers. The platform also caters to pharmacists, doctors, midwives, and other healthcare professionals. It has one of the largest employee pools for medical and nursing professions in Germany and Europe. The startup helps to eliminate personnel bottlenecks in hospitals, clinics, and practices and always focuses on the candidates’ long-term relationships that are built up.

Sharing about the company, Founder & CEO of Medwing, Johannes Roggendorf, said:

The current permanent recruiting and temporary staffing market in healthcare is broken and still very manual and analog. Bringing this to a digital marketplace will not only save costs for the healthcare system overall but also increase the service levels for healthcare workers and hospitals. Our technology helps to provide superior, faster, yet personalized job matches.

The Berlin-based company intends to expand into other European markets with this investment round. Before this, it anticipates becoming profitable by the end of this year, based on its business levels in Germany and the UK.

Medwing aims to differentiate itself by focusing on both temporary and permanent placements. It works with significant healthcare staffing providers but also traditional recruitment agencies who want to advertise their temporary staff on its platform, which, according to the firm, allows it to fill 75% of all its temporary work requests within one or two days.

The platform claims to have around 5,500 registered medical employers and 500,000 healthcare professionals who can access a digital workflow covering job searches, contracts, signatures, and timesheets.

For regular updates about Moodle, eLearning and edtech industry, please visit us regularly at https://lmsdaily.com. You can also like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, or Subscribe our YouTube Channel.

Join COABE 2023 from April 2-5 in Atlanta, GA

By
Jaswinder Singh
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Join COABE 2023 from April 2-5 in Atlanta, GA
Join COABE 2023 from April 2-5 in Atlanta, GA

The Coalition on Adult Basic Education (COABE) will be hosting the COABE 2023 from April 2-5 2023 in Atlanta, GA. The EdTech conference will be having the theme “Elevate to a Higher Level”.

The Coalition on Adult Basic Education (COABE) is the leading national organization representing the US system of adult education. COABE provides award winning leadership, communication, professional development, and advocacy services to more than 79,000 adult educators and 1.5 million adult learners. Known as an innovation curator, our diverse, internationally acclaimed strategic initiatives have propelled the field forward in funding, visibility, and professional development. Our dynamic, multi-level, cross sectoral partnerships are showcased annually at the COABE national conference, which is the largest convening of adult educators in the world.

The edtech conference will have several exciting presentations and sessions including ‘Beyond the Buzz : Exploring ChatGPT’s impact on Adult Education”

Check out the conference website for more details – https://coabe.org/2023-coabe-national-conference/

For regular updates about Moodle, eLearning and edtech industry, please visit us regularly at https://lmsdaily.com. You can also like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, or Subscribe our YouTube Channel.

Amsterdam’s Cruit raises funds to help employees, communities turn into recruiters

By
Jaswinder Singh
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Amsterdam’s Cruit raises funds to help employees, communities turn into recruiters
Amsterdam’s Cruit raises funds to help employees, communities turn into recruiters

Amsterdam-based Cruit, a recruitment referral platform, announced on Tuesday, March 7, that it has raised fresh funding. The amount of funding has not been disclosed. The round was led by Amsterdam-based venture capital firm Slingshot Ventures. Various prominent angel investors in the HR industry, including investors from TestGorilla, Rodeo and Workify, also participated.

With the funds, the Amsterdam-based company plans to expand its team, enhance, and accelerate its growth. Co-founded by Zenno Bruinsma, Thijs Visser, Yuri Sturkenboom, and Steye Kaersenhout in 2021, Cruit helps companies find the best candidates for open positions by turning employees and communities into the #1 source of candidates. People can share jobs, track their referrals, and earn amazing rewards through the app.

The platform centralizes, optimizes, and expands referral programs due to super high mobile-only engagement – with an enormous decrease in cost-per-hire. It also helps employers tap into a vast pool of job seekers and significantly improve their hiring process by incentivizing employees and community members to refer qualified candidates.

The startup is on a mission to revolutionize the way companies hire talent. It believes that referrals are the most powerful tool for companies to find the best candidates, and dedicated to leveraging that power to help businesses worldwide build amazing teams. The firm aims to turn employees and communities into a “Cruiter”.

Speaking about the capital raised, Co-founder & CEO of Cruit, Steye Kaersenhout, said:

We’re thrilled to have the support of Slingshot Ventures and these experienced angel investors. Their investment will help us continue to innovate and improve our platform, making it even easier for companies to find the best candidates through employee and community referrals. With their amazing network and knowledge, we can accelerate our sales and product development.

The startup has recently launched its Public app. With this, not only employees can share the jobs and earn €2,000 per hire on average, but anyone who downloaded the Cruit app. This way, companies can expand their referral program by more than 40% and reach unreachable networks.

Adding further about the investment, Marco Pieters, Managing Partner, Slingshot Ventures, said:

We are very excited about working together with Steye and his team. We believe their platform can optimize a key bottleneck in every (growing) business; hiring. By turning everyone literally with a network into a ‘Cruiter’, the platform allows for quicker, higher quality and better-retaining hires.

For regular updates about Moodle, eLearning and edtech industry, please visit us regularly at https://lmsdaily.com. You can also like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, or Subscribe our YouTube Channel.

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