Top Higher Education Startups in 2026

NexGenT is building the largest online IT school to help millions of people transition into tech jobs. Our mission is to inspire, create, and empower the next generation IT workforce by providing the highest quality tech education that is affordable to anyone.

NovoEd’s collaborative learning platform empowers organizations to design and deliver experiential learning that accelerates business performance on a global scale. Since the company’s founding at Stanford’s social algorithm laboratory in 2012, global corporations, executive education providers, and training firms have relied on NovoEd to develop high-value capabilities through purposeful practice and application, coaching and mentorship, and group collaboration. NovoEd’s proven approach to learning connects diverse groups of learners, mentors, and leaders in a high-impact online environment, unlocking your organization’s collective knowledge and driving measurable outcomes. Learn more at novoed.com!

Guild is redefining higher education for the 31+ million frontline workers and entry-level managers who have yet to graduate college or earn a meaningful credential in America by bridging the gap between education and employment. Guild is a female founded, venture funded, and mission led certified B-corp-- driving real, tangible, data-driven results for our students, corporate partners, and universities. Our “student’s first” mindset means our business is only successful when our students are too. Guild leads the industry in student outcomes, innovative technology solutions, student affordability, and coaching and advising services that are best in class. The result? Our students get a quality, supported education at affordable costs. Our partner companies see high-performing employees that retain and contribute to the business at dramatic rates, and universities see a pipeline of prepared and vetted students coming with additional supports to guarantee their success.

The Commons XR provides an integrated platform comprising groups, Virtual Reality, managed VR situation and analytics in one product. TCXR is the first VR platform that provides students analytics to better understand themselves, making for improved student academic success. We strive to help our interns understand what it means to be in a SaaS production focused environment, stressing team communications and corporate processes while teaching how to think about integration on an internal customer based requirements and needs basis. Also how to think about incorporating different tools and how that process is evolved. We blend Unity/Data/FullStack/DevOps/SecOps/UX/UI into one integrated group of activity, to foster better understanding of how to work across departmental lines. We generally have 20+ interns a semester across all these areas in order to run a Friday simulated VR experience for our own testing needs. This is the primary reason for the interns. We still expect you to learn your craft and will help you do that. We have had over 100 interns now "graduated" from our experience, undergraduate, graduate and post-matriculated interns. Many now have jobs. You must have availability Friday 9-11 AM PST for the internship, that is the only and prime requirement, when we run our standup and simulated experiences.

Avela is a platform for organizations and governments to run markets to equitably allocate resources and opportunities. The right person in the right position will change the world. Learning opportunities, field-based experiences, and consultant projects all have something in common. Currently, these opportunities are allocated through a combination of manual processes, spreadsheets, and trial-and-error - rife with implicit bias and questionable outcomes. Our mission is to more equitably and efficiently distribute opportunity. Learn more at avela.org

Many are questioning the value of a college education. Only half of US alumni strongly agree their education was worth the cost. The way students value and experience their education has changed. They have new expectations: - Job outcomes, not just a degree - Social and digital, not isolated and static - Experiential, not theoretical Meanwhile, supportive relationships most influenced, even doubled, graduates’ perception that their education was worth the cost. We believe relationships and community are key to student success and engaged alumni. PeopleGrove connects every student and all alumni with the network and resources they need to realize their full potential before, during, and after their time in college. Founded in 2015, PeopleGrove works with over 250 institutions worldwide, including Stanford University, the University of Michigan, Johns Hopkins University, Wellesley College, and the University of Maryland Global Campus. Headquartered in San Francisco, PeopleGrove is backed by Reach Capital and other leading capital partners. To learn more about how PeopleGrove is working to ensure all students and professionals have access to the community and connections needed to succeed, visit peoplegrove.com.

CodePath is a national non-profit that is reprogramming higher education to create the most diverse generation of software engineers, CTOs, and founders. We deliver industry-vetted courses and career support centered on the needs of Black, Latino/a, Indigenous, and low-income students. Our students train with senior engineers, intern at top companies, and rise together to become the tech leaders of tomorrow. Founded in 2017, CodePath has taught over 20,000 students and delivered courses across over 85 universities. We are supported by some of the largest and most well-respected organizations, including Andreessen Horowitz, Blue Meridian Partners, Cognizant Foundation, Comcast, Google, Meta, Salesforce, Walmart, and Workday, among others. We are currently targeted to serve 10,000+ students a year nationwide as of 2023, and are planning to scale up to ~100,000 students a year by 2030.

Kritik is an early-stage but fast growing ed-tech startup working passionately to upgrade college classroom experience with our fun and automated peer-to-peer learning technology. We launched our product into +200 universities and are ready to scale in the upcoming year. We are serial entrepreneurs, backed by some of the top players in the Canadian startup ecosystem including ApplyBoard and GarageCapital. We are looking for smart and motivated people to join the startup and be part of the fast movement in changing the way students are tasked and assessed. Recently, we launched VisibleAI (a completely new product), for which we have developed Artificial Intelligence (AI) for educators and institutions and a platform for academic integrity to equip educators with practical, ready-to-use strategies and prompts while maintaining academic integrity and fostering learning. The goal is to ensure educators are well-equipped to leverage AI, the effectiveness of PBL, and related concepts. The product offers transparency by detecting and reporting AI-generated content, helping educators maintain rigorous academic standards while embracing AI's educational potential.

As a leader in the education space, BNED’s suite of product offerings and solutions work together to meet the evolving needs of the education system and a new generation of students. The BNED family of brands includes Barnes & Noble College, MBS, Bartleby, and Student Brands.

Mantra Health is a digital mental health clinic on a mission to improve access to evidence-based mental healthcare for young adults. Through augmenting high quality clinical services with software and design, we're on a mission to improve the mental health of over 20 million university and college students through partnerships with higher education institutions and health insurance plans.