Competitions

Each year, SXSW EDU celebrates and honors trailblazers who are doing innovative and creative work through a series of fast-paced competitions.


Photo by Holly Jee.

Photo by Holly Jee.

2018 Launch Winner - Aarushi Machavarapu

Winning the Student Startup Competition in March 2018 lifted me up and empowered me to continue working and dreaming big.

Aarushi Machavarapu
2018 Student Startup Competition Winner / Threading Twine

2019 Learn by Design - Armando Manalo

The SXSW EDU Learn By Design competition provided an exceptional forum for showcasing our project to a broader community of like-minded peers working at the intersection of education, architecture, and digital media.

Armando Manalo
2019 Learn by Design Finalists / LabVenture

2017 Media - The 74million.org

Few arenas spotlight, critique, or celebrate the newest edtech efforts quite like the South by Southwest Education Conference & Festival. At the center of it all: the live, rapid-fire Launch Competition, which gives new edtech innovators a stage, and platform, to make their best pitch.

The 74million.org
March 5, 2017

2019 Student Startup Finalist - Koko Yee (Clutch)

SXSW EDU provides students with an incredible opportunity to bring their voices to the table. This is necessary for both teens and older attendees, especially since the work teachers do is for students.

Koko Yee
2019 Student Startup Finalist / Clutch

About Competitions

 

SXSW EDU hosts competitions that serve as a vehicle to elevate and honor the work of trailblazers in the space. These competitions are about showcasing fresh ideas and solutions, and ultimately connecting the broader community to those ideas for impact.

Competition hallmarks include a lineup of finalists selected through an arduous application process, as well as emcees, judges, and coaches that are hand-picked for their experience and expertise. Historically, these events have celebrated early-stage startups, the design of physical learning environments, and student entrepreneurs.

For 2021 the Launch competition will be part of the SXSW EDU Online digital experience, March 9-11.

2021 Launch Winner

 

Inspirit
Atlanta, GA
Inspirit contains hundreds of interactive 3D science models and environments. We are building a gamified interactive iOS STEM Education VR app (Duolingo meets Candy Crush) allowing students to learn processes, experiment, and answer questions. Our labs are also available on the web browser for teachers to share with their students.

Launch

 


Launch celebrates emerging innovations in learning with a fast-paced pitch competition featuring early-stage startups. The competition is an opportunity for early-stage companies seeking market exposure, investment, and strategic partnerships to showcase their innovative products. Selected companies will pitch in front of a panel of industry experts and educators, as well as an audience at SXSW EDU Online 2021.

Presented by

SXSW EDU Online Launch Finalists

Composer
New Orleans, LA
Composer is a global marketplace for high-quality instructional resources in civics, social emotional learning, global competence, and social justice. A research-based platform with content sourced from over 35 leading organizations, Composer enables educators to easily access and design curricula for empowering students to become active and engaged citizens.





Everydae
Los Angeles, CA
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FabuLingua
(Austin, TX)
FabuLingua is a subscription-based app available on iOS and Android that is harnessing the power of children’s stories from creators all over the world to teach kids new languages more effectively than ever.





Inspirit
Atlanta, GA
Inspirit contains hundreds of interactive 3D science models and environments. We are building a gamified interactive iOS STEM Education VR app (Duolingo meets Candy Crush) allowing students to learn processes, experiment, and answer questions. Our labs are also available on the web browser for teachers to share with their students.





PolyUp
Saratoga, CA
PolyUp is an equitable and accessible web-based, collaborative playground for building 3D dynamic system simulations and bringing to life robotics, computer games, AI, and more – all with the power of K-12 math and storytelling. PolyUp is rapidly scaling, serving students from the marginalized to the private schools in 70+ countries.

Launch Emcee & Judges

Nasir Qadree

Founder and Managing Partner

Zeal Capital Partners

Nasir Qadree

Founder and Managing Partner

Zeal Capital Partners

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Mr. Nasir C. Qadree is Founder and Managing Partner at Zeal Capital Partners, an inclusive investment vehicle partnering with entrepreneurs to bridge America's Wealth and Skills gaps. In his role he defines the fund's focus, leads investment activities, and manages post value creation strategies and support mechanisms for portfolio companies. Prior to Zeal, he served as the Associate Director for AT&T's $400 million Aspire Social Investment Fund, where he oversaw direct investments in Education/Employment Technology companies and led the tech giant's investment readiness program, and partnerships with national accelerators across the US. Prior to AT&T, he led Village Capital's US Economic Opportunity Portfolio and served as Global Head of Education. At Village Capital, he evaluated early stage businesses in Education, Health, and Financial Services and developed investment theses across the three sectors. He began his career in the public markets, at Goldman Sachs and State Street Corporation. He serves on the board of LearnFresh Education, the official education nonprofit for the NBA. Nasir is committed to completed 51 full marathons, in all 50 states and D.C. having already completed 18 to raise $1 million in scholarship funding for first generation college students. In 2018, Washington Business Journal recognized his contributions to his industry and community by naming him a 40 under 40 recipient. He holds a BA from Hampton University, from which he graduated magna cum laude. The Atlanta native, resides in Washington DC.

Tony Wan

Co-founder and Managing Editor

EdSurge

Tony Wan

Co-founder and Managing Editor

EdSurge

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Tony Wan is a co-founder and Managing Editor at EdSurge, where he oversees newsroom operations and covers business and investment trends in the education technology industry. He was named one of Forbes’ “30 Under 30” in Education in 2014 and received an Education Writers Association Reporting Fellowship in 2020. Prior to EdSurge, Tony co-founded a startup that developed a game best described as “Zelda with math.” He has an M.A. in East Asian Studies from Stanford University, and B.A. in History from the University of California at San Diego.

Shanna Peeples

Author, 2015 National Teacher of the Year

Shanna Peeples

Author, 2015 National Teacher of the Year

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Shanna Peeples, the 2015 National Teacher of the Year, took the road less travelled on the way to her classroom. She worked as a disc jockey, medical assistant, and journalist before teaching, as she says, chose her. Shanna taught middle and high school English in low-income schools in Amarillo, Texas for 14 years. Because Amarillo is a resettlement area for refugees, students as diverse as the Karen people of Myanmar to the Bantu people of Somalia, make up classes in her former assignment at Palo Duro High School. Shanna recently graduated with a doctorate in Education Leadership from Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is the John G. O'Brien Distinguished Chair in Education at West Texas A&M University. Her book, Think Like Socrates: Invite Wonder and Empathy Into the Classroom, was recently chosen by the National Education Association Foundation and PDK International as a book choice for their membership.

Andrew Grauer

Cofounder and CEO

Course Hero

Andrew Grauer

Cofounder and CEO

Course Hero

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Andrew Grauer is Cofounder and CEO of Course Hero, an online learning platform for course-specific study resources. Andrew started the company in 2006 while attending Cornell University. Today, Course Hero serves over 1 million student subscribers and 50,000 educators in a mission to help every student graduate, confident and prepared. Andrew leads Course Hero's vision, mission, strategy, values, and culture. During his tenure as CEO, Course Hero has been named Best Place to Work and recognized by Deloitte as a Fast 500 company for the past three years. He has been named one of Forbes 30 under 30 and is the winner of the 2020 EdTech Digest Founder/CEO award. Andrew holds a BA in Spanish from Cornell University.

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