143 CEOs from our 2021 Global EdTech 1000 are women. We're celebrating this inspirational cohort and hoping this spotlight inspires action and support for more women entrepreneurs around the world to lead us towards a cleaner, more sustainable future.
Through 2021, HolonIQ identified the top 1000 EdTech startups around the world. Region by region, we mapped the most promising EdTech startups, both early and late stage. We mapped the Africa EdTech 50, Australia and New Zealand EdTech 50, Europe EdTech 100, India and South Asia EdTech 100, LATAM EdTech 100, Nordic and Baltic EdTech 50, North America EdTech 200, East Asia EdTech 150, Russia and CIS EdTech 100, Israel EdTech 50 and finally the Southeast Asia EdTech 50. To be eligible, these companies had to be startups (i.e. not acquired, controlled or listed), operating in the field of education, learning or training technology, and generally less than 10 years old.
We’re celebrating the women leading these incredible startups as CEOs or Co-CEOs, and the work they are doing to transform the way the world learns. Through our work at HolonIQ, which is also co-founded and co-led by a woman, we are determined to play our part in eliminating the gender gap in leadership, entrepreneurship and education.
Despite the progress made in parity for women, there’s still an enormous amount to be done. Our Global State of Play Report on Women CEOs and Leadership (from last International Women’s day) around the world deep dives into the numbers across different industries to highlight the areas making most progress and where much work is still to be done.
143 Women CEOs and Founders leading Global EdTech Startups
The following amazing women have Founded or Lead the most promising Edtech Startups globally. Building and running a startup is not for the faint hearted with an estimated 90% failure rate and research shows that barriers for women to start or lead a successful business are higher than normal. The women you see below have not only overcome significant odds but are focused on making a difference in the lives of millions of learners worldwide. Congratulations on your impact so far and we look forward to tracking your progress over the coming years.
If by chance we have missed a female CEO or Founder/Co-Founder who leads an EdTech company selected in HolonIQ’s Global EdTech 1000 Series, please contact us immediately and we will update the list.

Smita Deorah
COO and Co-Founder at LEAD School

So-Young Kang
CEO and Founder at Gnowbe

Sonya Hooja
Co-Founder and Director at Imarticus Learning

Sophie Adelman
Co-Founder at The Garden

Sophie Thompson
Co-Founder at VirtualSpeech

Stephanie Leung
COO and Co-Founder at Tiney

Stephanie Powell Dua
COO, Co-Founder and President at BeGiN

Susli Lie
Co-Founder at ErudiFi

Suzanne Perkowsky
Co-Founder and Head of Education at New Nordic School

Sylva Simonian
Co-Founder at Tumo

Tanushree Nagori
Co-Founder at DoubtNut

Tatiana Terekhova
Founder at Studway

Taylor Nieman
CEO and Co-Founder at Toucan

Traci Burgess
CEO at BrightBytes

Tu Ngo
Co-Founder at Yola

Vicky Ricaurte
CEO and Co-Founder at Arukay

Vlada Lotkina
CEO and Co-Founder at ClassTag

Vu Van
CEO and Co-Founder at ELSA

Wambura Kimunyu
Group CEO at Eneza Education

Yael Gilbao Kaufmann
COO and Co-Founder at LearnIn

Yeva Hyusyan
CEO and Co-Founder at SoloLearn
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