Bertelsmann

Educational technology plays a pivotal role in driving and enabling the revolution in post-secondary learning

Higher EdTech

Udacity is an online learning platform founded in 2011 that offers technology-focused courses and "Nanodegree" programs. The company provides education in areas such as artificial intelligence, data science, programming, cloud computing, and business. Udacity's courses are designed to be practical and job-relevant, with a focus on project-based learning that emulates real-world scenarios. The platform uses a subscription model, with individual plans starting at USD 249 per month or USD 846 for a 4-month program.
Udacity partners with leading technology companies like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft to develop course content. This collaboration aims to ensure the skills taught are aligned with industry needs. The platform offers both free courses and paid Nanodegree programs, with the latter providing more comprehensive training in specific tech fields. Nanodegree programs typically take 3-4 months to complete if studying 10 hours per week.
A key feature of Udacity's offering is personalized feedback from mentors on student projects. The company employs a team of over 230 professionals to support its learning programs. Udacity also provides career services to Nanodegree students, including resume reviews, interview preparation, and job search assistance. While Udacity does not offer accredited degrees, its certificates are recognized by many employers in the tech industry.
Key customers and partnerships
Udacity works with a number of major technology companies to create and deliver its courses. Partners include Google, Facebook, Amazon, IBM, and Mercedes-Benz. These collaborations allow Udacity to offer courses on cutting-edge topics like autonomous vehicles and artificial intelligence.
The platform caters to both individual learners and corporate clients. As of January 2024, Udacity reported having over 21 million registered learners across 195 countries. The company offers business plans for teams and enterprises, with customized solutions for workforce training and upskilling.
Udacity has also partnered with government entities to provide tech education. In March 2024, Accenture announced it would acquire Udacity as part of a USD 1 billion investment to build an AI-focused learning platform called LearnVantage. This acquisition aims to expand Udacity's reach and capabilities in providing technology training to businesses and government organizations.

Synergis Education partners with colleges and universities to launch and manage pre- and post-licensure nursing programs and innovative doctoral degrees. The company focuses on developing high-demand, accessible programs driven by institutional missions, employer trends, and student needs. Synergis provides expertise in program design, curriculum development, marketing, enrollment, and ongoing support services to create economically viable programs for institutions, students, and itself.
The company offers three main types of programs: prelicensure nursing, post-licensure nursing (primarily family nurse practitioner programs), and doctoral-level education programs. Synergis employs a unique approach by teaching across three modalities: on-ground, blended, and online. For prelicensure nursing programs, Synergis helps institutions set up learning centers with hospital beds and simulation equipment to provide hands-on training. The company also assists in developing accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing programs for students with existing bachelor's degrees in other disciplines.
Synergis signs long-term contracts (10-12 years) with partner institutions and builds in three major curriculum rewrites during that period to ensure programs remain up-to-date. The company uses tools like Coursetune to map out objectives and outcomes, tying them to industry requirements and course goals. As of 2024, Synergis has six partners across the US and operates in or is entering eight different markets.
Key customers and partnerships
Synergis Education works with multiple colleges and universities across the US. Some of their notable partners include Gwynedd Mercy University in Philadelphia, where they launched an accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program in 2015. The company also has partnerships with institutions in Wisconsin and Atlanta for their doctoral programs in education.
Synergis collaborates with various accrediting bodies, including SACS, HLC, and Middle States, as well as multiple boards of nursing in states such as Texas, Georgia, and Florida. The company also works with state departments of education and Boards of Regents, depending on the location of their partner institutions.

HotChalk was an online program manager (OPM) that provided services to help universities build and manage their online education programs. The company's primary focus was on partnering with higher education institutions to develop and run their online degree offerings. HotChalk's business model involved revenue-sharing agreements with partner universities, where it would make upfront investments to develop online programs and then share in the tuition revenue. The company's key product was its OPM service, which included marketing, enrollment, and technology support for online university programs. HotChalk also owned Creative Communication Associates (CCA), a higher education marketing agency with 40 years of experience in the sector.
In November 2020, HotChalk's assets were acquired by Noodle, another OPM provider. Prior to this, HotChalk had faced significant challenges. The company was heavily reliant on its partnership with Concordia University Portland, which accounted for the majority of its business. When Concordia announced its closure in early 2020, it left HotChalk in a precarious position. The company had previously raised USD 230 million in investment from Bertelsmann in 2015, but by 2020 it had laid off half its staff and was ready to be sold off in parts. In 2015, HotChalk had also faced a US Department of Education investigation into mismanagement of online student programs, resulting in a USD 1 million settlement.

More important now than ever, telehealth will long outlast the pandemic that drove its growth.

Telehealth

Ada Health is a global digital health company founded in 2011 by doctors, scientists, and industry pioneers with the goal of improving human health at scale. The company's core product is an AI-powered health assessment and care navigation platform that helps users understand their symptoms and navigate to appropriate care. Ada's symptom checker utilizes AI and machine learning to assess users' reported symptoms against a database of over <a href="https://www.mobihealthnews.com/news/ada-health-expands-leadership-team-back-revenue-growth">3,600 conditions and 30,000 medical codes</a>. The platform covers a wide range of medical areas, including rare diseases, women's health, pediatrics, and mental health.The app is available in <a href="https://ada.com/about/">11</a> languages, including English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Swahili. Ada's technology is also offered as enterprise solutions to health systems, insurers, and life sciences companies to integrate symptom assessment and care navigation into digital care journeys.&nbsp;In <a href="https://ada.com/press/221215-ada-health-receives-eu-mdr-certification/">December 2022</a>, Ada Assess was certified as a Class IIa medical device under European Union regulations, reflecting its commitment to safety and quality standards.In June 2024, the company appointed Nick Altebrando as its chief product officer (CPO) and Yury Rozenman as senior vice president of business development.Key customers and partnershipsAs of <a href="https://ada.com/about/">July 2024</a>, Ada's consumer app had over 13 million users worldwide and had completed over 30 million health assessments.&nbsp;Ada Health has formed partnerships with several major healthcare organizations to implement its technology. The company collaborates with Sutter Health and Kaiser Permanente to offer Ada as a digital front door for patients to access care. Ada is also integrated with Epic's electronic health record system to allow health systems to offer symptom assessments within patient portals.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/35737">November 2024</a>, the company partnered with Swiss insurer Groupe Mutuel to provide AI-powered health assessments and care navigation for up to 1.4 million Groupe Mutuel members. The integration allowed Groupe Mutuel members to access Ada's AI health assessments through its app in four languages, providing 24/7 symptom evaluation and personalized care recommendations based on individual insurance plans.&nbsp;In <a href="https://www.bayer.com/en/news-stories/putting-your-health-in-your-hands">August 2023</a>, Ada partnered with Bayer to offer Ada’s solution via Bayer’s websites for certain pharmaceuticals, including Aspirin, Aleve, Midol, Canesten, and Iberogast.&nbsp;In <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/putting-patients-first---ada-health-lines-up-with-jefferson-health-to-help-enhance-care-access-for-patients-301796665.html">April 2023</a>, Ada Health partnered with health system Jefferson Health to roll out Ada Health’s technology across Jefferson’s enterprise. Through the partnership, patients at Jefferson Health facilities could self-triage any medical concerns. Additionally, the app helped patients schedule virtual and in-person consultations, chat with physicians, and determine whether a medical condition requires in-person intervention or can be managed at home. Patients at any of Jefferson’s 18 hospitals and more than 50 out-patient facilities could access Ada’s app through both Jefferson’s website and patient portal.In <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ada-health-and-pfizer-collaborate-to-launch-a-nationwide-online-covid-19-care-journey-operated-by-ada-to-help-connect-patients-with-timely-treatment-301737445.html">February 2023</a>, Ada launched a nationwide Covid-19 Care Journey in the US in partnership with Pfizer to help connect high-risk patients with timely treatment. The company has expanded this to cover flu care across all 50 US states. Ada also works with Novartis to enhance disease identification and diagnosis. In 2023, Ada joined the US Business Action to End HIV Coalition as part of its efforts to improve health outcomes.In <a href="https://ada.com/press/210923-ada-health-announces-partnership-with-axa-onehealth/">September 2021</a>, the company partnered with AXA OneHealth to bring digital health solutions to Egypt. The partnership integrated Ada’s solution with AXA OneHealth’s solution, allowing members to gain on-demand access to health guidance and navigation tools to obtain the most appropriate care provider within the AXA OneHealth care ecosystem.

Modern tools to train and motivate staff, and bridge emerging skill gaps.

EdTech: Corporate Learning

<div>
 
 Founded in 2020 by Jason Lavender and Krikor Dzeronian, Electives provides learning and development classes taught by experts from a variety of professions including FBI agents, business school professors, Broadway performers, improv comedians, and professional athletes, among others. The company provides classes and customized diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) courses on a range of topics including manager training, implicit bias, leadership development, storytelling, gender identity, and cultural history. As of October 2021, Electives served more than 60 employers.
 
 
 In 2021, the company experienced an increase in demand for innovative learning, diversity and inclusion, and development programs from businesses and employees, particularly for remote and hybrid workforces. This led to its raising USD 2.25 million in seed funding in October 2021, in a round led by Boston Seed Capital and Accomplice. More recently, in March 2022, the company raised 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9521">
 USD 8 million in a Series A funding
 </a>
 round co-led by Accomplice and G2O Ventures, and will use the funds for platform development.
 
</div>

Using AI to mimic and understand human language

Natural Language Processing Tools

Dashbot is a conversational AI and data platform that helps businesses build, analyze, and optimize chatbots and interactive voice response systems. Founded in 2016, the company provides tools to turn unstructured conversational data into actionable insights. Dashbot's key offering is its proprietary Conversational Data Cloud, which centralizes and processes data from various communication channels including chatbot transcripts, support tickets, emails, and voice calls. The platform uses machine learning algorithms to decipher thousands of daily conversations, group similar messages and topics, and identify areas for improvement in chatbot performance.
Dashbot's solution addresses common challenges in chatbot development, such as high failure rates and the need for continuous optimization. The platform's features include a Transcript Transformer for searching and categorizing transcripts, DashbotML for topic modeling and phrase clustering, and Automated Training Data export to optimize natural language processing models. By leveraging these tools, businesses can reduce chatbot failure rates by up to 35% and escalation rates by up to 57%.
Key customers and partnerships
Dashbot works with leading enterprises across various industries. Some of its notable customers include Intuit, Expedia, Geico, Google, and Travelers. The company has also integrated its analytics capabilities with Amazon Lex, enhancing the tools available to developers working with Lex-powered conversational interfaces. This partnership aims to improve the analytical capabilities for those building chatbots on Amazon's platform.

[cafeteria] allows individuals to influence businesses, get paid for opinions, and develop professional talents.

Scimplify is a B2B fulfillment platform that provides end-to-end procurement and production for specialty chemicals.

Scimplifi is a B2B fulfilment platform that provides customized solutions for sourcing and manufacturing of innovative chemistries.

LighthouseAI provides software solutions to pharmaceutical manufacturers, logistics companies, wholesalers, and pharmacies.

Rupeek is a financial services company that features an online lending platform that specializes in credit risk, gold loans, and personal loans. It offers lending solutions for lenders and borrowers. The company is driven by its mission is to bring financial inclusion for the masses and introduce products that are transparent and people-friendly.

Ada is a global health company founded by doctors, scientists, and industry pioneers to create new possibilities for personal health. Ada’s core system connects medical knowledge with intelligent technology to help all people actively manage their health and medical professionals to deliver effective care. Ada is proud to collaborate with leading health systems and global non-profit organizations to carry out this vision.   Ada Health was founded in 2011 and is based in Berlin, Germany.

Bijak is a developer of B2B platform for agricultural commodities that gives buyers and sellers better prices, increased working capital and optimized logistics. Bijak is a business-to-business trade platform for the agricultural sector in India that enables traders, wholesalers, and food processors to keep a ledger of their transactions, access transparent pricing, optimize logistics, and improve their working capital cycles.

Electives is an enterprise live learning platform that offers interactive classes for employees. Its classes cover a range of topics: new manager training, communications, team building, negotiations, innovation, resiliency, diversity, equity, inclusion, and more. Its teachers include professors, authors, CEOs, judges, Olympians, FBI Agents, improv comedians, anti-racism thought leaders, and more.

Licious is a path breaking concept in the Indian Food industry; aimed at solving the perennially existing problem of finding safe, delectable, trustworthy fresh meat in India.  The company builds a world-class enterprise that's bound to upgrade the way the company procures, sells, buys, and consumes meat in India.

Babel Finance is a global leading cryptocurrency financial institution dedicated to serving high-net-worth individuals and institutional clients worldwide with professional crypto financial services including 3 core businesses: crypto lending, crypto asset management, and crypto prime financing.

Club Factory built an integrated supply chain from manufacturers to consumers for cross-border e-commerce. They scan the whole Internet to find factories which sell on Wish/Ebay/Amazon, and bring consumers the best prices.

Dashbot is an unstructured conversational analytics platform for extracting insights from any customer interaction at scale. While virtually every other field/application of A.I. is trying to understand the world around us (e.g. computer vision), Dashbot is harnessing the power of Conversational AI to understand the world within us (i.e. intention). Dashbot is backed by world-class investors including ff Venture Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Scrum Ventures and Samsung.

Scroll is creating a sustainable experience that puts amazing content in front of engaged users without all the noise. They want to pierce filter bubbles and leverage economic models that can afford uncomfortable truths. It's time to escape the distraction economy and focus on what's important again.

Nico is a dating app provides a diverse and fun dating community for everyone.

Radish is a mobile fiction platform for serialized storytelling. Its wide variety of stories are published and read in bite-sized installments optimized for the smartphone reader. Radish is revolutionizing the way that stories are consumed and produced. Readers can access thousand of serials across genres and connect directly with their favorite storytellers in live community chat rooms. Authors can publish their own original stories, revive backlist titles with a young, mobile readership, and pre-release upcoming books to build advanced buzz—the opportunities are endless!

Raven Tech is a startup which focus on artificial intelligent, big data and the next generation operating system. Besides, Raven Tech is the fifth alumni of Microsoft Venture Accelerator and the only one startup team from mainland China in Y Combinator W15.

Skyrocket Your Online Sales. We help SME's, Manufacturers, Creative People and Service Providers setup their brand online and get sales from their own stores and also from other sales channels.

Udacity develops an online learning platform offering programs in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotics sector, as well as data science, autonomous systems, and cloud computing. It offers nanodegree programs such as front-end and senior web developer, full-stack web developer, data analyst, machine learning engineer, iOS and Android developer, programming introduction, tech entrepreneur, iOS app development beginning, Ruby beginning, and 2D mobile game developer courses. Udacity's online courses teach the skills that industry employers need and deliver credentials endorsed by employers. The company aims to democratize education making it affordable and accessible to get the jobs they desire to improve their lives.  David Stavens, Mike Sokolsky, and Sebastian Thrun founded it in 2011, with its headquarters in Mountain View in California.

HotChalk is a leading provider of education technology and services. The Silicon Valley company partners with universities to provide turnkey solutions that put degree programs on line. HotChalk solutions incorporate all phases of the education lifecycle and deliver industry leading student retention and graduation rates. HotChalk operates the largest global network of free education content on the Internet through the HotChalk Education Network. The company believes all people should have access to education, and is on a mission to make meaningful education outcomes available to everyone, everywhere. To learn more, visit HotChalk.com.

Jioaavn is a music streaming service. Their application provides bollywood, english, hindi, regional songs, top artists, playlists, and custom radio stations that enable listeners to access music.

Affero Lab is the result of a merger of Brazilian companies in Corporate Education, Affero and LAB SSJ. Affero has a unique portfolio and dozens of successful cases of technology solutions geared toward learning while LAB SSJ is recognized for its classroom-based and blended solutions, which link training to results. Both companies have an amazing team, full of competent people who are passionate about what they do and eager to innovate and continue learning. Affero Lab aims to partner with clients to transform their educational programs and generate business results based on innovative, intuitive, and engaging learning.

UCloud Information Technology provides IaaS (base cloud computing), independent research and development, computational resource, storage resource, network resource, and other basic IT infrastructure services. It offers UCloud Physical Host that provides physical servers, UCloud Host, a UCloud-based mature cloud computing technology, UCloud Load Balancer, a load balancing service that offers automatic allocation of application data among multiple cloud hosts, UCloud Network, a UCloud network service that manages network resources, and UCloud Extended Hybrid Cloud that offers a hybrid deployment service of cloud platforms and server hosting.  UCloud Information Technology also provides UCloud Disk that provides permanent hard disk storage space for cloud hosting, UCloud DataBase, a data base service based on mature cloud computing technology, UCloud Memory Storage, a key-value memory database, UCloud Content Delivery Network services, Object Storage that provides unstructured file storage services for Internet applications, UCloud Distributed Data Processing solutions, Cloud Security that provides testing services, and scheduling interface solutions for cloud computing resources. It serves video, O2O and E-Commerce, Internet finance, PaaS/SaaS, game, mobile SNS, online education, and digital marketing sectors.  Ji Xinhua, Hua Kun, and Mo Xianfeng founded UCloud Information Technology in 2011. Its headquarters is in Shanghai in China.

Synergis Education provides educational services designed for college and university leaders who are not satisfied with the status quo. It develops on ground, online, and hybrid degree programs to serve the non-traditional adult learning population. The company offers integrated services, including marketing and enrollment management, academic program and instructional design support, technology integration and course delivery, student retention support and placement, student accounting, and additional services; and EdVantage Learning System that co-develops associate, baccalaureate, and graduate degree curricula with its partner institution; and EdVantage Information Systems, a solution that manages a set of technologies, processes, and services. It partners with non-profit, traditional colleges, and universities.  The company was formerly known as Academic Partners University and changed its name to Synergis Education in May 2012.  Synergis Education was founded in 2011 and is based in Mesa, Arizona.

LexinFintech Holdings is an online consumer finance platform for educated young adults in China. As one of China's leading financial technology companies, Lexin integrates its e-commerce-driven installment finance platform, Fenqile, with advanced risk management technologies, the Company's Dingsheng online investment platform, and the Company's Juzi Licai online investment platform for individual investors, to create a comprehensive consumer finance ecosystem. The Company utilizes technologies including big data, cloud computing and artificial intelligence to enable the near-instantaneous matching of user funding requests with offers from the Company's more than 30 funding partners, which include commercial banks, consumer finance companies, and other licensed financial institutions. By serving the credit needs of China's educated young adults, Lexin helps its more than 20 million registered users to enjoy a better quality of life through the use of better credit.

Lagou.com offers staffing services. The company’s clientele includes Tencent, Baidu, Alibaba Group, SINA, JD.com, Beijing Xiaomi Tech, and Zhaopin.com.

Pepperfry is an online home and lifestyle shopping store selling products with cash on delivery facilities. The company's aim is to be a one-stop shop for customers seeking to spice up their homes. The company's marketplace sells products from around the world, including its own brand, in verticals such as furniture, home décor, cooking, dining, and pet supplies, giving users a wide range of options for decorating their house.

Bidu is an online recommendation, comparison and marketplace portal for insurance and financial services. The company helped millions of consumers compare the prices and benefits of several types of insurance, including auto, travel, home, life, and health insurance, in addition to a variety of financial products, such as credit cards, financing options, and loans.  Our mission is to help people make smart financial decisions throughout their lives by way of our technology and objective and content.  Bidu was named Best of Insurance 2017, of the magazine Revista. It was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

IndiaProperty.com provides in-depth information on buying, selling and renting out properties in India. It has partnered with leading media organisations to provide prompt and reliable service to customers through various channels and to enhance better visibility and increase responses. IndiaProperty.com is a part of Consim Info Pvt. Ltd, India's leading Internet company. Consim is Red Herring's Global 100 Winner, and also majors in other verticals like Matrimony, Jobs and Classifieds.

UniversityNow is an education and technology start-up based in San Francisco.  Its mission is to help ensure that affordable, high-quality post-secondary education is available to people everywhere. To accomplish this, UniversityNow has built the most affordable and accessible accredited online learning platform for Patten University (http://patten.edu). UniversityNow's vision is a world in which no one is deprived of access to quality education — a world in which students can obtain recognized college degrees that improve their futures, without taking on the burden of student debt.

Jusbrasil brings thousands of individuals and lawyers every day together by providing them with the most comprehensive set of legal data.  The company was founded in 2008 and is based in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Founded in 2007, WizIQ is one of the world’s largest cloud based education platforms. Over 400,000 educators have leveraged WizIQ to deliver learning services to 4 Million+  learners across 200 countries. WizIQ’s award winning Virtual Classroom solution that enables online delivery of live instructor-led learning, has received acclaim from education service providers from around the world.  The WizIQ Online Academy Builder represents an evolutionary leap in education technology by empowering education service providers to set up their own customized academies within minutes. Online Academy Builder is designed to increase learner engagement through cutting-edge features, such as mobile learning, video streaming, live online classroom, discussion boards, assessments, insights and analytics.  By taking away the complexities of development and the burden of setup costs and server infrastructure this solution allows educators to focus on what they know best. Besides, the in-built e-commerce capability enables them to monetize their services and rapidly expand their reach to newer markets.

DramaFever, a subsidiary of SoftBank Internet and Media, Inc. (''SIMI''), is the leading online destination for international television shows and movies. Our millions of young, passionate viewers discover and enjoy hit shows from around the world, with professional subtitles and HD quality across a wide variety of apps and devices. We also partner with AMC Networks and others to develop next-generation online entertainment sites.  We're a group of 130+ people building an experience for the shows and movies our customers love watching. With roughly 50 other engineers, you'll be responsible for creating a user experience enjoyed by millions. We believe in supporting people who want to take ownership of functionality and make it the best they can. We stress communication as one of the most important parts of our job.

Hoolai Games was founded in 2008 by CEO Qiao Wanli and President Jian Huang. As the leading developer and publisher of social Web and mobile games in China, Hoolai Games has quickly grown its diverse portfolio of Web, PC, and mobile games, which include Hoolai Three Kingdoms, War of Immortals, Hoolai Poker, and Checkmate.  For gamers by gamers, Hoolai Games delivers entertaining cross-platform games that players can enjoy anywhere. Headquartered in Beijing, Hoolai Games has offices in Shanghai, Tokyo, Guangzhou, Taipei, and Silicon Valley.

Learnship has globalized traditional face-to-face language training with a proprietary distance learning technology and has created an innovative Live Teaching Method for online training.  The German company’s mission is to help employees communicate in foreign languages in their everyday working life, with highly customized and effective trainer-based online training. With their product, Learnship has established itself as an effective alternative to face-to-face onsite training, generating significant cost savings and ROI for clients without compromising on teaching quality. Meanwhile, courses are taught successfully in more than 75 countries around the world at approximately 2,000 European and American corporations.

Mojiva Inc. is the parent company of the Mojiva, the mobile ad network and the Mocean Mobile, the mobile ad serving platform. It is led by a team of advertising and media veterans from Google, DoubleClick, Yahoo, Nokia and AdMob, with more than 100 years of collective experience in mobile marketing and technology.  Mojiva, Inc. provides products and solutions that not only fuel the mobile advertising marketplace by bringing mobile ad buyers together with mobile content sellers, but that also solve unique challenges in the mobile marketing space.  Solutions include tools to market your products and services to mobile users, monetize your mobile content, enable your global ad sales team to capitalize on an expanded media mix, control your inventory, or mobilize the brands your agency is working with.

Audible is a provider of spoken audio information and entertainment , on the Internet. They provide premium spoken audio content, such as audio versions of books and newspapers and radio programs, that is delivered over the Internet and played back on personal computers and hand-held electronic devices. The Audible service allows consumers to purchase and download their content from their Website, store it in digital files and play it back on personal computers and electronic devices. More than 15,000 hours of audio content are available on their Web site, including audio versions of books, periodicals and radio programs. Several manufacturers have agreed to support and promote the playback of their content on their hand-held audio-enabled electronic devices.

Codeonline Ltd., a developer of interactive mobile entertainment, and Springtoys, a developer of wireless gaming technology, have agreed to merge to create what they claim will be the world’s largest wireless entertainment company. Under the terms of the agreement, the merger will be carried out through a share swap.

Musicbank, www.musicbank.com, will provide on-demand access to and portability of consumers' personal music collections. musicbank will allow users to access, listen to and manage their personal music collections via the Web without having to upload the content. Financial backers include Atlas Venture, Bertelsmann Ventures, Bonaventure Investments Ltd and Universal Music Group. Prior to its fall 2000 launch, musicbank has secured licensing agreements with BMG Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, and an exclusive retail partnership with Virgin Megastores. Michael Downing and Pierce Ledbetter founded musicbank in 1999. The Company is based in San Francisco.

eGroups, Inc. provided a gathering place on the Internet for groups to send and receive emails, schedule meetings, share files and photos, or have private group chats. eGroups, Inc., was formerly known as FindMail Communications, Inc., and changed its name to eGroups, Inc., in March 2000. eGroups, Inc., was incorporated in 1998 and was based in San Francisco, California. On August 31, 2000, eGroups, Inc. was acquired by [Yahoo! Inc.](/organization/yahoo), and its technology was subsequently incorporated into Yahoo! Groups.

Riffage.com, based in Palo Alto, California, was founded by Ken Wirt, the strategic visionary behind Diamond Multimedia's ground-breaking Rio portable MP3 music player. Our mission is to revolutionize the way music is distributed by using the Internet to allow bands to communicate directly with -- and sell music to -- their fans. Unlike some other sites, Riffage.com is staffed by people who genuinely care about music -- musicians, former radio DJs, record company veterans and rabid fans. We think you'll see the difference. On the site, Riffage.com offers a large selection of authorized digital music, both for free as well as for purchase via download from the Internet. The ability to purchase single songs by download -- or even buy an entire physical CD -- from the comfort of a home, office, school or any ''connected'' location, makes Riffage.com an enticing alternative to shopping at a physical retail outlet.  One of the biggest obstacles for most Internet music fans is finding music they like. Among the key features differentiating Riffage.com from the growing ranks of online music distributors are its unique personalization tools, which ''learn'' an individual's preferences as he or she uses the site. As a result, Riffage is able to quickly begin sending users recommendations about music that will appeal to them. Riffage.com has also rapidly developed into an active online community where fans of similar -- and even diverse -- musical tastes can meet to discover and discuss independent artists and their music.  Musicians will find that Riffage.com offers an impressive roster of services, using the Internet as a direct marketing and distribution channel straight to the consumer. As a result, Riffage is successfully supplanting the traditional music industry paradigm of artist-label-distributor-retailer. Through Riffage.com, artists can deliver their music to fans either via direct downloads or by plugging into Riffage's turnkey e-commerce system for selling physical goods. And thanks to a state-of-the-art, daily updated system for reporting current sales, rankings and customer lists, band members are always just a mouse click away from accessing this important information.  To increase awareness and improve communications with their fans, musicians can tap into Riffage.com's site to publish and promote upcoming concert dates, music previews, artist news and band merchandise, as well as use Riffage to help manage fan contact lists. Bands can also host live chats and discussion boards through Riffage.com, and are eligible to participate in company-generated promotional activities and events.

Headquartered in Redmond, WA, imandi.com was formed by Microsoft alumni Raghav Kher and Eric Johnson in November 1998. At Microsoft, Kher was Director of Strategic Business Decisions and orchestrated the company's acquisition of Hotmail, while Johnson was a lead developer within Microsoft Research for several leading-edge applications. Kher's proven expertise in marketing and business development complements Johnson's track record in software innovation.

Bertelsmann is a transnational media corporation founded in 1835, based in Gütersloh, Germany. Bertelsmann is a media, services and education company that operates in about 50 countries around the world. It includes the broadcaster RTL Group, the trade book publisher Penguin Random House, the magazine publisher Gruner + Jahr, the music company BMG, the service provider Arvato, the Bertelsmann Printing Group, the Bertelsmann Education Group and Bertelsmann Investments, an international network of funds. The company has 116,000 employees and generated revenues of €17.0 billion in the 2016 financial year. Bertelsmann stands for creativity and entrepreneurship. This combination promotes first-class media content and innovative service solutions that inspire customers around the world.

<div> Bertelsmann is a transnational media corporation founded in 1835, based in G&uuml;tersloh, Germany. Bertelsmann is a media, services and education company that operates in about 50 countries around the world. It includes the broadcaster RTL Group, the trade book publisher Penguin Random House, the magazine publisher Gruner + Jahr, the music company BMG, the service provider Arvato, the Bertelsmann Printing Group, the Bertelsmann Education Group and Bertelsmann Investments, an international network of funds. </div>

Bertelsmann Group

BASIC Home Loan raises $10.6M in Series B led by Bertelsmann

Technologies bringing about a new reality

Extended Reality

Companies developing XR headsets and relevant sub-components (displays, sensors, and processors). Also includes complementary XR hardware (tracking devices, haptic vests, and gloves)

Companies offering engines that enable the development of AR/VR content, also includes companies offering capabilities to capture and create 3D images for immersive environments

Companies offering AR/VR solutions or toolkits for specific industry applications, including VR game developers

Companies offering location-based AR/VR experiences

Bertelsmann Group

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