Deborah Quazzo at GSV Ventures

As COVID-19 swept across the globe in 2020, the education sector faced unprecedented disruption. Schools and colleges worldwide shut down, forcing over a billion students and teachers to move to online learning. Investor interest in the EdTech space exploded as technology-based education solutions shifted from a “nice-to-have” to a “must-have.” As one of the leading EdTech venture capital firms, GSV Ventures, which had backed industry leaders such as Coursera, ClassDojo, Guild Education, Remind, and Course Hero, was positioned to be at the forefront of the changes happening to education across the world. In light of the pandemic, GSV had to postpone and reenvision its hallmark ASU+GSV Summit - a partnership with Arizona State University and GSV that showcased the latest innovations and innovators across the global “pre-K to gray” EdTech space - that had been scheduled for March 30 to April 1. However, on the positive side, GSV Ventures was facing a surge in investor interest in its Fund II which had begun fundraising in 2019. The original target had been to raise $100 million, but there was recent discussion of increasing Fund II to $200 to $250 million. Quazzo needed to decide whether it made sense to expand the fund, and if so, what changes would need to be made internally and strategically to support a larger fund. At a higher level, Quazzo wondered whether the momentum gained in EdTech during the first few months of COVID-19 was sustainable. Would the global focus on remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic trigger systemic changes? Could this be a unique opportunity to address the massive challenges associated with inequality of access, opportunity, and outcomes?