GSV Ventures

Name

GSV Ventures

Legal name

GSV Ventures

Website

https://gsv.ventures

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525)

SIC

Services-Management Services (8741)

akta.pro primary industry

SDG / Thematic Sustainable Investment Funds (FSANAJAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Corporate LP Programs (Corporate as LP in VC/PE funds) (FSANAHAH), Corporate Strategic Partnership & Ecosystem Investment Arms (FSANAHAF)

Keywords

• Venture capital investing
• Education technology
• Early-stage funding
• Growth equity
• Startup investments

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Venture Capital Management: GSV Ventures generates returns through equity investments in EdTech startups. The firm manages $500M+ in assets across three funds, investing in seed through growth stages in education and workforce learning companies. Returns are realized through exits including IPOs and acquisitions.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

GSV Ventures is an EdTech-focused venture capital firm that invests in education and workforce learning companies across seed, early, and growth stages, managing $500M+ in assets across three institutional funds. The firm provides capital, board seats, and strategic support to portfolio companies spanning the PreK to Gray learning lifecycle. Beyond investments, GSV operates the ASU+GSV Summit (17th year, 15,000+ attendees) and runs the GSV Cup 50 and GSV 150 programs as ecosystem-building initiatives.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ASU+GSV Summit: Annual education technology summit co-founded by GSV Ventures, celebrating innovations across the global PreK to Gray learning and workforce skills landscape, attracting over 15,000 attendees.
• GSV Cup 50
• GSV 150

Products and services

• GSV Ventures Investment Funds (Fund I, Fund II, Fund III) Venture capital investment vehicles providing equity capital to education technology companies across seed, early, and growth stages. Capital is deployed across the PreK to Gray spectrum spanning PreK-12, Higher Education, and Future of Talent/Workforce segments. Limited partners commit capital to the funds and receive returns through exits including IPOs and acquisitions.
• ASU+GSV Summit Annual education technology summit co-founded by GSV Ventures and Arizona State University, celebrating innovations across the global PreK to Gray learning and workforce skills landscape. Attracts over 15,000 attendees to events in San Diego and serves as a premier networking, deal-flow, and ecosystem-building platform for the EdTech industry.
• GSV Cup 50 Annual recognition program run by GSV Ventures in partnership with AWS that spotlights 50 pre-seed and seed-stage EdTech startups selected from approximately 3,000 global nominations (1.6% acceptance rate). Includes a Demo Day at the ASU+GSV Summit and provides cloud credits, technical guidance, and access to the AWS EdTech team for honorees.
• GSV 150 Annual list recognizing the world's top growth companies transforming digital learning and workforce skills. Provides industry visibility to selected companies such as Ellucian (named six consecutive years) and Study.com.

Quantifiable outcome

• 80+ portfolio companies with multiple unicorns including Coursera, PhysicsWallah, Photomath
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• GallupminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 April 2026Joint survey on Gen Z AI attitudes conducted by Gallup, Walton Family Foundation, and GSV Ventures. The survey of 1,500+ Gen Z individuals aged 14-29 found that 51% use generative AI weekly, while negative sentiment has intensified with anger rising 9 points to 31%.
• Walton Family FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 April 2026Joint survey on Gen Z AI attitudes conducted by Gallup, Walton Family Foundation, and GSV Ventures. Released April 2026, the survey found 80% of Gen Zers believe AI tools will make learning harder.
• Amazon Web Services (AWS)coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 6 March 2026AWS and GSV Ventures partner on the annual GSV Cup 50 program, spotlighting 50 pre-seed and seed-stage EdTech startups. AWS provides cloud credits, technical guidance, and access to the AWS EdTech team for all honorees. The 2026 cohort presented at Demo Day on April 14, 2026 during ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego.
• Arizona State University (ASU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGSV Ventures co-founded the ASU+GSV Summit with Arizona State University. Now in its 17th year, the summit celebrates innovations across the global PreK to Gray learning landscape and attracts over 15,000 attendees to premier events in San Diego each April.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Emerson Collective: Laurene Powell Jobs' Emerson Collective invests across education, social impact, and climate — including direct EdTech equity stakes. Comparable to GSV's mission-aligned, thematic capital allocation, particularly for underrepresented founders.
• Learn Capital: Learn Capital is an early-to-growth EdTech-focused venture firm whose portfolio includes Coursera and Photomath — direct overlap with GSV's investments. Operationally very close: thesis across PreK-12, higher ed, and workforce, plus investment team with operating backgrounds.
• Owl Ventures: Owl Ventures is one of the largest EdTech-dedicated venture firms with multibillion-dollar AUM. Targets the same PreK-to-workforce continuum as GSV and competes head-to-head for late-seed and growth-stage EdTech rounds.
• Kapor Capital: Kapor Capital invests early-stage across EdTech and the future of work, often backing underrepresented founders. Mirrors GSV's GSV Cup 50 diversity profile (~76% women/POC) and similar impact-oriented thesis around equitable access to learning.
• Reach Capital: Reach Capital is an EdTech-focused VC firm investing from early childhood through workforce. Like GSV, it concentrates exclusively on learning and workforce-upskilling companies, with similar seed-to-Series A stage focus.

Broad incumbents

• General Catalyst: General Catalyst is a multi-stage investor with EdTech and workforce exposure (and co-investor alongside GSV in Amigo AI). Differs in being a generalist firm with massive AUM, but overlaps in thesis around AI-driven learning and credentialing.
• Andreessen Horowitz (a16z): While a generalist mega-fund, a16z runs a dedicated education/future-of-work practice and has invested in many EdTech names that overlap with GSV's thesis. Competes for the same larger EdTech rounds but offers broader platform support.
• BBQ Capital (Bessemer Venture Partners EdTech practice): BVP is a multi-stage generalist that has built strong EdTech coverage (e.g., Skillsoft, Pluralsight-era deals). Competes for growth-stage EdTech rounds against GSV but offers much broader sector exposure.

Emerging players

• EdTech-focused growth funds (Rethink Education / Verlinvest EdTech): Rethink Education and similar EdTech specialist funds focus on K-12 and workforce segments overlapping with GSV's PreK-to-Gray spectrum. Generally smaller AUMs and earlier-stage, but directly competitive for seed rounds.

Others

• Holberton School / Galvanize-style impact funds: Adjacent ecosystem participants — workforce-development operators and impact investors — that intersect with GSV's later-stage workforce thesis (e.g., GSV's Pro Athlete Community and Training All People investments).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/gsvventures
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/gsvventures

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments168 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about GSV Ventures