Education Market Experts

What Education Market Experts does

Education Market Experts, Inc. (EME) is a privately held professional services firm headquartered in Tustin, California, that provides sales, marketing, business development, and investment advisory services to companies selling into the PreK–12 and higher education markets. Founded in 1995 as Focus Marketing and rebranded in April 2019 when co-founders Glen McCandless and Brian Healy consolidated under the EME brand (joined by consultants Doug Mesecar and Dr. Lori Vollandt), the firm has advised more than 200 education companies over three decades and operates with a team of 11–50 employees and expert consultants covering marketing, sales, research, early childhood education, educational publishing, and professional development.

EME's service portfolio spans Growth Services (Marketing, Sales Leadership, the newly launched K12 Sales Training Services, Funding Intelligence, Research, and Event Services), Investment Services (Strategic Partnerships/Joint Ventures, Capital Identification/Introduction, Purchase/Sale Advisory, and Strategic Advisory/Board Positions), Product Development, Go-to-Market Plans, Health Checkup assessments, and the proprietary Education Innovation Labs event series. Distribution is sales-led and delivered through direct consultation initiated via a free 30-minute phone call, followed by project-based, retainer, single-day strategic, or hourly engagements; lead generation is supplemented by content marketing, industry conference presence (Tech & Learning, ASU+GSV, FETC, NAEYC), an email newsletter, and the Education Innovation Labs pitch-to-administrators program.

The firm serves a client base ranging from edtech startups to industry giants such as Adobe, Cisco, Carnegie Learning, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Discovery Education, K12, Follett, Brain Pop, and Encoura, with geographic coverage spanning the United States, Canada, China, Korea, Mexico, and the Middle East. Revenue is generated through professional services fees on the various engagement structures noted above; no proprietary technology platform, software product, or AI/ML capability is offered, and the firm's competitive position rests on the depth of front-line industry experience of its consultant team and its network of education decision-makers.

Name

Education Market Experts

Legal name

Education Market Experts, Inc.

Website

https://educationmarketexperts.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Education Market Experts is a Tustin, California-based consulting firm that provides sales, marketing, business development, and investment advisory services to education companies selling into PreK–12 and higher education markets across the US, Canada, China, Korea, Mexico, and the Middle East.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Consulting Services

NAICS

Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services (5416), Professional and Management Development Training (611430), Professional and Management Development Training (61143)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAGANAC

Sales & Customer Service Training

Education/Educational Publishing & Learning Content/Professional Development & Training Materials

SECONDARYEDABAHAD

Product Strategy & Discovery (Vision, Roadmapping, OKRs)

Education/Corporate Training & Professional Development/Project, Program & Product Management Training

SECONDARYEDABALAI

Education & Training Providers

Education/Corporate Training & Professional Development/Industry-Specific Professional Training (e.g., Healthcare, Manufacturing, Construction)

Keywords

• Education market consulting
• Edtech sales advisory
• K12 go-to-market
• Education sales training
• Edtech business development

Headquarters

HQ city

Tustin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Consulting Services: Professional consulting services for sales, marketing, and business development in the education marketplace. They offer various engagement types including project-specific contracts, long-term retainer agreements, single-day strategic consultations, and hourly consultations. The company also provides investment services including strategic partnerships, capital identification, purchase/sale advisory, and strategic advisory services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Education Market Experts is a consulting firm that provides sales growth, marketing, and business development services to education companies. It helps clients ranging from startups to industry giants promote and sell products to faculty, administrators, and students in PreK-12 schools, colleges, and universities through services such as marketing planning, sales leadership, sales training, funding intelligence, research, event support, product development, and investment/M&A advisory.

Product overview

Education Market Experts is a consulting and advisory services firm (not a software product company) that offers a comprehensive suite of services to help education companies grow. Their portfolio includes Marketing Services, Sales Leadership, K12 Sales Training Services, Funding Intelligence, Research Services, Event Services, Investment Services (Strategic Partnerships, Capital Identification, Purchase/Sale Advisory, Strategic Advisory), Product Development, Go to Market Plans, Health Checkup assessments, and Education Innovation Labs. These services work together as a integrated consulting offering—from market analysis and product development through sales execution and investment advisory—designed to help companies from startup to industry giant promote and sell products in the PreK-20 education marketplace.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Marketing Services Complete range of marketing services including marketing audits, full marketing plan execution, market opportunity analysis, and channel assessment to help organizations promote and sell products in the education marketplace.
• Sales Leadership Sales strategy development and execution services including hiring an internal team, working with independent sales groups, or exploring sales channel partner strategies for education companies.
• K12 Sales Training Services Sales training program designed specifically for the school and district marketplace, offering in-person multi-day, virtual, and blended training formats for field sales representatives, inside sales teams, account managers, and sales leaders.
• Funding Intelligence Actionable funding intelligence service matching companies with targeted funding opportunities in the K-12 marketplace, including federal, state, and local funding sources.
• Research Services Market research and validation services including literature reviews, logic models, research briefs, white papers, independent reports, case studies, focus groups, and ESSA tier evaluations.
• Event Services Conference and event support services including exhibit identification, pre/during/post communications design, booth traffic optimization, and sponsorship strategy.
• Product Development Product development support services for the K-12 marketplace including curriculum design, instructional design, product beta testing, pilot program design, product road-mapping, and compliance with industry standards.
• Investment Services (Strategic Partnerships, Capital Identification, Purchase/Sale Advisory, Strategic Advisory) Suite of investment services including strategic partnerships and joint venture matchmaking, capital identification and investor introduction, purchase/sale advisory for company acquisitions and exits, and strategic advisory including board of director positions for education companies.
• Go to Market Plans Market planning service that sizes and scopes product/service offerings against regional, national, or international markets, assessing sales channels and developing targeted go-to-market strategies.
• Health Checkup Company assessment service investigating current sales/marketing strategies and processes, comparing against industry best practices, evaluating branding, policies, sales results, pipeline, pricing strategy, and win/loss analysis.
• Education Innovation Labs Event-based program providing opportunities for partners to showcase solutions directly with school and district administrators, including three-minute pitch sessions and twenty-minute follow-up meetings.

Quantifiable outcome

• Average 7x return on investment for clients receiving advisory services
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Member Organizations (Education Innovation Labs)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerEducation Market Experts collaborates with member organizations throughout the country to create Education Innovation Labs opportunities where selected partners can showcase their solutions directly with hundreds of school and district administrators. These partnerships enable structured 3-minute pitch sessions followed by 20-minute deep-dive meetings with interested administrators.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat3 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/EdMarketExperts
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/education-market-experts

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Education Market Experts