Cool Australia

What Cool Australia does

Cool.org (formerly Cool Australia) is an Australian education technology company that provides curriculum-aligned teaching resources and professional development content for K-12 educators. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Melbourne/Naarm, the company operates a web-based platform serving early learning, primary, and secondary educators across metro, regional, and rural Australia. The platform reports 220,000 Australian educator members, supports approximately 2.5 million children taught per year, and has facilitated over 2.31 million lesson downloads cumulatively.

The platform is built around a content library organized by year level (Foundation through Year 10), 12 subject areas spanning STEM, humanities, and the arts, and thematic topics covering environmental, social, and economic issues. Core product offerings include free units, lesson plans, and activities alongside a premium Cool+ subscription that unlocks the full catalogue and on-demand professional learning. The company has developed proprietary pedagogical frameworks—the Hope Framework (grounded in positive psychology and Hope Theory) and the Act Framework (incorporating Design Thinking)—used to help educators teach challenging topics with psychological safety. The platform also offers 50+ themed educational projects (e.g., NAIDOC Week, 2040 Film, The War on Waste) and structured STEM Professional Learning Plans.

Revenue is generated primarily through the Cool+ subscription, priced at under $3 per week on an annual plan (approximately $150/year), with a freemium tier serving as the acquisition funnel. The go-to-market is product-led and community-led, relying on SEO-driven content marketing, organic social media (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn), and educator networks rather than a traditional sales force. The company also operates a public donation pathway, suggesting a hybrid nonprofit or social-enterprise funding posture. There are no disclosed external investors, no enterprise contracts, no anchor institutional customers, and no international expansion in the available data.

Name

Cool Australia

Legal name

Cool Australia Limited

Website

https://coolaustralia.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Cool.org (formerly Cool Australia) is an Australian education technology company operating a web-based platform of curriculum-aligned teaching resources and professional learning content, serving 220,000 K-12 educators across Australia via a freemium and subscription model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

K-12 Educational Content Platform

NAICS

Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Curriculum, Lesson Planning & Instructional Content Platforms (EDAJAMAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Teacher-Led Digital Lesson Packages & Instructional Resources (EDAFACAL), Core Digital Curriculum & Courseware (Full Programs & Units) (EDAFACAA), Open Lesson Plans & Teaching Units (K–12) (EDAGAJAI)

Keywords

• Curriculum-aligned resources
• Teacher professional development
• K-12 educational content
• Online teaching resources
• Classroom lesson plans

Headquarters

HQ city

Windsor

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Cool+ Subscription: Premium subscription providing unlimited access to full catalogue of curriculum-aligned teaching resources and professional learning courses. Priced at under $3 per week on annual plan.
2. Free Resources: Base tier offering free units, lesson plans and activities to all educators, serving as acquisition funnel for premium subscriptions

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Cool Australia, operating as Cool.org, provides a digital educational resource platform offering free and subscription-based curriculum-aligned teaching resources, lesson plans, units, and professional learning courses for Australian K-12 educators from Foundation to Year 10. The platform features proprietary Hope and Act Frameworks for teaching challenging topics, organizes content by subject (12 subjects) and topic (Environmental, Social, Economic themes), and supports educators with over 50 educational projects and themed units.

Product overview

Cool.org (formerly Cool Australia) operates as a single unified educational resource platform offering both free and premium (Cool+) subscription-based content. The platform provides curriculum-aligned teaching resources organized by year level (Foundation through Year 10), subject area, and topic. Core offerings include free teaching resources and professional learning courses, with the premium Cool+ subscription unlocking unlimited access to the full catalogue. The platform also features the Hope and Act Frameworks for teaching challenging topics, subject-specific resources across 12 subject areas, topic-based resources covering Environmental, Social, Economic, and Human Rights themes, and over 50 educational projects and themed units.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cool.org Platform

Named customers1 record

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Various Australian OrganizationsunclearOthersWebsite indicates 'Partnered with and trusted by' section with multiple organization logos displayed. Specific partner names are not labeled in the visible content. Partners appear to include Australian educational and environmental organizations based on logo imagery.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• ClickView: Australian-headquartered video-led educational content platform with curriculum-aligned resources and a school subscription model. Comparable in geographic focus, curriculum alignment, and subscription-based monetisation of educational content for Australian K-12.
• Twinkl: Twinkl is a global digital publisher of curriculum-aligned teaching resources with a freemium subscription model (Twinkl Plus). It is the most direct analogue to Cool.org's value proposition and monetisation approach, though operating at significantly larger international scale.
• Tes Resources: Tes operates a global marketplace and subscription library of teacher-created resources with curriculum alignment. Overlaps directly with Cool.org's lesson-plan and unit offering and competes for the same freelance-resource economics and teacher mindshare.
• Lesson Planet: Subscription-based library of lesson plans, worksheets, and curriculum-aligned teaching resources. Closely matches Cool.org's subscription monetisation and resource-librarian model, primarily serving US curriculum standards.
• Education Services Australia (Scootle): Government-backed provider of Scootle, a national digital learning resource repository aligned to the Australian Curriculum. Directly competes for the same Australian educator audience, with the structural advantage of being subsidised by government funding.
• ABC Education: ABC Education provides free, curriculum-aligned digital resources for Australian teachers and students, often tied to documentary content. Directly competes with Cool.org's free-tier offering and is a familiar Australian brand among the same target audience.

Broad incumbents

• Khan Academy: Large-scale global free educational platform with freemium teacher tools (Khan Academy for Educators). Operates a similar freemium content model at vastly greater scale, but its broader portfolio and international focus make it an incumbent rather than a direct niche competitor.

Emerging players

• OER Commons: Open Educational Resources (OER) hub offering free, open-license teaching materials searchable by curriculum standards. Comparable to Cool.org's free-tier catalogue and lesson-plan model, though less curated and without Cool.org's subscription monetisation.

Regional players

• Compass Education: Australian-headquartered school management and learning platform used widely by Australian K-12 schools. Comparable regional context and overlapping customer base of Australian schools, though its primary function is school administration rather than curriculum content delivery.

Others

• Edutopia: George Lucas Educational Foundation publication providing teaching strategies, lesson ideas, and professional development content. Comparable in serving educator professional learning and pedagogy content, but operates as a free media publisher rather than a subscription resource platform.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/CoolAustralia
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cool-australia-limited
• Instagraminstagram.com/cool.org.education
• Xx.com/coolaustralia

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Cool Australia