Newsela is both a content and service provider and has worked over the last decade to expand its offerings.

• Content: curation of real-world content that is curriculum-relevant, engaging, and from widely trusted sources. The idea is to provide teachers with materials that students can relate to, and that can help them increase both traditional literacies (reading and writing skills), and also help them build new media literacy by interacting with real-world news content. Content is available in 5 literacy levels, enabling literacy progression and age-appropriate content access through different stages.

• Service: offerings include content guides, evaluation materials, implementation training, integration tips, webinars, and other supports for educators to be able to get the most out of Newsela content. They also offer training to become a Newsela Certified Educator (NCE).

• The company has in-house expertise and works with over 100 partners to develop content and services, and also creates programming that is specific to jurisdictions. For example, in the US, educators can access content that is relevant to state-wide curriculum standards.

• Newsela already offers custom-aligned resources for districts and can likely expand on this offering.

• Newsela's target market currently supports the import and export of content and services, with a big focus on local in the US (e.g., packages have been developed for individual states) and global (25 additional countries).

• Education systems in many countries are already set up for utilizing Newsela content, and they currently market themselves as having accessible offline content as well (expanding their potential market to countries with lower internet capacities).

As an Educational Venture Analyst interested in the evolution of content development in the digital age, I see Newsela as a company that has found a way to integrate engaging, real-world content into existing classroom curricula. Newsela has found its niche in the content development marketplace and has quickly grown to reach over 2 million educators and 40 million learners in less than a decade, making it an attractive company to consider for investment.

Although its potential to reach larger global markets may be limited by only offering content in English and Spanish, there are still huge applications to English and Spanish Language Learners, and lots of room for continued growth for this company. Newsela just recently marked its $1 billion valuation milestone as we are coming out of the pandemic and are continuing to grow and support remote learning opportunities. As a private company, it is definitely worth keeping an eye on this venture whether a) the company goes public, b) additional doors for private investment are opened, or c) if you are a large educational body looking to enhance district or state-wide initiatives.

Further, Newsela could carve itself more of a path in terms of providing niche content that isn't readily available through conventional text, especially as we are seeing more content banned from schools in the US. One concern I have is around accessibility and company image, as there has been negative feedback about the cost structure; some educators are frustrated about the limited offerings through the free platform. However, Newsela could look into providing a sponsorship program for schools that cannot afford paid subscriptions, opening up access to a wider audience. Overall, this is a solid company that I predict has some serious longevity in the TechEd market both locally (US and Canada) and globally.