Reimagine Education 2025: 1:1 Meetings with education investors

Connect, pitch and reimagine the future of education

As part of the Reimagine Education Awards & Conference 2025, we’re excited to offer finalists exclusive opportunities to meet leading global investors who are shaping the future of education technology and innovation.

These 1:1 meetings are your chance to connect directly with venture capitalists, impact investors, and education-focused funds – to share your vision, explore collaboration, and take your project to the next level.

Investor meetings schedule

Day 1
Monday, 1 December | 2:30–4:00 PM

Day 2
Tuesday, 2 December | 9:45–10:30 AM & 11:00 AM–12:30 PM

All sessions take place during the Reimagine Education Awards & Conference at the QEII Centre, London.

Meet the investors

Each participating investor brings unique experience and insight into education innovation, from early-stage startups to large-scale institutional transformation. Explore their profiles below to discover who aligns with your vision and book your 1:1 meeting.

Robert Puopolo

Managing Partner, Epic Partners

Robert Puopolo is the Managing Partner of Epic Partners, a private equity firm that focuses exclusively on investments in education and training-related businesses. Since its inception in 2002, Epic Partners has made roughly 15 investments and have three active portfolio companies: Second Mile Education, Pryor Learning and The Valley College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Prior to founding Epic Partners, Robert Puopolo was a Partner at Leeds Equity, one of the original private equity firms investing in education and training. Before joining Leeds, Robert Puopolo spent 18 years as an investment banker in the M&A groups of three Wall Street firms, including four years based in London. Robert Puopolo holds a BA and an MBA from Harvard University.

For platform investments, Epic Partners has a minimum TTM EBITDA threshold of $3 million and is open to both change-of-control/majority recapitalizations as well as minority/growth capital investments. While the firm has historically focused on the United States, it is now beginning to evaluate platform investment opportunities in the UK and Europe.

Epic Partners is also interested in developing add-on and partnership opportunities for its portfolio companies, including products and services in: (i) corporate training and workforce development through Pryor Learning, and (ii) medical education through The Valley College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Talk to me about:

Pre-seed, Seed | Series A | Tech-augmented learning | Future of work

Enrico Poli

Managing Director, Zanichelli Venture

Enrico Poli is the Managing Director of Zanichelli Venture, the early-stage EdTech fund backed by Zanichelli Editore. A former Chief Digital Officer at Zanichelli Editore, Poli has two decades of experience in digital learning, product strategy, and scaling education technology. He cares about how people teach and learn, how they tackle complex or difficult information, how they solve problems together, how intelligences (human and artificial) interact and create knowledge and learning. Poli studies the ways new technologies can help and not hinder these processes. Education offers a critical testing ground.

Talk to me about:

K-12 | Corporate training/Workforce development | Early childhood education | Post-secondary school | Goods and service provider to educational institution, or used for educational purposes.

Rita Ferrandino

Founding Partner, Arc Capital Development

Rita is the founding partner at Arc Capital Development, a global private investment and advisory firm. Rita Ferrandino has built an international reputation as one of the most effective corporate growth strategists in the education industry in K12, Higher Education & Workforce Development. She specializes in corporate growth strategy development, investment, revenue acceleration and cost/performance improvement and overall organizational strategy. Rita currently serves as the Innovation Consultant at the Catalyst @ Penn GSE Innovation Center at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. She has co-lead the Milken Penn Business Plan Competition for the last eight years and served as the lead Capstone instructor at the Education Entrepreneurship Graduate Program for four years.

Arc invests in, operates and advises companies in the education and corporate training markets and has served over 150 clients in the US, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Ireland, Turkey, Israel & India. Arc clients and portfolio companies provide products generating over a billion dollars a year worldwide. Learn more at www.arccd.com .

Talk to me about:

Series A | Early learning | Higher education | K-12 | Workforce

Nic Newman

General Partner, Emerge

Nic Newman successfully co-founded and successfully sold Tigerspike, a 300-person mobile tech company. At Emerge, he draws on his operational experience to both provide hands-on support to portfolio founders and assess potential investments.

Nic is also a member of the DfE’s Edtech Leadership group, a NED and an ex-school governor of 3 schools (special needs, primary and secondary), Mentor on the Mayor’s International Business Program. He is ‘the product guy’ – a technologist with a deep understanding of how to use design to build trust and engagement around digital experience. This experience was built leading fast-growth tech startups and in large multinationals. He has 2 young children and believes in the fundamental right of access to a great education at any age (all through life) for all of humankind.

Talk to me about:

Alex Bishop

Associate Director of Ventures, Ufi VocTech Trust

Alex is Associate Director of Ventures at Ufi VocTech Trust, a UK charity

catalysing transformational change in vocation learning, unlocking the

power of technology to improve skills for work.

Alex has been central to the build out of the direct investment strategy at the

charity across the last 5 years and recently launched the Ufi Ventures Challenge Fund, focused at early stage startups driving the skills needed for the transitioning economy.

Talk to me about:

Rory Henson

Partner, IBIS Capital

Rory is a Partner at IBIS Capital and has 14 years experience as an advisor, investor and operator to the media, technology, education and healthcare industries. He joined IBIS in 2012 to build IBIS’ coverage into education, training and work globally. Rory is active across investment banking and investment activities.

He is a founding member of the EdTechX and HealthTechX whose purpose is to cultivate communities and highlight the future direction of these sectors that are undergoing significant digital transformation. Through these brands, IBIS has been organising leadership summits and publishing proprietary research since 2013. Rory is the CEO of The Purpose Board which mentors and supports leaders balancing purpose and mission, and is a non-executive director with AECC Global.

Rory started his career at the TMT Investment Banking team at Jefferies & Co, where he worked with high-growth international clients across the European Technology, Media, Internet and Telecommunications landscape. Previous working experience includes UBS and Kraft Heinz in Europe and Asia. Rory is a graduate of the University of Bristol with a BSc in Accounting & Finance and continues with further education sustainability and artificial intelligence (Columbia Business School, London Business School).

Talk to me about:

George Straschnov

Managing Director, Bisk Ventures

George is the Managing Director of Bisk Ventures. He serves as an active advisor to the Firm’s portfolio in matters related to strategy, development, and product, as well as fund raising and access to the global ed tech industry investor network. He serves on advisory boards at education technology accelerators including Michelson 20MM, USC Rossier Edventures, WISE and Eduspaze, and is a regular speaker, mentor and startup judge at industry events including ASU/GSV and EdTech Week. Prior to joining Bisk Ventures, George spent 12 years at Bisk as Chief Strategy Officer and VP Business Development, focusing on product and new customer relationships with university leadership, as well as overseeing legal and regulatory matters as General Counsel. Prior to Bisk, he founded several early Internet startups, practiced as a commercial litigator and served as an assistant county attorney.

His investment focuses on innovations shaping the future of post-secondary education and the future of work, supporting solutions across the full learner lifecycle to improve access, learning experiences, student support, and career outcomes. They consider opportunities from early to growth stage and are interested in traditional and non-traditional learning content, learning and teaching technologies, student-support tools, university and corporate training solutions, and platforms that connect education to employment. They invest globally with a particular focus on Africa and the MENA region, and are currently not prioritizing Latin America.

Libby Hills

CEO, EdTechnical

Libby is the CEO of EdTechnical. The organization began as a podcast helping people make sense of AI in education and has since expanded to back promising edtech companies with patient capital, conduct rapid research to understand what works, and support the field in navigating a fast-moving landscape. EdTechnical is supported by the Jacobs Foundation, XTX Markets, and the UBS Optimus Foundation.

With more than 15 years of experience bridging leadership roles as both an operator and a funder, Libby brings practical insight into what works in education along with strategic expertise from leading the Jacobs Foundation’s edtech portfolio and advising the UK Department for Education and investors on edtech and AI evidence and impact. She co-founded and hosts the EdTechnical podcast with Owen, exploring practical applications of AI in education, and has published research on edtech and AI in leading academic journals and conferences.

She also advises governments, investors, and companies across the education and edtech ecosystem on AI and research strategy.

Areas of investment focus

Our participating investors represent a broad spectrum of education innovation. Whether your project is transforming classrooms, empowering learners through AI, or driving sustainable practices, there’s an investor eager to hear from you.

Focus areas include:

Higher education innovation

EdTech startups

Artificial intelligence in learning

Sustainability in education

Learning analytics and personalisation

K-12 and early learning innovation

Online learning platforms

Skills and workforce development

How it works

Explore investor profiles: Learn more about each participating investor and their areas of interest.
Select your matches: Choose which investors best align with your project.
Book your meeting slot: Once scheduling opens, reserve your 1:1 session.
Pitch and connect: Present your project and explore potential collaborations or funding opportunities.

Ready to connect?

Spaces are limited for 1:1 meetings. Don’t miss your chance to pitch your project to education’s most forward-thinking investors.

Questions?

For enquiries about participation or the 1:1 meeting schedule, email Medini Mothay.