Ambient Insight Report: Recession Good for the Learning Industry

Seattle, WA (PRWEB) March 2, 2009 -- According to a new report released by Ambient Insight, venture capital is flowing into learning technology companies at the highest rate since the last recession. There was a dramatic spike in private investments made to learning technology companies in 2007 and 2008.

"Private investment in 2008 totaled over $1 billion, higher than any other year in the last ten years except 2000," reports Sam S. Adkins, Ambient Insight's Chief Research Officer. "This report identifies the types of companies, products, and services that are attracting that investment. Over 160 learning technology companies were funded in 2008, compared to 50 in 1999."

A free Executive Overview is available at:

http://www.ambientinsight.com/Reports/LearningTechnology.aspx

The report is called, ''Private Investment Trends in the US Learning Technology Industry: 1999-2008 Longitudinal Analysis'' and includes a detailed analysis of the funding amounts across eight types of learning products. It also analyzes the capital flowing to the training outsourcing companies. The analysis compares the funding activity in the last recession to the patterns in the current recession. There are some similarities, but investment trends are different this time.

"In the last recession, the vast majority of investment went to Self-paced eLearning companies," comments CEO Tyson Greer. "This time capital is flowing to companies that are 'innovating their way out of the recession' with second and third-generation products."

The research provides evidence that the current recession is now a growth catalyst for both the sales of learning technology products and the investment in learning technology companies. While no industry is immune from a recession, education is known to be "recession-resilient" and investment firms are moving money into the industry in response to the downturn.

"There are discrepancies between total funding activity for specific product types and the product's potential revenue growth," adds Adkins. "On the other hand, there are clear revenue opportunities for both suppliers and investors that are targeting products with sustainable and long-term revenue streams."

For more information on this research, please contact:

Sam S. Adkins, Chief Research Officer

Ambient Insight, LLC

360-805-4298

# # #

Comment on "Ambient Insight Report: Recession Good for the Learning Industry"