Edsby is an

educational technology Educational technology (commonly abbreviated as edutech, or edtech) is the combined use of computer hardware, software, and educational theory and practice to facilitate learning. When referred to with its abbreviation, edtech, it often refer ...

company headquartered in

Toronto, Canada Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor ...

. It is the developer and publisher of the Edsby platform, a web-based

K-12 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993, well known worldwide mainly for its heavyweight division fights and Grand Prix tournaments. In January 2012, K-1 Global Holdings Limited, a company registered in Hong Kong, acquired ...

learning management system A learning management system (LMS) is a software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, reporting, automation, and delivery of educational courses, training programs, materials or learning and development programs. The learni ...

(LMS) and analytics platform, and Unison, an educational

data aggregation Data aggregation is the compiling of information from databases with intent to prepare combined datasets for data processing. Description The United States Geological Survey explains that, “when data are well documented, you know how and where to ...

product. Edsby is partnered with

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

and provides its services on the

Microsoft Azure Microsoft Azure, often referred to as Azure ( , ), is a cloud computing platform operated by Microsoft for application management via around the world-distributed data centers. Microsoft Azure has multiple capabilities such as software as a ...

cloud service worldwide. The company was named Microsoft’s Education Partner of the Year in 2019.

History

Edsby was founded in April 2010 by Steve Asbury, Jon Asbury, and Scott Welch, the three founders and architects of the software application

FirstClass FirstClass is a client–server groupware, email, online conferencing, voice and fax services, and bulletin-board system for Windows, macOS, and Linux. FirstClass's primary markets are the higher-education and K-12 education sectors, including ...

, and co-worker John Myers. After it gained popularity in the 1990s, millions of students and teachers used this software tool with messaging and collaboration features, and it is recognized as one of the earliest

learning management systems A learning management system (LMS) is a software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, reporting, automation, and delivery of educational courses, training programs, materials or learning and development programs. The learni ...

. Edsby is privately held, and in 2014, the company acknowledged a funding round of around two million dollars. In 2020, it received a $5.3 million

Series A A series A round (also known as series A financing or series A investment) is the name typically given to a company's first significant round of venture capital financing. The name refers to the class of preferred stock sold to investors in exchan ...

investment. In conjunction with the raise, investor Chris Besse, former CEO of educational technology company FreshGrade and former managing director of

at education publisher Nelson Education, joined the company as

Chief Commercial Officer The chief commercial officer (CCO) (sometime referred to as the chief business officer) is an executive-level role, with the holder being responsible for the commercial strategy and the development of an organization. It typically involves activi ...

Products

Edsby platform

The Edsby platform is developed for

school districts,

private schools An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

, and

governments A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

. It provides online social learning tools connected to their existing systems, including grade books, attendance-taking, parent-teacher communication features,

classroom management Classroom management is the process teachers use to ensuring that classroom lessons run smoothly without disruptive behavior from students compromising the delivery of instruction. It includes the prevention of disruptive behavior preemptively, as ...

content management Content management (CM) is a set of processes and technologies that supports the collection, managing, and publishing of information in any form or medium. When stored and accessed via computers, this information may be more specifically referre ...

, and social classroom interaction. Mobile applications are available for

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

and Android. In September 2013,

Hillsborough County Public Schools Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS) is a school district that runs the public school system of Hillsborough County in west central Florida and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. It is frequently referred to as the School District of Hillsbo ...

deployed Edsby to its students and teachers at the district's schools. In 2015, other district-wide deployments included 3,450 staff and 34,000 students at

Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board (known as English-language Public District School Board No. 14 prior to 1999) is a public, secular, English language school board headquartered in Peterborough, Ontario. It is the amalgamation of the fo ...

. In 2016, it was adopted by 35,000 students and staff at

Greater Essex County District School Board The Greater Essex County District School Board (known as English-language Public District School Board No. 9 prior to 1999) was created on January 1, 1998 with the amalgamation of the Windsor Board of Education and the Essex County Board of Educat ...

. In 2017, it deployed at

York Region District School Board The York Region District School Board (YRDSB) is the English-language public school board for the Regional Municipality of York in Ontario, Canada. The York Region District School Board is the province's third-largest school board after Toronto' ...

, a 125,000-student district.

Unison

In March 2019, the New Zealand Ministry of Education contracted with Edsby to develop a national student information-sharing exchange called Te Rito. Edsby’s technology, spun out in 2022 as a separate product called Unison, synchronizes the country’s thousands of student information systems, “securely storing and sharing information in a transparent and trusted way” for

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

learners, their families, and communities.

Awards

* 2022 LMS Platform of the Year, EdTech Breakthrough Awards * 2021 Remote & Blended Learning Tool for Primary (K-6) and Secondary (6-12), Tech and Learning * 2020 EdTech Startup of the Year, MindShare Learning * 2019 Innovator of the Year, City of Richmond Hill * 2017 SIIA

CODiE Award The Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) is a trade association dedicated to the entertainment, consumer and business software industries. Established in 1984 as the Software Publishers Association (SPA), the SIIA took its new na ...

, Best Education Data Solution,

SIIA The Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) is a trade association dedicated to the entertainment, consumer and business software industries. Established in 1984 as the Software Publishers Association (SPA), the SIIA took its new na ...

* 2016 SIIA

, Best Classroom Management Solution,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edsby Educational technology companies of Canada Canadian educational websites Virtual learning environments Canadian social networking websites Learning management systems Classroom management software Educational software