NEW VIDEO FOR DEVRY DVX LABS & 1871

1871 Hosts DeVry DVX New Cohort

Business

Higher-ed tech incubator DV X Labs opens at 1871

Posted: 01/13/2015, 06:42pm | Sandra Guy

Tim Harrington, senior product manager at DeVry Education Group's DV X (left), Karen Hurst, dean of general education, and Eric Dirst, president of DeVry Online Services, discuss plans for the ed-tech incubator's welcome reception in the Merchandise Mart.

A new incubator to support startups developing higher-education technology will open Wednesday in the 1871 tech hub in the Merchandise Mart.

The incubator’s lead sponsor is the research-and-development arm of DeVry Education Group, the Downers Grove-based parent of DeVry University and other for-profit specialty schools.

The R&D arm, known as DV X, will provide the startups with prototyping sessions, business-education workshops, DeVry academic leader meet-ups and other resources in 2,000 square feet of space that DV X shares with a career accelerator program called Startup Institute.

Jeff Dunn, senior director at DV X, said the five-person R&D unit has worked remotely with startups for the past few years in Austin, Boston, New York and San Francisco, but decided to set up a “gathering place” close to home.

The incubator has accepted its first four startups:

• Youtopia, based in Chicago, focuses on developing a gaming platform that lets learners earn points and badges as they meet greater challenges.
• SmartyPants, based in Los Angeles, developed a mobile app that helps students quickly set up study groups.
• YuJa, based in San Jose, California, combines lecture captioning, live broadcasting, social learning and video collaborating onto a single platform, allowing students to access the content from anywhere and anytime.
• Century Tech, based in London, developed a platform that uses data analytics and artificial intelligence to adjust to each student’s learning progress.

The incubator kickoff Wednesday will feature a “fireside chat” and roundtable discussion at 1871 with technology executives about the challenges facing startups in education technology and the value of their partnering with universities.

1871 WELCOMES ENTHUSIASTIC CROWD FOR LEAP INNOVATIONS PROGRAM

DeVry schools startups with 1871 education incubator

DeVry schools startups with 1871 education incubator

September 09, 2014

Jeff Dunn, senior director of DV X, DeVry Education Group Inc.'s research and development unit

DeVry Education Group Inc. is teaming up with 1871 on an incubator for education-technology startups.

DeVry, already an 1871 sponsor, is launching the EdTech Incubator, expecting to admit up to 10 startups spread over two classes annually. The program will take applications from entrepreneurs nationwide.

The Downers Grove-based company, which runs a for-profit network of schools and has an enrollment of more than 100,000, will provide the startups with access to and mentoring from its executives. They'll offer feedback on the startups' ideas and test the most promising ones at its campuses. The company also will host education programs at 1871, which is housed in the Merchandise Mart.

"It will help us improve teaching and learning. We'll co-create solutions we can pilot across DeVry," said Jeff Dunn, senior director of DV X, DeVry's research and development unit.

1871 CEO Howard Tullman

It's the latest incubator at 1871 to focus on a specific industry — part of an effort by CEO Howard Tullman to increase corporate sponsorship and get the region's large companies more involved with its startups. Other incubators and accelerators announced so far will focus on real estate and startups led by military veterans.

Large companies such as DeVry are paying closer attention to startups as they look to reinvent their businesses.

"Chicago's vast network of schools, educators and students presents a wide range of opportunities for technology to dramatically improve the way students receive education," Mr. Tullman said in a statement.

For DeVry, the education-technology incubator at 1871 is an evolution of a program it has been running for several years. DeVry has piloted more than a half-dozen experimental programs based on work done by startups such as Civitas Learning, an Austin, Texas-based company that provides analytics about student performance.

Civitas helped DeVry better identify specific test scores that were better indicators of students' eventual success. "It changed how we rated test scores," Mr. Dunn told me. "We first engaged them over two years ago. It was very much a co-creation. We learned firsthand what works."

DeVry is on the verge of small-scale adoption of technology developed by two or three other startups, with plans for wider adoption, Mr. Dunn said.

Follow John on Twitter at @JohnPletz.