Summary List Placement The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted a surge of investment in education startups, as millions of students young and old around the world are forced to learn from home under lockdown. Even before the virus forced much of the world to shift to remote learning, global investment in the sector hit a staggering $18 billion. Now even more cash is being thrown at "edtech" startups, as demonstrated by SoftBank's $200 million bet on Scandinavian firm Kahoot.