eKidz in Germany named in Top 25 shortlists for second annual Global EdTech Prize

Founded by T4 Education with the support of Owl Ventures and Digital Promise, the Global EdTech Prize recognises trailblazing tools grappling with the most crucial challenges in education

eKidz in Germany has today been named in the Top 25 shortlist for the second annual Global EdTech Prize in the Start-Up category. Founded in 2025 by T4 Education, with the support of Owl Ventures and Digital Promise, the Global EdTech Prize recognises those trailblazing solutions that are driving change and grappling with the most crucial challenges in today’s classrooms. Judged by educators themselves, the prize provides a vital platform to help companies and organisations scale their products, tools, or services and their impact worldwide. It celebrates EdTechs that are making a real difference to the next generation and champions innovative tech solutions that actually work for the people who matter most – educators, their students, and their communities. The prize is awarded in three categories: Majors, Start-Ups, and Non-Profits, with winners announced live at the World Schools Summit in London on January 17, 2027.

Vikas Pota, Founder of T4 Education and the Global EdTech Prize, said:
“I want to congratulate eKidz in Germany on being named in the Top 25 shortlists for this, the second Global EdTech Prize. “Technology in the classroom holds the enormous potential to close learning gaps and fully equip today’s young people for the rapidly emerging workplace of tomorrow. But we can only harness technology effectively when it is made to work for educators to tackle the challenges they face every day. “Judged by educators themselves, the Global EdTech Prize exists to bridge the gap between technology and teachers and give a global platform to the solutions that are making a real impact in classrooms, so that impact can be scaled worldwide.”

Natasha Tetruyeva, Co-Founder and CEO of eKidz, said:
“Being shortlisted for the Global EdTech Prize, judged by educators, means a great deal to our team. "Our vision is simple: a world where every child can read, learn, and thrive through safe, natural conversation. Voice is becoming central to how children learn, and eKidz exists to ensure every student is heard: multilingual learners, children with learning differences, and every learner. "Built on phoneme-level speech recognition designed for children's voices, eKidz understands diverse accents and speech differences, delivering real-time coaching grounded in research-based literacy practice. We're working toward a future where kid-first, turn-by-turn coaching powers an ecosystem of apps, devices, and tools built for every learner. That future takes the whole field, which is why we're building it with schools, districts, and education solution providers."

About eKidz by eKidz.eu GmbH

eKidz builds a kid-safe conversational AI platform powered by inclusive, child-specific speech recognition and guardrailed AI. Its technology is designed to understand diverse voices, accents, and speech differences, helping more children express their ideas aloud and receive equitable, research-based support across reading, writing, and learning. For schools, eKidz offers an AI-powered literacy assessment and learning solution used by more than 500,000 students in classrooms and at home across Europe and the United States. The company also supports large-scale education initiatives in Mexico, Colombia, and Ukraine. For education technology providers, eKidz delivers its child-specific voice technology through API, enabling partners to integrate oral reading assessment, feedback, and adaptive learning directly into their own products.

Next steps

The Global EdTech Prize is awarded annually in three categories: Majors, Start-Ups, and Non-Profits, recognising outstanding EdTech products, tools, or services based on rigorous criteria. The Top 10 finalists for each of the three categories will be announced in September, with finalists invited to the World Schools Summit where they will showcase their work before an Expert Panel comprising leading figures in the technology and education sectors, including investors and policymakers from around the world. The Expert Panel will narrow down the Final 3 per category who will present their products and tools before educators at the World Schools Summit. Educators will vote by secret ballot to determine the winner of each category, and they will be announced live on stage at the culmination of the summit.

About T4 Education

We believe every child, everywhere, deserves a good education. We are building the world's largest community of teachers and schools to achieve this. Together. Our digital media platform provides opportunities for educators to network, collaborate, share good practices, and support each other's efforts to improve learning and school culture. We work to amplify teachers’ voices because the world we want to see will only be built by listening to those at the heart of education.

For more information, please contact Salman Shaheen at Carter Fleet — salman@carterfleet.com / Nataliya (Natasha) Tetruyeva — nataliya.tetruyeva@ekidz.eu