Exit Velocity: What Makes EdTech Companies Acquisition-Ready

The M&A playbook has changed. Growth at all costs no longer commands a premium—profitability does. Distribution now beats features. Valuations have reset, but great companies still earn outsized outcomes. At the same time, M&A activity is accelerating as incumbents increasingly choose to buy rather than build AI-forward capabilities—acquiring not just products, but teams, technical talent, and speed to market. This session brings together founders who've been acquired, the executives who acquired them, an investment firm tracking the M&A landscape, and others who've navigated successful exits to offer a candid look at what it really takes to be acquisition-ready in today’s market. Drawing on hard-won experience, panelists will unpack the metrics that actually drive valuations, the types of defensibility that command premium prices, and the common missteps founders make when preparing for an exit. The conversation will surface the practical lessons and rarely shared insights that separate good outcomes from great ones—and why a “successful exit” today looks fundamentally different than it did just a few years ago.