{"id":655671,"date":"2013-05-01T23:07:54","date_gmt":"2013-05-02T03:07:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gigaom.com\/?p=641510"},"modified":"2013-05-01T23:07:54","modified_gmt":"2013-05-02T03:07:54","slug":"zynga-and-newschools-venture-fund-create-accelerator-for-educational-gaming-startups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/655671","title":{"rendered":"Zynga and NewSchools Venture Fund create accelerator for educational gaming startups"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ed tech entrepreneurs are getting yet another startup accelerator<\/a> to choose from, but this one has a very specific focus: gaming.<\/p>\n

At the NewSchools Summit<\/a>\u00a0on Wednesday, social gaming giant Zynga and NewSchools Venture Fund said they are partnering up for an entrepreneurship program to support startups developing learning games and apps<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Zynga will host the startups at its San Francisco office, where they’ll be able to interact with game designers and product managers<\/a>, and\u00a0Zynga.org<\/a>, the company’s nonprofit arm, has committed $1 million for the first year.<\/p>\n

“Through the efforts of\u00a0Zynga.org<\/a>, we’ve shown that social games can impact peoples’ lives for the better,” said\u00a0Ken Weber, executive director of\u00a0Zynga.org<\/a>. “[With NewSchools], we want to help entrepreneurs create high quality, scalable learning games that will enhance learning experiences for all 21st century students.”<\/p>\n

The announcement comes during something of a boom time in ed tech. Since the start of the year, a handful of other accelerators have also launched targeting education startups<\/a>. And, according to CB Insights, education technology companies raised $1.1 billion<\/a> in 2012.<\/p>\n

The first cohort of the Zynga- and NewSchools-backed program will start this summer and include learning gaming apps\u00a0Kidaptive, LocoMotiveLabs and Motion Math. Education social network Edmodo will join the cohort as a charter partner.<\/p>\n

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