BETT Show 2025: Why the EdTech Industry Now Needs Smarter Marketplaces
BETT Show 2025 reaffirmed its position as the world’s most influential EdTech event, bringing together more than 600 exhibitors and thousands of educators, distributors, and technology innovators at ExCeL London. The fair grows every year, but the strongest impression this time was not just its scale, it was the clarity of the industry’s message.
A Sector Full of Innovation, But Held Back by Fragmentation
Throughout the fair, conversations with publishers, distributors, and EdTech companies highlighted the same core challenge: despite rapid innovation, it remains difficult for digital learning tools to reach schools efficiently. Procurement is fragmented across countries and regions, visibility is limited, and suppliers often struggle to navigate local systems.
Many EdTech companies described how even strong products can fail to scale without the right distribution infrastructure. For an industry driven by growth, this gap is becoming a major bottleneck.
The Marketplace Model Gaining Momentum
This is where Neddi’s marketplace approach resonated strongly. More and more stakeholders recognise that the future of EdTech depends on neutral, intelligent platforms that connect publishers, distributors, and schools in a seamless ecosystem.
A recurring message from suppliers at BETT was that a unified marketplace can help them:
- Reach a larger audience across multiple countries
- Combine physical and digital catalogues in one channel
- Reduce friction when entering new markets
- Improve licensing, metadata handling, and procurement workflows
For many exhibitors, the marketplace concept aligned closely with what they see as missing in today’s EdTech landscape.
New Partnerships and Strong Alignment Across Europe
The interest we received at BETT mirrored the growing momentum Neddi is experiencing across Europe. Distributors emphasised the need for smarter procurement systems; publishers welcomed the opportunity to present complete catalogues; and EdTech companies saw the value of a scalable, shared infrastructure.
Several described Neddi as “the link between innovation and adoption”, a clear recognition that products alone are no longer enough. The industry now needs the infrastructure to support them.
A Clear Direction for the Future of EdTech
BETT 2025 made it evident that the next phase of EdTech growth will not be defined solely by new tools, but by the systems that connect them. As investment in educational technology continues to rise globally, marketplaces like Neddi will play an increasingly strategic role in enabling collaboration, transparency, and effective distribution for the entire K-12 ecosystem.
