The Team
The EdTechnical founding team, Libby Hills, John Soleanicov and Owen Henkel, bring together over 50 years of experience in education, research and finance. John, Libby and Owen have first-hand experience as educators, social entrepreneurs, and investors and have a long track record of working and collaborating together.
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EdTechnical is currently incubated by Purposeful Ventures, a not-for-profit that partners with social entrepreneurs and philanthropists to improve the education and well-being of young people from their earliest years.
Libby Hills, CEO
Former teacher turned edtech funder working at the intersection of research, investing, and innovation. With 15+ years bridging leadership on both sides of the table as an operator and funder, she brings practical understanding of what works in education alongside strategic insight from leading Jacobs Foundation's edtech portfolio and advising the UK Department for Education and investors on edtech and AI evidence and impact. Libby co-founded and hosts the popular EdTechnical podcast with Owen, exploring practical applications of AI in education, and has published research on edtech and AI in leading academic journals and conferences. Libby holds an MSc in Education focused on emerging technologies and AI from the University of Oxford, an MSc in Social Business from LSE, and two professional teaching qualifications.
John Soleanicov, Investment Director
An education entrepreneur and investor with 20+ years of global experience in financial services, management consulting, and education. He led work to deploy capital for social good across IFC, UBS Optimus Foundation, and Jacobs Foundation. John has also worked as a management consultant at McKinsey and Company and as an investment banker at Lehman Brothers. He founded Teach for Romania and continues to serve on its board. John brings fluency in both finance and education transformation. He holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School, an MPA/ID from the Harvard Kennedy School, and a BA from Columbia University.
Owen Henkel, Research Director
Investor turned AI researcher. Owen previously founded Pearson Ventures ($50M fund) and served on multiple edtech start-up boards. Owen’s peer-reviewed research has featured at leading conferences and been published in leading journals on AI in education. His research topics include LLMs for assessment, speech recognition for literacy evaluation, and AI-powered maths tutoring. As a former teacher, and co-founder and host of the EdTechnical podcast with Libby, Owen uniquely bridges cutting-edge AI research with real-world implementation. Owen has a PhD in natural language processing and education assessment from the University of Oxford and holds a dual MBA/MA from the University of Michigan.
Partners
