TU Incubator member Workbench acquired by Google

The startup, which joined the TU Incubator in 2017, is just another example of the successful edtech movement in the Baltimore area.

By Kyle Hobstetter on Nov. 30, 2018

Products used by TU Workbench

Amid the growth of the Baltimore edtech scene, one Towson University Incubator business has broken through in a big way — Workbench Education has been acquired by Google.

The latest example of TU Incubator’s success, Workbench offers a central place to find lessons centered around project-based learning, which involves hand-on problem-solving.

One of the main focuses of TU Incubator is supporting and growing regional edtech companies. TU Incubator currently supports over 45 member companies, with over 75 percent of those companies focusing on edtech. This makes it the largest cluster of edtech startups in the state of Maryland.

Earlier this week, Workbench was acquired by Google as part of the company’s Google for Education service — with the project and lesson platform already being integrated with Google Classroom.

For Frank Bonsal, director of Venture Creation at Towson University and head of TU Incubator, Workbench’s success is just another example of why Baltimore continues to be one of the country’s main hubs of education innovation.

“It is both logical and wonderful to see Workbench Education’s project-based learning innovation now seamlessly embedded in the Google education platform,” Bonsal said. “Workbench’s success is yet another example of the dynamic startup community solving problems in education from Charm City.”

Technical.ly Baltimore: Baltimore edtech startup Workbench acquired by Google

As a university-based incubator, TU Incubator promotes venture creation and small business growth to stimulate economic development and to further the respective missions of Towson University and Baltimore County.

By working with TU Incubator, Workbench founder and CEO Chris Sleat said that Incubator’s resources and vision was key to the company’s growth.

“The combination of the TU Incubator leadership and their visibility into providing the highest value to our K-12 Students, Teachers, and Administrators was key,” Sleat told the TU Incubator blog. “We know what we know, having direct access to both an historical view of K-12 and Library support, as well as access to current needs is huge. As important, we know a bunch of the leaders of other Education companies in the incubator, and continuing to build a community that we can contribute to and learn from is huge value.”

Read More: TU Incubator Member Spotlight: Workbench

Towson University is Maryland’s top producer of teachers and constantly works to enhance the educational experience, including integration of technological advancements. TU Incubator leverages the university’s resources and reputation in teacher preparation and education to help its member companies succeed.

Since its inception in 2007, TU Incubator companies have raised over $30 million in capital, had an economic impact of $150 million dollars and have created over 1,000 jobs.  It also works to connect edtech startups by hosting networking events such as the EdTech Innovation Showcase.

Learn more about TU Incubator by checking out its' blog, or by registering for its monthly online newsletter Iteration. For companies looking for more information on joining TU Incubator, visit its' membership website.

This story is one of several related to President Kim Schatzel’s priorities for Towson University: TU Matters to Maryland and BTU-Partnerships at Work for Greater Baltimore.