HEX has been recognised in HolonIQ’s 2026 Australia & New Zealand EdTech 50, an annual list highlighting 50 promising EdTech startups across Australia and New Zealand.

And we’re pretty excited about this one.

For HEX, being included alongside organisations working across education technology, post-secondary education and workforce training is a great reflection of the work our team and community are doing to rethink what learning can look like.

But more than anything, it reinforces something we’ve believed from day one:

The future of education is about more than learning. It’s about doing.

What is the HolonIQ Australia & New Zealand EdTech 50?

The HolonIQ Australia & New Zealand EdTech 50 is an annual list recognising 50 promising EdTech startups from across the region.

The 2026 list brings together organisations working across different parts of the education ecosystem, from early childhood and K-12 through to post-secondary education and workforce training.

HEX is proud to be part of this year’s list.

For us, it’s a meaningful recognition of the work we’re doing to connect education with real-world experience, industry and opportunity.

Education is changing. So is the way we learn.

For a long time, education was largely built around classrooms, courses and credentials.

But the world people are entering after education looks very different.

Technology is changing how we work.

Industries are evolving faster.

Global collaboration is becoming the norm.

And students are looking for opportunities to build skills they can actually use.

That’s where experiential learning comes in.

At HEX, our programs are designed around real-world application. Students and founders work on problems, test ideas, build prototypes, meet industry leaders and learn alongside people from different backgrounds and markets.

It’s learning by doing.

Building a global learning ecosystem

Being part of the EdTech ecosystem means more than building programs.

It means being connected to the people, organisations and communities shaping what comes next.

Over the past year, HEX has continued building that ecosystem across Australia and Southeast Asia.

Our global programs have brought founders into startup environments in cities including Melbourne and Bangkok, where participants have worked through everything from ideation and market validation to prototyping, pitching and cross-border strategy.

In Bangkok, HEX 9.1 brought together 10 founders from five universities, who built and tested nine startups with support from 30+ mentors and 30+ workshops. The program finished with a Pitch Night where founders presented their ventures to judges and the wider community. 

In Melbourne, another cohort of founders worked inside one of Australia’s dynamic startup ecosystems, connecting with leaders from organisations including Google, Canva and SEEK while taking their ideas from concept to pitch. 

These experiences are designed to do something simple:

Move people from thinking about what’s possible to actually building it.

Learning that happens in the real world

That philosophy extends beyond our international programs.

In 2026, HEX joined the Study Australia Digital Skills Roadshow across Jakarta, Bangkok, Da Nang and Manila, working with students through hands-on workshops focused on AI, digital problem-solving, innovation and global career pathways.

Around 200 students joined the HEX workshops in Jakarta, with strong interest across the region in digital skills and future-ready careers. 

We’ve also seen what happens when students are given the space and support to take an idea seriously.

Take Joshua King.

After completing HEX High Accelerator as a Year 11 student, Josh went on to build and launch his own education startup, secure his first customer and begin speaking with investors and industry advisors.

He didn’t just learn about entrepreneurship.

He started doing it. 

A Milestone for the HEX Community

Being included in the HolonIQ 2026 Australia & New Zealand EdTech 50 is a proud moment for the HEX team.

But the bigger story is the ecosystem we’re building alongside our students, alumni, founders, educators, universities, industry partners and communities.

We’ve always believed that education should connect people to the real world.

That means connecting students with founders.

Learners with industry.

Ideas with opportunity.

And education with the future they’re actually preparing for.

Recognition like this gives us another reason to keep going.

Building what comes next

More global programs.

More industry connections.

More students building real things.

More founders testing ambitious ideas.

More opportunities for people to learn across borders and inside the ecosystems shaping the future.

The HolonIQ EdTech 50 is a snapshot of the education technology ecosystem today.

We’re excited to keep building what comes next.

Here’s to the next generation of learners, founders and change-makers.

And to another big moment for the HEX community.