Consumer trends, technological innovations, and macro-level global events like climate change can all indicate the types of businesses that will be in demand. While it’s impossible to predict the future, market analysts foresee these business types catering to the evolving needs of consumers in 2025 and beyond.
Digital education
Digital education, also known as education technology or edtech, is expected to increase to $136 billion by 2030, a CAGR of 25.1%. Digital education refers to the digitization of course materials and the use of technology like smartboards, tablets, and laptops in the classroom. It’s a broad market that encapsulates not only schools and universities but also adult learning and upskilling.
“The job market's rapid evolution has led to a huge increase in demand for lifelong learning and skill development,” wrote Yahoo Finance. “Moreover, the COVID-19 epidemic has accelerated the adoption of remote learning systems, which has increased market growth. North America surges ahead of the other regions.”
Companies like Coursera, LinkedIn, and GetSmarter are all players in the online course segment of digital education.
Virtualization software
Virtualization software is an advanced piece of tech that is quickly gaining popularity. Essentially, this software is like a magic box for your computer. It allows you to run multiple operating systems on a single physical machine and helps you get the most out of your computing resources.
“Some of the biggest heavy hitters in technology including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Oracle, and Huawei Technologies are competing in the virtualization software market, which is projected to rise from $38.7 billion in 2020 to reach a whopping $189.4 billion by 2027,” wrote MarketResearch.com.
The goal of this software is to increase flexibility, improve scalability, and consolidate multiple workloads onto a single machine, saving money on hardware costs. It’s a promising, if cutting-edge, software innovation.
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Leading carriers will transform 5G security from a cost of doing business into a major market differentiator.
Mind Commerce
Cannabis edibles
Global Industry Analysts predicts that the market for cannabis edibles will grow by 19% between 2023 and 2030. As more states and overseas markets legalize the sale of cannabis, experts expect that new consumers will be drawn to cannabis edibles rather than joints. Derek Lilley, Head of Merchandising at Cresco Labs, told MJBizDaily that edibles were more accessible to new customers. “They’re easier to use,” he said. “And some consumers don’t like smoking – full stop.”
Likewise, there is plenty of green space (no pun intended) for entrepreneurs in the cannabis market to innovate on edibles. Many options today are high-calorie: chocolate, brownies, and other sweets. Experts foresee the cannabis market adopting healthier options, including low- and no-sugar edibles and vegan recipes.
5G security and other services
Statista’s data shows that North America is forecast to have the highest 5G adoption rate of any region worldwide in 2030, at 90%. With the high adoption of 5G comes the need for new services and security products. Accordingly, this market segment is expected to grow by nearly 60% by 2030.
5G comes with more privacy and security concerns than legacy networks. “There is more at stake with 5G than predecessor network implementations involving LTE and WiFi,” according to Mind Commerce. “Leading carriers will transform 5G security from a cost of doing business into a major market differentiator.”
Beyond security, there are dozens of applications that will depend on 5G’s promise of increased speed and low latency. Remote patient monitoring, vehicle-to-vehicle communication, and other advanced tools require specialized 5G services spurring the growth of this category.
Telemedicine
We’ve already seen the rise in popularity of teletherapy apps like Talkspace. This trend is projected to continue with the assistance of machine learning and predictive analytics, two tools that enable telemedicine to be more accessible. Machine learning, in particular, promises to improve health care while lowering costs. Likewise, predictive analytics can improve results at scale.
“Predictive analytics in healthcare can help with critical functions such as identifying early indicators of patient deterioration, designing personalized medicines, and improving clinical trial outcomes,” wrote MarketResearch.com.
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