2011 has already been a busy year for Echo360. We were acknowledged by Frost & Sullivan to have the outstanding product line. We moved beyond lecture capture with the launch of EchoSystem 4.0 and SafeCapture HD. And today, on the cusp of the 2011-2012 academic year, we’re announcing an astounding 74% YOY sales growth over last year.

For those of us at Echo360, this is exciting news resulting from countless hours of hard work. But for you, our clients or other those industry watchers out there, why should you care?

The world economy is in a tenuous position at best and public institutions everywhere still face unpredictable financial futures. In these times, blended learning technologies are more than experimental “nice-to-haves”. Echo360 helps address the problems plaguing education – learning outcomes, retention and graduation rates to name a few – with affordable, effective and scalable technology.

This increase in sales, along with acquisition of more than 40 new clients, is balanced domestically and internationally. We also recently reported a 74% increase in sales in the UK and Europe, and have seen an upswing in investment from schools in Australia, the Middle East and Asia.

Echo360’s outstanding growth is demonstrable proof of a maturing market and accelerating global demand. We’ve never waivered in our belief that blended learning solutions enrich the educational experience for students and should be available in every classroom around the world. And now we’re gratified to be one step closer to our goal by becoming the #1 blended learning and lecture capture solution around the world.

What do you think? Is the market for blended learning and lecture capture as hot as we think it is?