European EdTech Alliance Briefing April '25
EdTech and digital sovereignty
Education is a central pillar of our societal systems. And EdTech supports learning not only in classrooms but across the full lifelong learning journey—from digital upskilling in manufacturing and healthcare to retraining in AI, cybersecurity, and green industries.
Yet, the European EdTech sector remains underutilised. Without coherent support, the companies developing these essential tools often remain fragile and unable to scale. At the same time, education and EdTech are also matters of European digital sovereignty. In an era of geopolitical tensions and AI-driven platforms, we need tools that are aligned with European values.
Without strong domestic capacity in EdTech, Europe risks becoming dependent on learning systems that are unaccountable, non-transparent, or misaligned with the public mandate of education. Strategic investment in European EdTech startups is not just about education: it is essential to Europe’s innovation capacity, skills agenda, and long-term competitiveness.
If you haven’t already, take the time to read through our report: the European EdTech Startup Innovation Ecosystem.
Read on for more ways that you can get involved directly in the coming months!
-Beth Havinga
Managing Director, European EdTech Alliance
EEA EVENTS
Regional Consultation on Data Governance in EdTech in collaboration with UNICEF
🗓 9 May 2025, 12:15–13:30 CET
We would like to invite you to a consultation hosted by the European EdTech Alliance in collaboration with UNICEF. As part of the ongoing UNICEF project on data governance for children, UNICEF is working with UNESCO and the Global Privacy Assembly, together with a group of expert advisors from around the world, to carry out a landscape review on data governance for EdTech.
The landscape review will be published later in 2025, and in the meantime UNICEF is seeking to consult on the draft Policy Recommendations, in order to ensure that they reflect children’s realities across the world. The main objective is to consider how data governance of EdTech fits into broader national, international, and multistakeholder governance frameworks, from a child-rights based perspective.
You will be provided with a copy of the draft policy recommendations when you sign up for the consultation, and you can sign up using this form.
Evidence, Trust and evaluating EdTech Webinar
🗓 3 June 2025, 11:00-12:00 CET
👉 Register your interest here
Join the EEA and the Council of Europe in exploring evaluation mechanisms for EdTech.
Together we will discuss outcomes from a year exploring evidence and EdTech evaluations from the EEA as part of the EdTech Strategy Lab project, and the Council of Europe’s recent feasibility study for a European Reference Framework for the evaluation of EdTech.
Make sure to join the discussion!
Female EdTech Fellowships
New Opportunity: Early Stage Fellowship launches
Applications are now open for our 8-week digital fellowship designed specifically for Early Childhood Education, K-12, and Higher Education innovators. Through expert-led sessions, hands-on learning, and peer collaboration, participants will gain the essential tools to shape their business models for the European EdTech market, develop their products, propel sales, and take their first steps toward growth. Are you an early stage female founder - or do you know one? Now’s the chance to join a powerful community of women transforming education across Europe!
Apply by June 15: https://www.edtech-fellowship.eu/early-stage-fellowships
Introducing Cohort 7 of our Growth Stage track
We’re excited to welcome Cohort 7 of the Female EdTech Fellowships’ Growth Stage track, which includes ten outstanding female founders from across Europe who are driving innovation in education. This cohort includes Katharina Farkas (studyspace, 🇩🇪), Farida Danmeri (Learning Connected, 🇬🇧), Anu Guttorm (Moomin Language School, 🇫🇮), Simone Marschall (zooplace, 🇳🇱), Milena Pfluegl (Impact School, 🇩🇪), Lucy Huelin (Vocabulous, 🇬🇧), Carmina Catena (HiPe Kids, 🇫🇷), Franziska Schmid (mycelia.education, 🇩🇪), Amalie Danckert (WOOF, 🇩🇰), and Sama Tanveer (Train the Future, 🇩🇪). These inspiring leaders are building impactful EdTech solutions that span from early learning to future-ready workforce skills, and we’re proud to support their journey through the Female EdTech Fellowships.
EEA in Action
European Commission Expert Group for Digital Education Content
This month, EEA members Pierre Laborde (representing AFINEF) and Albena Spasova (EdTech Bulgaria) joined the EEA’s Beth Havinga in Brussels for the latest meeting of the European Commission’s Expert Group for Digital Education Content. Over the past year, the expert group has been collaborating to co-create practical guidelines aimed at helping teachers and school leaders make the most of Digital Education Content (DEC). These guidelines are set to be published in Q4 2025.
🔗 Read more about these guidelines in a guest post by Pierre Laborde here.
Online Consultation on the Draft Recommendation on AI Literacy of the Council of Europe
Representing European EdTech, EEA members were invited this week to contribute to an online consultation discussing the Draft Committee of Ministers (CM) Recommendation on AI Literacy for Empowering Human Rights, Democracy and Social Agency of the Council of Europe’s Education group.
A CM Recommendation is one of the Council of Europe’s legal instruments. It is considered a ‘soft law’, non-binding legal instrument, approved by the Committee of Ministers from the 46 member states. It is important because it suggests actionable recommendations that influence national policies. See related work of the Council here.
EEA & EmpowerED: SETT Stockholm 2025
On 8 April, the European EdTech Alliance team joined our EmpowerED colleagues at SETT in Stockholm to moderate a dynamic panel discussion on quality assurance of digital learning tools in the Nordics. We explored how the Nordic countries are working with quality assurance in digital learning tools—and the innovative ways they’re bringing stakeholders together. These innovation ecosystems align technology with pedagogical needs, while fostering sustainable public-private collaboration.
🔗 Read more about our panel discussion here.
Member Spotlight
Swedish Edtech Industry: New Resources for AI Literacy and Policy Alignment
“We need EdTech from and for Europe. The EEA gives us one voice in pan-European discussions and strengthens our collective ability to act.”
Swedish Edtech Industry supports the development of a sustainable, evidence-informed, and interoperable digital ecosystem for education in Sweden. They offer valuable resources on school procurement, compliance, interoperability, and research-driven design. Initiatives like Edtechkartan.se guide stakeholders on these critical topics.
The organisation recently launched a national guide to the EU AI Act for school leaders, highlighting the implications of Article 4 on AI literacy, and providing practical checklists to support early-stage compliance.
In the current geopolitical climate, Swedish Edtech Industry notes a growing risk that digital skills and media/AI literacy are being deprioritised in public discourse. The organisation advocates for continued investment in these areas as critical foundations for democratic resilience, especially in the context of online disinformation and polarisation.
Swedish Edtech Industry invites peers across Europe to engage with the Learning Conference for L&D professionals in Stockholm, the Nordic-Baltic EdTech Summit in Malmö, and SETT Nordic Track, focused on K-12 innovation.
Recommended Reading
The Jobs Frontier 2025 - Ufi Ventures & Tyton Partners
This newly released report analyses trends at the intersection of education, work, and technology, with a focus on the European context. It explores how labour market dynamics and technological change are influencing the competencies required by learners and the strategies adopted by education providers.
The report is a useful resource for EdTech developers, education institutions, and policymakers working to understand long-term shifts in employment readiness.
Save the Date!
Spotlight events:
📍 EmpowerED Workshop: Exploring EdTech Evaluation Across the Education Lifecycle
🗓 22 May 2025 | Helsinki, Finland
In collaboration with Helsinki Education Hub, this series of complementary EmpowerED workshops will provide a snapshot of the evolving Finnish EdTech ecosystem, focusing on how different stakeholders evaluate technology—before adoption, during use, and at renewal points.
🌐 Register here
📍 EmpowerEDEdTech Summit Hungary
🗓 13 June 2025 | Budapest, Hungary
The fourth edition of the conference aims to showcase the latest developments and research in educational technology and to connect members of the professional community. The event also seeks to promote the integration of educational technology innovations into the educational systems, increase the effectiveness of digital tools and methods in education, and support the practical application of research findings.
🌐 https://edtechsummit.hu/
📍 London EdTech Week
🗓 16–20 June 2025 | London, United Kingdom
An international series of events dedicated to investment, research and innovation in education technology. EEA will be co-hosting the 4th annual Startup Mini-Summit with EmpowerED, UCL EdTech Labs and TechUK on 16 June from 12:30 - 6pm. Join us!
🌐 https://londontechweek.com
Recommended events:
May 12-14: PODIM Startup Conference
July 8th-11th: AI for Good Global Summit, Switzerland
September 10th: Nordic EdTech Summit in Malmö, Sweden
September 17th-18th: Learning Conference (L&D and HR), Stockholm, Sweden
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This newsletter is written and produced by the European Edtech Alliance. The European Edtech Alliance is a consortium of national trade associations and clusters working with founders and providers of education technology (EdTech), to support the domestic and international growth of these businesses and the innovations they represent. European EdTech News is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.