Number 6 - November 2021 European Edtech Alliance update
News from the world of European Edtech
Hello, good morning and welcome to our latest monthly newsletter. It contains all the latest news from across European Edtech, beginning with an important organizational update about the European Edtech Alliance (EEA).
At the inaugural Annual General Meeting of the EEA, the members elected their first full board, who represent all aspects of the European Edtech landscape. The board has extensive experience as Edtech founders, policy makers and leaders of both innovation and national Edtech associations. It also represents a wide range of member countries and is gender-balanced. The EEA is delighted to have its first full board - we wish them every future success!
The AGM took place at the end of October in Modena, Italy as the guests of Wonderful Education. The agenda focused on identifying the best ways to support Edtech ecosystem development at European, national and regional levels. As part of our plans for the next 12 months, the EEA will be organising a pan-European Edtech event in Autumn 2022 with the support of the state Government of North Rhein Westfalia. A comprehensive map of European Edtech innovation, bespoke policy / research reports and new initiatives for startups and industry partners will also be developed.
The ambition is clear - the EEA is focused on creating the right conditions for European Edtech to grow and rapidly scale, so that successes such as 360Learning, the French corporate learning platform, aren’t just isolated instances, but become the norm for the European EdTech ecosystem. 360Learning recently raised $200 million, having only raised $40 million previously. 1,500 companies are currently using the platform and the funding will enable the business to hire more staff, expand its reach and consider acquisitions. (Link)
In other news:
Brighteye Ventures’ virtual European Edtech Tour stops in Italy tomorrow - sign up here - and catch up on previous stops in the Baltics and the Netherlands here.
BibliU, Eduten, Enroly, Genially, Virti and Yoto were the big winners at the 2021 EdTechX Awards. Congratulations!
The 2021 HolonIQ Europe EdTech 100 will be announced on 23rd November at 1000 CET - don’t miss it by signing up here. Svenia Busson, our First Chair, will be representing the EEA. The list for the Nordic and Baltic EdTech 50 was announced at the end of October and is available here.
The European Edtech Alliance would love to hear your feedback on this newsletter, so do comment below. Please also share it with your networks and across social media. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter here.
The next issue of European Edtech News will be in subscribers’ inboxes on 15th December 2021.
Produced by the team at the European Edtech Alliance. Thanks for reading!
NEWS FROM OUR MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS
FUND-RAISING
Estonian Edtech Lingvist raises €5.1 million in new funding, enabling the business to scale to new markets and include new languages. (Link)
LiveMentor, a French startup that provides online entrepreneurship courses, closes an €11 million round to grow in its local market. (Link)
Munich-based StudySmarter secures a $16 million Series A extension from Goodwater Capital, bringing the round up to $31 million. Their solution enables learners to create their own interactive learning materials from course content. (Link)
WebForce 3, who provide digital skills training programmes in person and online, raises €10 million from Weinberg Capital Partners. The startup already has 25 centres dotted around France. (Link)
K-12
Kide Science and Upiopi offer story-based workshops for school visits at the Expo 2020 Dubai. (Link)
Nearly a quarter (23.2%) of the innovations included in the HundrED Global Collection: 2022 are based in Europe. Download the full report here.
A new payment model has been controversially revealed for Unilogin in Denmark (Link). The Danish Agency for IT and Learning is looking to increase the fee paid by “service providers” (i.e EdTech companies) to fund Unilogin’s operation and development. EdTech Denmark is currently working to get the change reversed.
POST SECONDARY
Labster & UbiSim, two Swiss EdTech Collider members, are joining forces! The two VR specialists will combine their strengths to help reduce the global nursing shortage. (Link)
LIFELONG LEARNING
Fuzu, a Finnish company whose main market is Africa, has been included in HolonIQ’s top 50 African Edtech companies list. (Link)
French startup O'clock secures €4million to diversify its online training programs. O'clock has been creating 100% online courses since 2016. (Link)
CONSUMER
Wecandoo, a Paris-based startup who provide a digital platform for craft workshops, confirms a €3.2 million raise. (Link)
CORPORATE
French startup Simundia, whose platform connects employees with the best coach for their specific needs, raises a $10 million round to fuel its continued expansion. (Link)
OTHER MEMBER UPDATES
“Learning. Unlearning. Relearning: How Dutch Edtech can spark vital change in the Netherlands.” A great blog post from Teachleap.
EdTech Incubator Helsinki is the first incubator in Finland to focus on supporting new Edtech startups. Ten teams started in the first cohort in early November. (Link)
Gar Ninja helps editors understand and comply with all requirements of the French national education system through GAR (Gestion Accès aux Ressources). The proposition is now open to any European editors that wish to access the French market. For non-French editors, Gar Ninja commits to a connection to the French market within 4 months.
SEK Lab organized the GESAwards in Spain for the third year. The winner was Kimple Education, who will go to the final in London with Papua and Wowplay, who were rated the best by the expert jury. (Link)
The Swiss EdTech Collider, together with 11 EdTech startups, will participate at Swissdidac 2021. This is Switzerland’s largest education fair and it runs from the 22nd to the 24th November. (Link)
SuperCharger Ventures has reopened applications for its Spring/Summer 2022 programmes. They are searching for ambitious Edtech companies to join their Accelerator and Incubator programmes.
Don’t miss XcitED, Helsinki’s major Edtech event, which takes place in the Helsinki Education Hub on 30 November 2021. (Link)
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.
