Nordic EdTech News #128: 2025-02-10
Your Weeks 5 and 6 update from the Nordic and Baltic EdTech ecosystem
Hello and welcome to today’s Nordic EdTech News. As ever, there’s lots to get into so let’s dive straight in!
It’s been a big couple of weeks for sector reports, so if you’re on or about to enjoy sportlov, there’s plenty to get your teeth into.
The most notable is Brighteye Ventures’ European Edtech Funding Report 2025. As ever, this is a brilliant review of the regional / global landscape and highlights an encouraging resurgence in Q4 activity which they “expect to be maintained into 2025.”
The other key headline in it for our ecosystem is the marked increase of funding into Swedish EdTech. In 2024, Sweden ranked third in Europe for investment raised with $113 million from 10 deals although, as the report acknowledges, that’s driven by two large deals for Sana ($55m) and Magma ($40m). These two deals are ranked #1 and #4 for the largest deals in Europe in 2024.
Whilst we’re on Nordic and Baltic reports, do also check out the following:
By Founders’ Shape of the New Nordics 2024 gives a “perspective on pre-seed to Series A technology startups and VCs across the Nordics and Baltics.”
The Baltic Startup Funding Report by Change Ventures and FIRSTPICK provides “detailed data about funding rounds for startups in the Baltics.”
AI in the New Nordics from Kinnevik highlights three Nordic factors that “lay the foundations for building leading AI application companies: i) technical talent, ii) operational talent, and iii) an inventive mindset.”
Although not a Nordic report, this study from the University of Birmingham is well worth reviewing, given our ongoing debates around screens and phones. TL;DR - it finds that “restrictive school policies don’t lead to lower phone and social media use overall, nor better outcomes among students.”
The saga of the so-called Danish Chromebook case is still rumbling on. Reports in the media claim that the agreement is based on “blind trust”, whilst the father who brought the case has a different interpretation: “The government doesn't dare kick data-guzzling Google out of classrooms.”
In a similar vein, the Danish Data Protection Agency has warned against using Microsoft Copilot due to GDPR challenges (Link). The body agrees with its Norwegian counterpart that Copilot, as it currently exists, should not be used by public authorities because of significant uncertainties.
Two notable international expansion stories to bring you.
Albert is now launching Albert Junior in the Czech Republic, where it sees that “interest in digital education is growing rapidly.” This follows its recent move into Romania. (Link)
Kahoot! has won a public tender in Spain and will “now roll out 37,000 faculty licenses” to 37 public universities across the country. (Link)
If you’re a female founder of a growth-stage startup, then don’t miss the next cohort of the Female EdTech Fellowships. Applications are now open until 28th February.
If you’re a Swedish EdTech company looking to go global, then check out the new Swedish Edtech Accelerator from Business Sweden. It’s a unique programme of online workshops designed to support each company’s journey towards internationalisation and it’s free!
Applications are also now open for the HundrED Global Collection 2026. This will highlight the 100 brightest education innovations from around the world. Submissions will be accepted until 1st May 2025.
And finally, Early Bird tickets are still available for the Nordic EdTech Summit that I’m organising. The offer is open until 28th February, but as the venue only has capacity for approximately 200 EdTech leaders act quickly to reserve your spot.
"What a breath of fresh air this event has been. Honest, grounded and motivational knowledge sharing from some of the best in the industry.”
Mathieu Skulason, CEO and Co-Founder at Evolytes
If you’ve got a story that you’d like me to include in a future issue of this newsletter, please email hello@10digits.org, tag me on X or LinkedIn or use #nordicedtech / #balticedtech.
Thanks for reading, Jonathan
News from Denmark
This survey of Danish teachers by Anders Peter Nielsen from Undervisning og formidling is packed with great insights on the reality of life in Danish classrooms.
“Young people have embraced an inspiring AI friend who is also a tempting enemy.”
Police are now working with teacher training institutions to better protect children online. (Link)
The Danish government will begin a trial of online school instruction. Private providers have criticised the move, saying that it will be a waste of money. (Link)
Interesting profile of Kim Rants, CEO of Alice, who is aiming to “create the study environment's answer to Duolingo.” (Link)
86% of Female Invest members now feel more confident and literate around money. (Link)
Sebastian Klein's new children's book has been withdrawn as many of the AI-generated images contain significant errors, including a five-legged deer. (Link)
uQualio wins Best Online Courses & Educational Video Creation Company 2024 - Denmark at the AI Global Excellence Awards. (Link)
News from Estonia
The Estonian government confirms that a digital exam pilot will take place during 2026, with exams for the end of compulsory education going online for the first time in the spring of 2027. (Link)
News from Finland
How the updated Finnish curriculum and the DigiOne ecosystem offer opportunities for better assessment. (Link)
Digital Workforce launches agentacademy.ai to accelerate enterprise AI literacy and upskilling. (Link)
Eduten’s pilot project in Argentinian vocational schools has “yielded impressive results.” (Link)
Playvation is partnering with Learning Content Publishing to bring Moomin Language School to learners in Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Ecuador. (Link)
Interesting perspective from Wilma on how “the education of the future is built on collaboration and standards.”
News from Iceland
ISK 60 million has been allocated in grants for “the exploitation and implementation of Icelandic language technology.” (Link)
Students have now answered over 10 million maths questions on Evolytes. (Link)
News from Latvia
Further details on the proposed education quality monitoring system that will be introduced by the government. (Link)
News from Lithuania
Three Cubes launches a new programme to support citizenship education within the world of Minecraft. (Link)
News from Norway
New research shows that 8 out of 10 school leaders believe the balance between printed books and digital learning materials is good.
Conexus has become the first company in Norway to receive 1Edtech OneRoster 1.2 certification. (Link)
Curipod extends US reach with Johnson City Schools in Tennessee. (Link)
International Certification of Evidence of Impact in Education has announced a partnership with ISTE. (Link)
No Isolation won this year’s EURORDIS Company Award for Health Technology (Link) as Founder Karen Dolva moves on to a new startup (Link).
Sikt confirms that UNIwise won the tender for their new digital exam system (Link), Inspera won for plagiarism control and Instructure for LMS (Link).
The University of Agder has blocked access to Deepseek. (Link)
LearnLab and Wittario have announced their expansion into Sweden.
News from Sweden
The Swedish government is considering whether to separate universities from the state and to run them as independent foundations. (Link)
Continued strong growth for AcadeMedia as the business expands into Poland and the UK. (Link)
Bright has released a new E-Reader - this improved reading experience is “designed to help students study smarter, not harder.” (Link)
Kattalo’s crowdfunding campaign will give 59 schools access to their digital tools during 2025. (Link)
Fantastic coverage of Magma Math in Svenska Dagbladet showing how they’re helping schools “significantly increase maths scores.” (Link)
NUITEQ’s NEXT Hub won the Best of Show Award at ISE 2025 in the Tech & Learning category. (Link)
The city of Bonn is the first German municipality to make ILT Education’s Polylino accessible to all schools and young people. (Link)
Skoolie lands Arvidsjaur municipality as a new customer. (Link)
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