Nordic EdTech News #132: 2025-04-07
Your Weeks 13 and 14 update from the Nordic and Baltic EdTech ecosystem
Nordic EdTech News is the best way to keep up with the EdTech ecosystem across 8 Nordic and Baltic countries. I curate it from company updates and a wide variety of international sources. It’s a passion project of mine - the rest of my time is spent advising / consulting the companies who lead the future of learning. If you’d like to find out more, drop me an email.
Hello and welcome to today’s Nordic EdTech News. It’s been a busy couple of weeks with acquisitions, new funding rounds, annual reporting from some of our biggest companies and yet more policy updates. Let’s dive straight into it!
For starters, there’s been further consolidation in the Nordic teaching materials market with Gleerups acquiring Konvergenta's teaching materials (Link). The move strengthens its position in the upper secondary school segment with Konvergenta's “strong materials in mathematics, physics and chemistry.”
HQ’d in Stockholm, BTS Group AB has agreed to acquire Sounding Board, a Silicon Valley-based “leader in scalable, high-impact coaching solutions” (Link). Sounding Board offers a digital platform that can be used for both external and internal coaching and mentoring programmes. BTS Group will be immediately able to target the growing $7 billion coaching market and “to increase our margins.”
There’s been lots of interest in the newly-published KIRKBI 2024 Annual Report. For clarity, KIRKBI is the holding company of the LEGO Group and other companies owned by the Kirk Kristiansen family. In the report, the business announces a new structure, creating 3 new divisions - one of which, KIRKBI Education, aims to shape “children’s education by building businesses that deliver engaging learning experiences and help children thrive.” Whilst the LEGO Group achieved record top- and bottom-line results last year, the picture for KIRKBI Education, which comprises its 100 % ownership of BrainPOP, is more challenging. 2024 revenues fell to $81 million (2023: $84 million) with operating profit down to $17 million (2023: $23 million) as US public school investment was reduced.
Staying in Denmark, Shape Robotics also announced their 2024 numbers, noting “robust revenue growth of 76%, increasing to DKK 302 million in 2024 from DKK 171 million in 2023.” The report also confirms the extent to which the business is dependent on revenues in Romania - only 12.5% of revenue comes from outside the country. But that’s up from 4.6% in FY 2023 and a recent MOE deal in Vietnam should help improve this further.
Additionally Albert has now published their 2024 Annual report. I covered the numbers in an earlier NEN, but there’s lots more detail here around their “long-term strategy to become a leading Nordic EdTech player with profitable growth.”
Congratulations to Iceland’s Evolytes who have confirmed a €1.3 million seed funding round (Link). The investment will drive further global revenue growth and impact in multiple regions, including the US where they are already in 1,400 schools. The round was co-led by Omega and Pekron Family Office.
As I’ve frequently mentioned here, government policy continues to have a significant impact on the development of our national and regional EdTech ecosystems. There are two stories to update you on from the last fortnight.
Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture and the National Board of Education finally published national recommendations for the use of AI in education. Their central aim is pleasingly clear and positive: “The material has been developed to strengthen AI literacy and support the safe and responsible use of artificial intelligence.”
Mattias Tesfaye, Denmark’s Minister for Children and Education, has also emphasised his position on AI: “….it is crucial for our democracy that students learn to think for themselves and express themselves coherently, critically and constructively. Without help from a robot.” Unusually, he has also recognised that “technologies are here to stay” and that “our schools and education system must be a mirror of the society that the students are a part of.”
I’m pleased to highlight the Edu Challenger Accelerator in Lithuania, which aims to shape the future of EdTech in the Baltic Region. They have now released a summary of outcomes from their first Cohort (Link) and confirmed the 11 new teams in Cohort 2 (Link)
If you missed NEN 131, you might like to know that the draft programme for this year’s Nordic EdTech Summit is now available. This will be constantly updated as the final few speakers are confirmed. Get your tickets here!
Having said that, I’m delighted to confirm that itslearning, NE, Sanoma Learning and Skolon will all be supporting this year’s event as Friends. Their support of the Summit is very much appreciated - thank you!
If your company / organisation is interested in partnering with the Nordic EdTech Summit and supporting its ambition of building the Nordic EdTech ecosystem, please just reply to this email. There’s a variety of sponsorship packages available.
I’m looking forward to being at SETT this week - it’s always good to meet customers, friends and subscribers there. Tickets are still available if you haven’t got yours yet!
And finally, I won’t be publishing a newsletter on Easter Monday, so the next NEN will be in your inbox on Monday 28th April.
Thanks for reading, Jonathan
News from Denmark
AI should be part of the guidance efforts for students on the new epx vocational and professional education programme. (Link)
17 municipalities have been given the green light to test whether online education can help students with long-term absence. (Link)
Attender has secured new funding of DKK 2 million. Keystones invested DKK 1 million in the company, which was matched by EIFO (Denmark's Export and Investment Fund). (Link)
It will be interesting to watch the development of ChatTutor, a DTU spinout with a stellar team behind it. (Link)
On has launched - it’s a new platform for “learning and dialogue that contributes to a safe digital future for all Danish children and young people.” (Link)
Morten Blichfeldt Andersen, publishing director of Praxis, on how the publisher keeps up with the times and listens to the needs that are being demanded. (Link)
Good to see how the University of Leeds has transformed group-based teaching using unihelper.io. (Link)
News from Estonia
According to press reports, Alpa Kids has received several offers to buy the business, which doubled its revenue last year. (Link)
High schools in Tallinn are introducing programming courses from kood/Jõhvi
(Link) as plans for a new kood/Järva satellite campus are approved. (Link)
News from Finland
3DBear has collaborated with Østfold University College to create an “interactive simulation room in collaboration with the municipality and the hospital.” (Link)
Don’t miss this! “Edtech in Finland: Where Are We Now and What Does the Future Hold?” 5th June between 1300 and 2000.
News from Iceland
The City of Reykjavík has approved a pilot project to provide distance learning support for those who “have had difficult social situations or are experiencing school dropout.” (Link)
News from Latvia
Lielvārds is entering into a strategic partnership with Lithuania’s Tamo Group to grow and strengthen their EdTech products and services. (Link)
News from Lithuania
12 companies, mostly from the tech sector launched the Švietimas / Education #1 initiative to “make Lithuania a European leader in education.”
BBright has been selected for the Grow AI accelerator and has secured $140,000 in funding as part of the programme. (Link)
News from Norway
Schools were given over NOK 400 million for textbooks, yet 50% of schools have spent less on them in the past two years. (Link)
New research on AI in Oslo schools suggest that students using it learn more than those who don’t. (Link)
A new committee will advise on AI in higher education, but some in the sector have argued that recommendations are needed now, not in Oct 2026 (Link).
Curipod announced that they have just hit 1 million student users per month. (Link)
No Isolation continues to expand across Europe, landing new customers in the Netherlands. (Link)
News from Sweden
ILT Education has developed a guide to support educators and decision-makers as they discuss the new 2025 preschool curriculum. (Link)
The first school in Greenland has now started using Magma Maths. (Link)
Meitner replaces “criticised” IST as the new learning platform provider in Växjö municipality. (Link)
Quizrr’s 2024 Impact Report shows over 244,000 workers trained. 68% of whom are women and 11% are migrant workers. (Link)
Studentlitteratur and Binogi expand their collaboration into Y5 Science. (Link)
Swedish Edtech Industry launched a new guide to help the sector manage their legal obligations for AI. (Link)
TicTac Learn has been named as a Core Leader on the 2025 Fosway9-Grid for Digital Learning. (Link)
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