Nordic EdTech News #67: 2022-05-30
Your Weeks 20 & 21 update from the Nordic and Baltic EdTech ecosystem
Hello, good morning and welcome to today’s Nordic EdTech News. I hope that you’re doing well!
There’s no doubt that businesses across our ecosystem are working through difficult times at the moment. The long-term impact of the anticipated post-pandemic EdTech bounce is still uncertain and it’s clear that the challenges affecting the wider tech market (e.g. rising inflation and interest rates, economic slowdown, war in Ukraine) are also influencing our sector.
There’s no shortage of advice out there for business leaders at the moment. But I keep returning to this great quote from Hampus Jakobsson at Pale Blue Dot, a Malmö-based VC, who argues for a return to priortising monetisation over growth. As he says:
“We have had two to three years when all the water in the world turned into mercury and everything floated. Now mercury is turning back into water and we will see which boats are full of holes.”
If you’re thinking about how this applies to your business and what steps you should be taking, then do check out Brighteye Ventures’ excellent guide to navigating the current conditions and fundraising in a downturn (Link). Whilst you’re thinking about prioritising revenue growth, this is an excellent guide to driving scalable product-led growth in K12 B2B businesses. And of course, if there’s anything that I can do to support you or your organisation, do let me know.
Working collaboratively with ecosystem partners is another excellent way to build resilience. So news that EdTech Estonia and the Estonian government have signed a “cooperation agreement in support of learning innovation” is to be warmly welcomed (Link). I’m also delighted to see so many Nordic EdTech businesses listed on the newly-launched European Edtech Map from the European Edtech Alliance. If your business is not included, you can still submit company details here.
It’s been a particularly successful fortnight for three Nordic EdTechs featured on the map. Trading in Skolon’s shares began on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market on 17th May (Link) - really encouraging to see that the offer was oversubscribed. Congratulations also to Eduten (winner of the special UNICEF EdTech Award) and Kide Science (runner-up in global EdTech category) for leading the way at the Extreme Tech Challenge competition.
As always, do let me know if you’ve got any feedback or a story to include in a future issue of this newsletter by emailing hello@10digits.org. Sharing this email with your network is also much appreciated!
Thanks for reading, Jonathan
News from Denmark
Schools in Odense receive a DKK 4.4m charitable donation to “strengthen teaching in technology understanding.” (Link)
A combination of AI and wellbeing surveys will help identify those most at risk of dropping out of education. (Link)
Caution urged as suppliers contact schools ahead of next year’s shift to the so-called 100% digital “message book.” (Link)
The BookBites platform aims to help students with reading difficulties to learn to read through audio books. (Link)
Interesting interview with Hanne Salomonsen, CEO of Gyldendal Uddannelse, on their shift to digital and the importance of being distinctive. (Link - $$)
Labster CEO and founder, Michael Bodekaer Jensen, on content, curriculum and growth. (Link)
IT consulting company, Nine, signs a 4-year framework agreement with the Danish Agency for IT & Learning (STIL). (Link)
How Ugly Duckling Games will “create gaming experiences that are both fun and easy to teach.” (Link)
News from Estonia
The co-creation and collaboration programme between EdTech Estonia and Tallinn University has been confirmed for a third year. Details here.
Kadri Tuisk, Founder and CEO at Clanbeat, is on The Edtech Podcast talking about school digital strategies. (Link)
“Can you learn without a teacher?” kood/Jõhvi has the answer! (Link)
Praktikal confirms a €700,000 funding round to achieve their mission of creating “the most exciting physics lessons for students.” (Link)
News from Finland
Further evidence that the Finnish education model is gaining ground in India. (Link)
How TikTok is being used in Finnish chemistry lessons. (Link)
Positive results from a TVET project in South Africa show the benefits of Funzi’s blended learning approach. (Link)
Helsinki Education Hub has now worked with over 100 EdTech startups since launching last August. (Link)
Good to see Positive Learning expand into Italy (Link) and Spain (Link).
School Day has been named as one of 5 startups in SETDA’s 2022 Cohort of Emerging Partners. (Link)
News from Iceland
Kara Connect and Mussila are included in a list of the “12 Icelandic startups heating up Reykjavik’s tech scene in 2022.” (Link)
A top-level delegation visits Silicon Valley to argue the case for incorporating the Icelandic language in new technologies. (Link)
News from Latvia
Edurio announces a new survey on Latvian teachers (Link) and publishes new research on staff retention in academies in England (Link).
More than 2,000 teachers have improved their digital skills this year, thanks to the work of Riga TechGirls. (Link)
News from Lithuania
Three Cubes delivers a free interactive lesson for schools about helping Ukraine. Everything is delivered through Minecraft. (Link)
News from Norway
Budgets tighten in Molde threatening supply of new teaching resources. (Link)
Who controls what resources / tools are used in Norwegian schools? Politicians or teachers? (Link)
Petter Stordalen becomes the majority shareholder at FIDL, an elearning company. (Link)
Kahoot! joins the LEGO Foundation’s first ever “Play for All Accelerator.” (Link)
News from Sweden
New research shows that the pandemic encouraged teachers to use digital tools. (Link)
Lessons for Sweden to learn from Denmark (Link) and Estonia (Link).
Advania produce a new ebook to support creativity in the preschool classroom. (Link)
Astrid launches a new proprietary solution that aims “to redefine private tutoring for Gen Z.” (Link)
Binogi adds Russian and Turkish to their multi-language resources. (Link)
Humly continue to expand in the UK, acquiring its fourth local supply teaching agency - Exact Education Ltd. (Link)
Skolon signs an agreement with Alta municipality in Norway. (Link)
Thanks for reading this newsletter. If you think that your colleagues and wider network would find it useful, please share it with them!