Nordic EdTech News #70: 2022-08-08
Your Weeks 27 - 31 update from the Nordic and Baltic EdTech ecosystem
Hello, good morning and welcome to today’s Nordic EdTech News. This newsletter aims to round up everything that’s happened across the ecosystem over the summer. There are lots of updates to report, so let’s get straight to it!
Given the potential scale of impact, the ban issued by Denmark’s Data Protection Authority on the use of Chromebooks and Google Workspace for Education in Helsingør municipality’s school, is highly significant (Link). The verdict that, “many of the conclusions in this decision will probably apply to other municipalities that use the same processing structure” is notable and could affect other suppliers with third country data solutions. However the municipality intends that teachers and schools will continue to use Google solutions when classes resume today, although further guidance is still being sought from government and suppliers. Esben Trier, CEO of EdTech Denmark, gives his perspective here.
In other government news, the Swedish National Agency for Education has been tasked with drawing up a new national digitization strategy for the school system for 2023–2027 (Link). The new strategy must ensure that learners “get the knowledge they need, which ultimately lays the foundation for the future supply of skills. Digital tools must have a well-thought-out purpose, be user-friendly and fit the preschool's and school's operations.”
The last few weeks have also seen a number of significant funding rounds.
Hintsa, a Helsinki-based leader in high-performance coaching and wellbeing services, has raised €5.1M in new funding from notable global investors (Link). The investment will see the business build a new B2C offer via a dedicated app.
Also in Finland, Kide Science announced that they’ve raised a €1M bridge round led by Sparkmind.vc (Link). This funding will enable the business to extend their offer into all early years subjects as well as accelerating their US expansion plans.
Sweden’s Magma Math (formerly Matteappen) is also growing rapidly in the US, which will be further fuelled by a new equity funding round of SEK 52 million ($5.1M) (Link). The business also reports that more than 60 Swedish municipalities are now using the service, which means that +20% of K12 students across the country will have access to the platform this autumn.
These stories echo findings from Brighteye Ventures’ funding report reviewing the first half of 2022 in European EdTech. The report highlights signs of European resilience with funding 40% higher yoy ($1.4B so far in 2022 vs. $1.0B in 2021) in difficult economic conditions. This pattern is also reiterated in HolonIQ’s Global EdTech Funding 2022 - Half Year Update.
The summer period has also seen continued acquisition / consolidation activity, with Swedish EdTech businesses again leading the way.
TicTac confirmed the purchase of Interlake Learning GmbH, giving the business a “strong local presence in the German market” and doubling the business’ size (Link). It follows TicTac’s acquisition of Denmark’s Key2Know in December 2021.
AcadeMedia, one of Northern Europe’s largest education providers, announced the acquisition of Changemaker Educations AB (Futuregames) (Link). This move is part of AcadeMedia's strategy to “find future partnerships with a number of game education businesses, both in Sweden and internationally.”
It’s great to see such a strong Nordic presence in the second cohort of the European Female EdTech Fellowship. Congratulations to Mervi Palander (GraphoGame), Sara Zetterberg (Haldor), Stine Schulz (learningbank); Ingrid Skrede (Ludenso), Jurgita Jaruševičienė (Mokosi) and Kaisa Vuorinen (Positive Learning)!
Don’t miss this year’s TechBBQ, the Nordics’ largest Tech Summit (Copenhagen - 14/15 September). It’s where talent, founders of innovative startups/scaleups, groundbreaking technologies and solutions, international thought-leaders, key-note speakers, investors, partners, media and community come together. Further details to follow on the EdTech programme, but tickets are available now.
Try and find the time to read this WEF article (EdTech has not lived up to its promises — here's how to turn that around) from Natalia Kucirkova of the University of Stavanger. Much to think about here and as an ecosystem we should be leading the way on helping to make EdTech even more brilliant.
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 always much appreciated!
And finally, if you read this newsletter for Nordic EdTech analysis and insight, you may be interested to know that I also offer advisory and consultancy services. Want to find out how I could help you or your business? Let’s talk.
Thanks for reading, Jonathan
News from Denmark
DKK 25 million will be spent to make a school in Odense “the world's best robot school.” (Link)
Applications are open for the DKK 48.6 million fund to strengthen digital education for children and young people in Denmark. (Link)
Flying BizKit have confirmed their investment in another EdTech startup, Mindcap. (Link)
Poikilingo received a grant from the Danish Film Institute to continue the development of their language learning app. (Link)
Shape Robotics seals financial support from BRD - Groupe Société Générale to deliver their European growth strategies. (Link)
Skolen Online raised DKK 500,000 from Vækstfonden to support the continued development of their digital teaching platform. (Link)
News from Estonia
10,000 users from 62 countries are using the Ukrainian language app created by ALPA Kids. (Link)
Interesting review of the pilot project conducted by Clanbeat as part of their engagement with the Accelerate Estonia programme. (Link)
Vocal Image, a voice training startup, aims to scale globally. (Link)
News from Finland
Finland topped the EU’s Digital Economy and Society Index with the country's basic digital skills being identified as particular strengths. (Link)
Eduten has been selected as a finalist in ChildTech 2022 Challenge Mexico & Colombia. (Link)
Funzi launched three new courses to help users build their skills. (Link)
The second cohort at Helsinki Education Hub’s EdTech Incubator has graduated (Link) and don’t miss their upcoming event on accessing emerging markets (Link).
New Nordic School celebrates a series of new openings in India. (Link)
The ViLLE Learning Platform from the University of Turku has been recognised with the UNESCO Prize for ICT in Education. (Link)
News from Iceland
Great to see Kara Connect and Mussila included in a list of 12 Icelandic startups leading Reykjavik’s tech scene in 2022. (Link)
News from Latvia
News from Lithuania
BitDegree / Learnoverse confirm new partnerships with Crust Network (Link) and Lympo (Link).
Jurgita and Mantas Jaruševičiai, the husband and wife team behind Mokosi, reveal the story of their success. (Link)
News from Norway
Children have flocked to coding classes this summer. (Link)
Curipod signed an agreement with Oslo Municipality (Link) and revealed that they have been experimenting with TikTok to enter the US. (Link - $$)
According to Forleggerforeningen’s annual report, the Norwegian school book and digital resources market grew by 38% in 2021. (Link)
Kahoot! has been selected as a Euronext Tech Leader (Link) as their US educator survey highlights the power of student choice. (Link)
Ludenso and Microsoft on enhancing education with AR technology. (Link)
Concern raised by University of Oslo that “commercial tech giants” are taking over pedagogy in Norwegian schools. (Link)
News from Sweden
Astrid’s CTO on how AI is transforming language learning. (Link)
NE survey shows that individually adapted and up-to-date learning materials are most important for teachers. (Link)
Sana Labs announced plans to open offices in the US and the UK as ARR grew by 500% in the last year and user numbers increase by 25% per month. (Link)
Skolon inked an agreement with four new Norwegian municipalities, who’ll use the platform to access and buy digital learning materials and school tools. (Link)
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