A Record-Year for Finnish Startups
A short overview from Finnish Edtech companies’ perspective
According to the Finnish Venture Capital Association the amount of funding raised by all Finnish startups nearly doubled in a year and is already approaching billion Euros. ”The main focus in investments shifted from new investments to follow-on funding rounds: as many as 79% of the startups that received investments were follow-on funding rounds, compared to 44% in 2019.”
This means that portfolio companies received support to grow in comparison to finding new innovations and companies. This seems to apply to the Edtech industry too.
Source: Pääomasijoittajat – Press release – A Record-Year for Finnish Startups: The Amount of Funding Raised Nearly Doubled In a Year and Is Already Approaching the Billion-Euro Mark
Edtech industry reacted fast to help schools
When the Covid19 hit last Spring it didn’t take long for the Edtech industry to organise projects to support distance learning in schools.
On Koulu.me over 30 Finnish educational tools, apps and resources could be found and accessed for free. Thanks to Spinverse for the initiative. Also Teach Millions brought solutions from 8 Nordic-Baltic countries together to be used free of charge during the pandemia. The aim was to introduce new, innovative opportunities to teachers and learners to keep learners learning around the world.
Edtech industry is not only about the schools and Kindergartens (K12), though. Industry is innovating in e.g. Vocational (TVET) and Higher Education (HE), Corporate Learning (L&D), Families and Consumers (B2C), Science Centres and NGO’s.
Koulu.me bringing Finnish edtech solutions and resources available during the exceptional times.
Great funding news from Finnish Edtech companies during the pandemic
We have listed some of the funding rounds that have been closed since last Spring.
- One of the largest Finnish Edtech companies is Yousician, an online platform for learning and playing musical instruments. Yousician raised $28M Series B Round to make music education more accessible. yousician.com
- Howspace is a fast growing dialogue-driven learning and organizational development platform powered by AI. Howspace closed €12M Series A funding round to accelerate expansion in North America and Central Europe. www.howspace.com
- Fuzu combines the strengths of the world-renowned Finnish education and innovation system with deep understanding of the end-user, their needs and aspirations. They aim to change the landscape of job search and recruitment and to become the undisputed home of African talent by preparing people and organizations for success. Fuzu closed a €3.4m Series A funding round. www.fuzu.com
- HEI School’s mission is to bring Finnish-style early childhood education to the world. HEI School has received €2M investment to continue building and strengthening the growing global HEI Schools community and to further develop the pedagogical concept and materials used by teachers all over the world. www.heischools.com
- 3dBear aims to promote children’s learning using digital tools and augmented reality technologies. They are targeting international markets with a successful investment round worth €1.5M. www.3dbear.io
- Kide Science is a global early childhood science learning provider. Kide Science has raised €1.5M in seed round to accelerate their international growth. www.kidescience.com
- School Day is a Student wellbeing solution provider. School Day raises €1.1M in a seed round to accelerate international expansion. www.schoolday.com
- Playvation is a children’s language learning provider. Playvation secures €700k funding in seed round. moominproducts.com/playvation
- Qridi transforms learning from passive to active, and builds student agency and ownership. Qridi has closed a funding round with existing and new private investors to strengthen their international growth.
Last but not least, Whiteboard was acquired by Kahoot!, an online whiteboard tool for teachers and classrooms, with a goal of providing more powerful learning tools for educators worldwide. whiteboard.fi
Our association is interested in hearing about any great news from Finnish Edtech companies so please let us know! And funding news is just one part of the story, and for a company with a strong vision and mission best news is, after all, success stories with learners, users, customers or clients coming back for more, building partnerships that strengthen the business and closing big deals with clients. All the best with making magic happen!
Enjoy the summer!
Heini Karppinen, Chair
heini@edtechfinland.com
