“The UK ranks No1 in educational technology venture capital and angel funding in Europe, contributing 34 per cent (GBP178 million) of the total”- Benjamin Vedrenne-Cloquet, co-founder of London EdTech Week and EdtechXGlobal, and partner in IBIS Capital, a leading edtech investment firm.
Another post on PrivateEquity Wire states that The UK ranks No1 in edtech venture capital funding in Europe.
EDUKWEST EU reports that in the first quarter of 2016, investments in European education technology surpassed €24 million coming from over 8 investors across 10 deals. The average investment size in Q1 in Europe was between €300k to €800k. And coming to 2017 the market started with yet another strong first quarter, nearly doubling the number of investments and total raised compared to Q1 2016.
This year has captured some significant traction in Europe edtech industry and 5 significant funding are mentioned below that happened in late 2017.
1. SamLabs
About: SamLabs has created a construction and programming kit called STEAM that teaches school pupils critical thinking skills through science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.
Joachim Horn, founder and CEO of SAM Labs, stated: “As a technology company delivering solutions for teaching STEAM and computing, we’re thrilled to deepen our research and development efforts to bring new products to the classroom. This round of funding will increase our time spent working closely with teachers, administrators, and standards like NGSS to develop the most engaging teaching materials, hardware, and software to excite students about the possibilities of STEAM.”
Founders: Joachim Horn
Founding Date: Feb 14, 2014
Headquartered In: London, England, United Kingdom
Funding: They announced the completion of a €5.7 million Series A funding round led by Touchstone Innovations and E15 Ventures. SAM Labs will use the funding to develop a number of new educational products that support its mission to inspire every student to discover the fun in coding and creating.
Website: https://www.samlabs.com/
2. Wonky Star’s Night Zookeeper
About: Night Zookeeper harnesses children’s imagination by encouraging them to draw magical animals and write accompanying stories. It has already been used by 300,000 children in UK and US schools.
Founders: Joshua Davidson, Mathieu Triay, Paul Hutson, Simon Burman
Founding Date: 2011
Headquartered In: United Kingdom, Europe
Funding: Night Zookeeper has closed a £600,000 funding round led by Newable Private Investing (NPI).
The additional funding will allow Night Zookeeper to further disrupt the education market by expanding into more schools, and follows an agreement with Oxford University Press to roll out a book series.
“Thanks to Newable Private Investing, we’ll be able to empower more children around the world – changing the way they play with technology while improving their English skills,” said Josh Davidson, the entrepreneur behind Wonky Start and Night Zookeeper.
Website: http://www.nightzookeeper.com/
3. Learning Intelligence Group
About: Learning Intelligence Group is a leading education technology (edtech) pioneer in the Nordic region. They select, fund and grow edtech innovations from the Nordic region into profitable global brands. Born from decades of combined experience in building and funding edtech companies, LIG consists of experienced entrepreneurs and investors who leverage their resources, networks and funds to other entrepreneurs looking to aggressively innovate the undisrupted global education market.”
Founders: Micke Paqvalén, Vesa Perala
Founding Date: 2013
Headquartered In: Helsinki, Southern Finland, Finland
Funding: Recently they closed their equity crowdfunding campaign on Invesdor with more than €400,000 from over 75 investors
“Our vision is to become the world’s leading edtech business development group, enabling global success for the top entrepreneurs and technologies from the Nordic region. The LIG mission is to provide our portfolio businesses with an integrated support system through funding, mentoring and partner network exposure, while simultaneously fostering the nascent edtech ecosystem.”
Website: http://www.lig.ai/
4. Brighteye Ventures
About: Brighteye Ventures is a European venture capital firm that does seed, series A, and series B financing.
Founders: Alex Spiro
Founding Date: 2017
Headquartered In: Paris, Ile-de-France, France
Funding: Brighteye Ventures, a relatively new European VC dedicated to investing in edtech startups, is announcing that it has closed a €50 million first fund.
Website: https://www.brighteyevc.com/
5. CoachHire
About: CoachHire.com are a market leading provider of coach and minibus transport services in the UK and now in over 100 cities around the world. Its flagship SchoolSafe software uses tracking and travel technology to alert parents when their child boards their school coach and where they are while onboard.
Founders: Mathew Hassell
Founding Date: 2011
Headquartered In: England, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Funding: CoachHire.com has secured £3.75m funding from Souter Investments, the family investment office of Stagecoach co-founder and Chairman Sir Brian Souter.
The investment will enable CoachHire.com to accelerate the development and rollout of its technology to make the school run safer and smoother than ever; saving parents time and schools money.
John Berthinussen, Investment Director at Souter Investments, said: “CoachHire.com represents an exciting opportunity for Souter Investments to support a fast growing, dynamic and innovative business with a highly entrepreneurial and passionate management team. We look forward to supporting Mathew and his team for the next phase of growth.”
Website: http://www.coachhire.com/
Next Read: EdTech: A Promising Industry In Europe
Keep the list growing in the comment section below by mentioning the others you know about!
