Kahoot! a game-based learning platform, has raised $215 million from SoftBank to meet the current surge in demand for remote education.
According to reports, the Oslo-based education technology company raised the new capital by way of a private placement to a subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp., through issuance of 43 million new shares at a price of 46 Norwegian Krone (or about $5) per share, amounting to NOK 1,978 million (or $215 million).
The company plans to use the funds to fuel growth through new partnerships, joint ventures, and acquisitions.
Founded in 2012 by Morten Versvik, Johan Brand, and Jamie Brooker, Kahoot! lets players to create and take part in multiple-choice quizzes. The platform makes it easy for any individual or corporation to create, discover, play and share fun learning games or trivia quizzes in minutes – for any subject, on any language, on any device, and for all ages.
Kahoot! operates a two-pronged business. While one side of its business focuses on schools and home learning, the other centres on corporate clients looking to make training sessions and presentations. Its game-based platform and easy-to-use features make e-learning, training, and presentations engaging. Based on its mission of making learning awesome, the Norwegian company delivers engaging and fun learning to over one billion players at school, at work, and at home, allowing users to create and host games in a live session, or assign self-paced games for remote training.
Commenting on the latest development and how it plans to use the proceeds from the deal, the company said in a statement,
“Kahoot! is experiencing strong momentum and accelerated adoption as enterprises increasingly seek engaging, trustworthy and user-friendly ways to build corporate culture, educate and interact. At the same time, schools and educators are looking to enhance the learning experience, whether virtually or in the classroom. The company intends to use the net proceeds from the private placement to finance accelerated growth through value-creating non-organic opportunities and continue to build a unique platform company.”
Kahoot! claimed more than 200 million games have been played on its platform over the past 12 months, with millions of monthly active users and more than a billion participating players in over 200 countries. The company also claimed 87% of global top universities and 97% of Fortune 500 companies use its platform.
The Norwegian company had last raised a gross amount of $28 million in new equity in June through a private placement, which, according to the company, attracted very strong interest from high-quality institutional investors in Norway and internationally and was multiple times oversubscribed.
