Brighteye Ventures, Europe’s most active venture capital fund focused on education technology, recently released The European EdTech Funding Report 2024. According to the report, European EdTech investment increased for the second time in a row in the first half of the year, demonstrating the continuance of a quiet but precise comeback. European EdTech continues to outperform other major EdTech markets in terms of deal number and funding amounts - 32% of worldwide EdTech deals completed in 2023 were in Europe, with a rising proportion in the early stages.
The following are the report’s significant findings.
European EdTech funding slowed from $1.9B to $1.2B but remained higher than 2020 levels with back-to-back growth in half-year Data
After a significant slump in VC funding between H1 2022 and H2 2022, EdTech is mounting a gradual, hopefully sustainable resurgence, with back-to-back half-year increases in funding.
The number of EdTech deals in Europe increased on 2022 levels, from 256 to 288
Despite a slowdown in overall funding figures, the number of deals in Europe increased, with the highest density in the earliest stages in rounds <$1M, which bodes well for the health of the ecosystem in future years as talented founders continue to build and get their companies off the ground.
The UK maintains the top spot in Europe with strong resilience, with only a slight downturn in 2022 levels
The UK retained the top spot in 2023 in terms of both funding and deal numbers- though the funding total of $547M in 2023 is down slightly on the $583M of 2022, it’s still more than 3.5X the levels observed in 2020 ($164M). UK startups secured almost 3X of the number secured in France’s second-placed market. France returned second in funding and deals, with French startups securing $162M across 14 deals, leapfrogging Germany.
32% of global EdTech deals are done in Europe, with particular resilience in early deals
The trend of an increasing proportion of global EdTech deals taking place in Europe continues. The percentage increased from 26% in 2022 to 32% in 2023. The exact reasons for this are difficult to determine. However, two factors are worth noting: 1) The majority of transactions are in their early stages, and 2) the European ecosystem is highly diversified, necessitating a wide range of solutions in response to a wide range of possibilities.
Exits in EdTech primarily in the US, as is the case for the most significant deals
The United States had more consolidation in 2023 than any other significant region. Most significant deals focused on K12, such as Kahoot! ‘s privatization via Goldman Sachs and others, Dreambox Learning’s exit to Discovery, and Firefly Learning’s exit to Veracross.
The study additionally features three market maps for teacher support tools, workplace productivity, sustainability skills, and predictions for the year ahead in educational technology.
Rhys Spence, Head of Research, commented:
We expected this report to be tough to write, given the broad perceptions in the markets that 2023 had been a tough year for startups. Though many of the data points we’ve been tracking for five years are down on the dizzying heights of 2021 following the extreme accelerations from H2 2020, there are certainly some reasons to be optimistic, particularly in European EdTech. The headline venture funding figure for European EdTech fell from $1.9B to $1.2B, but we were pleased to see a rise in the number of deals done. This and other data points represented more resilience than most major EdTech markets in deal number and funding amounts – 32% of global EdTech deals done in 2023 were done in Europe (relative to 26% in 2022), with an increasing portion in the earliest stages. We also observed green shoots emerging in the headline funding data, with European EdTech investment seeing its second consecutive rise in half-year funding, reflecting the continuation of a muted but definite resurgence.
About Brighteye Ventures
Brighteye Ventures’ skills and network in technology, education, media, and VC help portfolio companies refine products, establish alliances, and expand internationally. The company is a European EdTech leader, offering community insights, office hours, and events. It makes investments in seed and Series A-stage companies.
