In our recent article ‘Top startup sectors likely to shape the post COVID-19 era’, edtech was none other than the second sector we discussed, alongside fintech, healthcare & wellness, gaming, OTT, delivery and others. With young children still homeschooling, college and university students studying online, and a huge number of adults signed up for ‘after-work’ courses as a result of the first COVID-19 wave in 2020, it’s no surprise that virtual learning (and edtech in general) finds itself in the spotlight.
With our eye firmly on this trend, here are the young European startup teams that we’ve got our eye on for 2021 and beyond – all of them founded just a few years ago, having raised funding during the pandemic and with fast-growing teams.
99 math – Founded 2018 by then-19-year-old Estonian school graduate and gaming lover, Timo Timmi, 99 math found its golden moment during the pandemic. Included in the government’s edtech tools which were shared to all European countries, and having raised funds in 2020, the startup has been on a roll helping out with home schooling. Timmi’s mission is to inspire more students to go on to follow careers as engineers, astronauts or scientists.
CoachHub – Launched in 2018, Coach hub is a digital coaching platform for employees, coaching people to be the best they can be at their jobs. The digital coaching service is delivered via an app and offers video-coaching sessions, training activities and personal support from a business coach regarding time management, stress management, and leadership skills.CoachHub currently consists of more than 300 qualified coaches who speak some 30 languages. In 2020 they closed two impressive rounds, with the last in Dec 2020 being for €25 million.
Kide Science – Kide Science, founded in 2017, is all about helping children to be curious about science and the natural world in everyday life. The platform is aimed at kids aged 3 to 8 years and helps them learn through play-based learning, storytelling and dramatic arts. The pedagogical methods they use are based on rigorous academic research conducted at the University of Helsinki, Finland. In May 2020, the startup secured €1.5 million funding in a seed round led by Sparkmind.vc.
Scoodle – Founded in 2017, Scoodle is helping tutors become influencers. After creating a profile, tutors can showcase their talents by sharing answers – a little like Quora. If students like what they see, they can book lessons. Scoodle hosts thousands of tutors from the UK’s best educational institutions, including the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, Imperial College London and more. Scoodle landed funding in 2020, being backed by Twitter’s co-founder.
Novakid – Krakow-based Novakid, founded in 2017 by Russian entrepreneur Maxim Azarov, is an online English language school aimed at children aged 4-12 years, where all qualified teachers are native speakers. Online lessons are taught using an in-house built Web platform, which is enhanced with virtual reality and gamification technologies. At the same time, the company utilizes an ‘MMORPG’ model which allows students to interact with each other and rewards with personal ‘achievements’. In 2020, the startup landed €1.3 million.
Tomorrow’s Education – Berlin-based Tomorrow’s Education was founded in 2020 and uses an active learning model is ‘challenge based’. It focuses on practice-oriented projects that map real-world challenges and the development of relevant skills. Rather than just accumulating knowledge, the main focus lies on developing an entrepreneurial mindset with a sustainable impact. In Jan 2021, the startup snapped up €1.1 million to ‘educate the changemakers of the future’.
Qoorio – This Lithuanian-born marketplace for knowledge and experience was born in 2018, but had huge applications in 2020, given the number of people who were suddenly cut off from their usual networks. Qoorio provides access to real-life knowledge, by linking those with specific knowledge and skillsets with those in need. Law, economics, politics, engineering, media are just some of the topics on the platform, which users can browse through and connect with experienced professionals. From there on, it is up to users to either meet for a virtual coffee, arrange a phone call, or connect another way.
Uptime App – Founded in 2018, Uptime is a free app featuring 5-minute ‘Knowledge Hacks’ from the world’s best books, courses and documentaries. All the hacks available on the app can be found in different formats like text, audio and its unique visual story format, saving users time and effort, and being easily shareable. The startup landed around €13.4 million.
Twin Science & Robotics – Founded in 2017, London-based Twin Science is on a mission to create tomorrow’s change-makers. Via its mobile app, science kits, and playful curriculum, it allows kids aged 5-13 grow their confidence, interests, and STEAM skills. The startup is already working with partners like Google, Ford, Microsoft, UCL and more. In 2020, the team landed over €1.7 million.
GoStudent – Founded in 2016, GoStudent offers global students the chance to find the best teachers worldwide, for both individual or group tutoring sessions. Students and teachers are matched using artificial intelligence, ensuring that the best possible tutor is matched with each student, classes are held via a virtual classroom, and GoStudent additionally offers a free social homework chat. In 2020, GoStudent secured around €8.3 million to expand further across Europe.
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Source: https://www.eu-startups.com/2021/03/10-european-startups-shaking-up-the-edtech-sector-in-2021/
