The Top 10 European Edtech Startups to Watch in 2020
There are currently 13 edtech unicorns in the world — four from the United States, eight from China, and one from India. Notably, lacking from the list? European tech unicorns. Edtech companies in Europe garnered less than half of their U.S. counterparts and less than one-fourth of their Chinese counterparts. The bright spot in European edtech is that it is an industry that is still getting off the ground, which means that it still has the potential to produce very successful companies. It may just take a little longer. As for now, though, these are the top 10 European edtech startups that are on the rise.
Amboss Software
Founded in 2012 and based in Berlin, Amboss Software started out as a learning app for medical students but has expanded to a much broader platform for medical knowledge. Having raised €30 million earlier this year, its current ambitious goal is to become the “Google for medicine.”
Teacherly
Teacherly was founded in 2015 by a former teacher in London. It helps teachers reduce the amount of time spent on lesson preparation through collaborative planning amongst teachers. Since its founding, 2,000 schools and 70,000 teachers have joined and its reported turnover has increased from £468,000 to £1.4 million.
Studytracks
Studytracks was founded in Paris, also in 2015. The app is designed to help children learn through music. So far, Studytracks boasts over 1,500 musical education tracks and has been downloaded approximately 500,000 times. It currently has €1 million in funding.
Brainly
Founded in Krakow in 2009, Brainly is designed to help students with their homework through an interactive platform. Brainly follows a freemium model similar to Spotify, which means users pay a minimal subscription fee to use it without ads or they can agree to use it for free with ads. It currently has 150 million unique monthly users in over 35 countries and funding of $68.5 million.
Fundamental VR
Founded in London in 2012, Fundamental VR offers surgery training via simulation. Training procedures include hip replacements, spinal operations, and more, with the app also providing tactile feedback by allowing students to feel as if they’re performing surgery as well. Fundamental VR is used in various universities and clinics, including UCLA and the Mayo Clinic. At the beginning of 2019, it raised $5.7 million in Series A funding.
Omikar
Another startup, Omikar is out to change the way driving schools operate by serving as a one-stop-shop online driving school. Founded in 2014, Omikar acts as an online marketplace that connects students and teachers. It also helps process paperwork and payments. By automating various administrative tasks, Omikar can cut student costs by 35%. It currently has a network of 1,000 driving instructors and 1.2 million users. Omikar became profitable in 2018 and recently raised $40 million in Series B funding.
CoachHub
Founded in 2018, CoachHub is a startup that provides companies with digital coaching services in order to help employees operate at their true potential. CoachHub has expanded quickly and currently has offices in Berlin, London, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and elsehere. It recently closed its second round of funding for a total of €16 million.
Skriware
Founded in 2015 in Warsaw, Skriware is both an edtech company and a manufacturer of 3D printers. The company sells the hardware and produces a fully integrated educational system thus helping people learn about 3D printing and making 3D printing at home a reality as well. While it may not yet be one of the world’s leaders in 3D printing, it certainly has potential. In June of this year, it raised €1.4 million in growth equity, for a total of €3.8 million in funding.
NovaKid
NovaKid is yet another Polish startup. Founded in Krakow in 2017, NovaKid is designed to make learning languages into a game and it does so by connecting kids to English tutors as well as by creating virtual reality learning experiences. It works on the basis of a monthly subscription and currently has 4,000 students from 40 different countries. In early 2019, it raised three-quarters of a million dollars in seed funding from the Korean venture capital fund, BonAngels.
Immersive Labs
Founded in 2016, the British cyber-skills startup has developed immersive teaching techniques, like cyberware simulation, to help people learn cyber skills in a gamified fashion. In 2019, it closed both Series A and B funding rounds for a total of $48 million.
Europe Does Have Potential
While European edtech startups may not have gotten off to the grand start that American and Chinese startups did, there is plenty of potential to be found across the continent. From Poland to France to England and more, Europeans are showing that they have a thing or two to bring to the global edtech stage.