EdTech

Justlearn is Danish ed-tech company founded in 2017 with a mission to democratize access to language learning.  The mission behind Justlearn it to be able to teach language without attending  any classes, educational institutions, or standardized language courses. Justlearn plans to democratize acces to language learning through customization. Each student learns at their own pace with a dedicated tutor, always …

Danish edtech CanopyLAB is behind a social and adaptive learning platform that is being used in more than 85 different countries. By Esben Trier Based on co-founder Sahra-Josephine Hjorth’s Ph.D. research at the University of Aalborg, CanopyLAB launched its product in late 2018 with a focus on corporate learning. With COVID-19 CanopyLAB’s reach expanded dramatically in South America and Africa, …

Make the World Listen to You Get Sandwich is a startup that wants to help people who are struggling with public speaking by providing them with a library of authentic practice videos. The startup was founded in 2017 by Min’an Tan and Martha Winata, who were also struggling with their public speeches. They believe that improving people’s public speaking skills …

On CanopyLAB’s ed-tech platform, companies, NGOs and institutions offer online courses focusing on learning through interaction to support the next generation of e-learning. The vision now has a large investment from a number of business angels. During a research visit to Australia, PhD scholar, Sahra-Josephine Hjorth of Aalborg University became interested in how social media can be used to create …

As Finland has topped rankings for the best educational system in the world for years, tapping its know-how is an attractive offer for any young ed-tech startup. However, especially when coming from outside of Finland, it could look like a daunting task to understand the sector which could be horribly bureaucratic and with everyone speaking a weird language. The solution: …

Norway has only recent emerged as a startup hub, with it now leading the Nordics as the fastest grower in number of investments. However the Norwegian scene is often not acknowledged beyond Opera, and we think it’s time that changed. 1. nLink: Mobile drilling robots  Love them or hate them, the right robot can save us time and money. And the folks at nLink …

Educational reform has never been more salient in the Nordics, as schools race to integrate digital competences into the core curriculum.  Ed-tech Foundry, an ed-tech company based in Norway, has some thoughts on how higher education can be reformed to prepare students for the future and the best way to use ed-tech learning tools. “Tell me and I forget, teach …

As Ed-tech is becoming the next industry to watch in the Nordics, with success stories like Kahoot, DigiExam, and Funzi. We take a look at 3 major trends in the ed-tech world.   Adult education Ed-tech is often thought about in terms of “gamified” learning tools like Duolingo, but the real face of adult education is in the corporate world, …

The Nordics have a natural advantage when it comes to education technology, including strong school systems, technical expertise, and forward-thinking municipalities who put digitalization on the agenda. What is holding back ed-tech development in the region? Many startups in the Nordics struggle with the VC investment bottleneck and finding the right talent. However as Hanna Kristín Skaftadóttir of Mimi Creations …

With new national strategies focused on increasing digitalization and technical competencies, the Nordic countries are facing an urgent need to innovate within education.  A strong ed-tech cluster can help address this. The public sector has traditionally been lacking in it’s abilities to focus on innovation, which is why often, industry organizations and NGO’s  help pick up the slack.  When all …

Sweden. The Unicorn Factory. Top three on the Global innovation index. One of the strongest Gaming Industries in the world.  The potential for an ed-tech hub in the Swedish startup ecosystem is huge. By Jannie Jeppesen, Head of EdTech Sweden Innovative, disruptive and scalable startups like Spotify, Klarna, Mojang and King have come out of Sweden the last years. The …

Adjacent to the Helsinki University’s Department of Teacher Education, housed at the same University campus that once hosted Finland’s first particle accelerator, xEdu is firing up the first ed-tech accelerator for startups in Northern Europe. The education system in Finland has famously high rankings in world education polls.  While it might seem like Finland’s crown jewel should not be tampered …

Across the Nordic region, schools are looking to use ed-tech solutions to create a more individualized educational experience for students through adaptive and interactive learning, and help teachers better manage their classrooms.  While ed-tech companies rush to fill this need, it is worth remembering that it takes more than hardware to make adaptive and interactive learning a success. Ed-tech has …

Yes, this title is intentionally a bit “provocative”—especially for my friends in Norway, Sweden and Denmark—as there have been a number of interesting edtech developments in each of these countries, especially in the last year or two. But at least based on my own experience, and what I know right now, I still think that Finland might rightfully claim to …

The Redefining School program, which covered the challenges of education, was featured at Slush 2015. Among the speakers was Saku Tuominen, CEO and Co-Founder of Scool. Scool aims to find the best practices in education and share all the insights and know-how with the world, for free. As Tuominen said in his speech at Slush, the challenges of future education …

EduLAB is part of a rapidly expanding pre-incubator program at the Oulu University of Applied Sciences in Finland called Oamk LABs. EduLAB specifically targets the global education technology industry. By Blair Stevenson Like the other Oamk LABs, EduLAB is taught in English and is a full-time, 5 month educational program for university level students and professionals in re-training with backgrounds …

“Ed-tech is boiling over here in Sweden”, says Jannie Jeppesen, founder of Ed-tech Sweden. But the community remains a black hole for Swedes – and even ed-tech companies themselves.  Ed-tech Sweden is now launching the first ever mapping of the ed-tech ecosystem in partnership with Silicon Vikings, to build transparency from the ground up, and get ed-tech on the agenda. …

Icelandic startup KeyWe is creating an app that ties together an emotional, visual, and logical approach to learning. Olafur Stefansson and Halldor Thorsteinsson are brothers in law and co-founders of the ed-tech startup KeyWe. I’m meeting with them at  the Innovation House in Seltjarnarnes, Iceland for a chat about their startup. They arrive on time. Composed and confident, with a spark …

The DXTR team is on a mission to help the world embrace play — yes, that’s implying that the world is not doing this today. I will do my best to explain our thinking in my own words. But first I want to make it clear why we are so passionate about play. We all know the famous quote sometimes credited to …

The pitching competition at the massive startup conference Slush is high stakes and high pressure.  After some stressful preparations, I was called onto stage to pitch my start, EdTech Foundry, in front of an audience in hopes of winning an investment. Last night ended on a high note, and I felt ready to pitch. But in the morning, will all …