2020 Europe EdTech 100. Where are they now?

How are Europe Top 100 EdTech Startups of 2020 performing and where are they now?

Education Intelligence Unit

calendar image
September 9, 2021

In December 2020, HolonIQ announced the annual Europe EdTech 100 — a list of the 100 most promising EdTech startups headquartered in Europe. As we open applications for our annual Europe EdTech 100, we take a look at where the 2020 cohort are now.

There are thousands of EdTech companies across Europe supporting learners, teachers, schools, institutions and companies to positively impact educational outcomes, support access to learning and increase the efficiency of educational processes and systems.

The HolonIQ Europe EdTech 100 recognises the most promising EdTech teams based across Europe excluding the Nordic-Baltic EdTech 50 and Russia and CIS EdTech 100. This annual list helps to surface the innovations occurring across this diverse set of markets, and the teams who are supporting institutions, teachers, parents and learners.

The Annual Europe EdTech 100 is focused on identifying young, fast growing and innovative learning and up-skilling start-ups based in the region. To be eligible, startups are generally less than 10 years old (though there are some exceptions), are either headquartered in Europe (see separate Russia & CIS EdTech 100, and Nordic-Baltic EdTech 50), or predominately focused on the market (e.g. > 80% revenue/customers, are pre exit (not acquired or listed) and not a subsidiary of a larger company or controlled by an investor group (e.g. via private equity buyout or controlling investment). Governments and the media, institutions and investors, schools and educators, influencers and talented leaders from across  and around the world look to HolonIQ’s Europe EdTech 100 as the benchmark for education innovation in the region.

HolonIQ 2020 Europe EdTech 100

HolonIQ's Scoring Fingerprint

In 2020, HolonIQ’s Education Intelligence Unit evaluated over one thousand submissions from across Europe, powered by data and insights from our Global Intelligence Platform and local experts. Each organization was assessed using our proprietary scoring engine and following HolonIQ’s startup scoring rubric. Our normalization algorithm ensures that individual scoring bias is eliminated to create an equitable baseline and allows experts to review their own ‘scoring fingerprint’ relative to other experts. HolonIQ’s startup scoring rubric covers the following dimensions:

Market. The quality and relative attractiveness of the specific market in which the company competes.
Product. The quality and uniqueness of the product itself.
Team. The expertise and diversity of the team.
Capital. The financial health of the company and in particular its ability to generate or secure sufficient funding.
Momentum. Positive changes in the size and velocity of the company over time.

Screenshot-2020-06-09-08.47.29

No items found.

Where are they now?

Since announcing the list nine months ago, organizations in the 2020 Europe EdTech 100 have collectively raised over $1.2B with significant funding round announced each week on average. At the end of the first half of 2021, Europe was the fastest-growing market globally and has delivered a whole new level of funding, not seen before across its entire history.

GoStudent (Austria) has been the stand-out so far, becoming Europe’s first EdTech Unicorn, raising over $320M in a Series B in March followed by a Series C at a $1.7B valuation in June 2021. Just this week, GoStudent announced its first acquisition in SchoolFox, in its mission to build the number 1 global school. Ornikar (France) which prepares people for driving tests by providing online driver education courses, raised a $120M Series C in April and was founded in 2013 in the founder’s words, “to disrupt driving education.” Multiverse (UK) closed their own Series B and growth round in the last 9 months totaling $110M of funding on their mission to build an outstanding alternative to college and corporate training. Brainly, CoachHub and OpenClassrooms each raised $80M, Immersive Labs $75M and Lingoda $68M in a never seen before cohort of European EdTechs closing $50M+ rounds in rapid succession.

IPOs, Acquisitions, Products, Partnerships & Growth Activities

Europe will see its first EdTech exit via IPO in some time by the end of 2021. German online language learning company Babbel announced this week it would list on the Frankfurt stock exchange this year and raise more than $200 million.

The 2020 Europe EdTech 100 cohort was underweight compared to other regions on exit via acquisition in the prior 9 months with the relatively younger cohort predominately raising large late-stage funding and priming for exits over the next few years. A number of notable acquisitions that did occur included Renaissance Learnings acquisition of Lalilo and READY Educations acquisition of StuComm.

Beyond fundraising, organizations from the 2020 Europe EdTech 100 are active in products, partnerships and growth activities in Europe and around the world, with teams such as LeWagon announcing a partnership with Honoris United Universities to open a range of bootcamps across Africa. The London Interdisciplinary School was granted degree awarding powers, the first institution since the 1960s to receive this status as it pioneers a new way of approaching post secondary learning.

Register for the 2021 Europe EdTech 100 Launch Webinar to learn more about the 2020 cohort and of course, be the first to know the 100 companies selected as part of the 2021 Europe EdTech 100.

No items found.
No items found.

Latest Insights

Global Insights from HolonIQ’s Intelligence Unit. Powered by our Global Impact Intelligence Platform.

Newsletter
Newsletter
2024 Back to School
2024 Back to School
North America EdTech 200
North America EdTech 200
2024 Paris HE Summit
2024 Paris HE Summit
2024 San Juan Speaker
2024 San Juan Speaker
Indices
Indices
Cities
Cities
2023 Back to School Featured Speaker
2023 Back to School Featured Speaker
New York
New York
2023
2023
Webinar
Webinar
Economics
Economics
Draft
Draft
Platform
Platform
2022
2022
Digital Transformation
Digital Transformation
MedTech
MedTech
Global Impact Summits
Global Impact Summits
Impact 3000
Impact 3000
Nuclear
Nuclear
Mobility
Mobility
Electric Vehicles
Electric Vehicles
2021
2021
2020
2020
Sub Saharan Africa
Sub Saharan Africa
Nordic Baltic
Nordic Baltic
North America
North America
South Asia
South Asia
East Asia
East Asia
ANZ
ANZ
Market Sizing
Market Sizing
Augmented Reality
Augmented Reality
Blockchain
Blockchain
Virtual Reality
Virtual Reality
Regions
Regions
Markets
Markets
Mobile
Mobile
Client Report
Client Report
Publishers
Publishers
Labor Markets
Labor Markets
Global Landscape
Global Landscape
10 Charts Series
10 Charts Series
R&D
R&D
LMS
LMS
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Executive Panel
Executive Panel
Language Learning
Language Learning
Russia
Russia
Israel
Israel
Germany
Germany
France
France
Media and Press
Media and Press
Climate Tech
Climate Tech
MENA
MENA
South Korea
South Korea
Japan
Japan
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Health Tech
Health Tech
Global EdTech 1000
Global EdTech 1000
Unicorns
Unicorns
MOOCs
MOOCs
Global Giants
Global Giants
Client Note
Client Note
Capital Markets
Capital Markets
Advanced Technology
Advanced Technology
OPM
OPM
International Education
International Education
India
India
China
China
Canada
Canada
Venture Capital
Venture Capital
Bootcamps
Bootcamps
Online learning
Online learning
Notes
Notes
Europe
Europe
Asia
Asia
Africa
Africa
LATAM
LATAM
Brazil
Brazil
Robotics
Robotics
Education in 2030
Education in 2030
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence
SDG 17
SDG 17
SDG 16
SDG 16
SDG 15
SDG 15
SDG 14
SDG 14
SDG 13
SDG 13
SDG 12
SDG 12
SDG 11
SDG 11
SDG 10
SDG 10
SDG 9
SDG 9
SDG 8
SDG 8
SDG 7
SDG 7
SDG 6
SDG 6
SDG 5
SDG 5
SDG 4
SDG 4
SDG 3
SDG 3
SDG 2
SDG 2
SDG 1
SDG 1
Climate Tech 1000
Climate Tech 1000

Sign Up for our Newsletters

We provide you with relevant and up-to-date insights on the global impact economy. Choose out of our newsletters and you will find trending topics in your inbox.

Weekly Newsletter

Climate Technology

Weekly Newsletter

Education Technology

Weekly Newsletter

Health Technology

Weekly Newsletter

Higher Education

Daily Newsletter

Chart of the Day

Daily Newsletter

Impact Capital Markets