Best-in-Class — Showcasing the Best European Innovations in 2021
Some examples that showcase Europe’s best-in-class in the EdTech space — Article by Svenia Busson, co-founder of The European Edtech Alliance.
By Svenia Busson, European Edtech Alliance
Over the years, there has been a steady rise of EdTech companies in Europe as well as an uptick in Venture Capital investment. We’ve seen a 10X growth in EdTech VC investment in Europe since 2014 reaching a record of 237 deals totalling 711M$ in 2020.
According to data retrieved from HolonIQ, in 2021, more than half of the Europe EdTech 100 operate in the Workforce sector. Highlighted below are some examples that showcase Europe’s best-in-class in the sector.
360 Learning — Reinventing Corporate Training
Working under the assumption that standardized top-down corporate training doesn’t work, 360 Learning aims to lower the production costs of training content by enabling and empowering the employees themselves to create trainings based on their company’s needs, developing a more collaborative style of training based on peer-to-peer learning.
Founded in 2012 in Paris, they have now raised $200 million in a funding round and currently have more than 1,500 companies using their services.
Multiverse — Making Apprenticeships Accessible
In the UK, Multiverse offers career-focused apprenticeships in digital leadership and business and makes top jobs in law, media, tech, and finance accessible for those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. The Multiverse platform goes beyond academic achievements and instead uses applied learning programmes and matching software to help its 16–24-year-old candidates secure jobs at large tech and consulting corporations such as Google and KPMG.
Named top start-up in the UK in 2021, Multiverse reports that its revenues increase nearly four times each year and since its inception has trained over 5,000 apprentices.
CanopyLab — Adaptive and Social Learning in the Corporate Space
The culture of education and learning in Scandinavia has always been forward thinking. By embracing a personalized education and work model focussed on well-being, Nordic educational institutions consistently rank higher than their European counterparts. Thus, it is no surprise that the region’s EdTech field is showing signs of success, coupling Nordic principles of learning with cutting edge technology.
CanopyLab, based in Denmark has reinforced the idea of adaptive learning with their platform, ‘The Future of Learning Delivered Today’ which allows people to identify skills and competency gaps. They currently service 200+ companies and educational institutions with remote and blended learning solutions in more than 20 countries.
Turing College & Iconoclass — The rise of the bootcamp model for upskilling
Upskilling the workforce is crucial for both companies and employees to safeguard their competitiveness in an environment that is marked by disruptive technological developments. European EdTech startups are seizing this opportunity by offering skills-development programmes through a new kind of model that has emerged in Europe with a force: Bootcamps. Highly industry-oriented, they are 3-to-6-month programs that provide the practical foundations for jobs in a variety of sectors.
Turing College based in Vilnius, Lithuania is a good example of a data science bootcamp in touch with industry leaders. Founded in 2020, they not only partner with tech companies such as Tesla and Microsoft but co-create the curriculum with them.
But bootcamps are not exclusive to tech. Iconoclass, developed a sales and business development bootcamp based in Paris which provides a 4-month course with 60% of the training in a practical format. The bootcamp has an Income Sharing Agreement with its students so that they don’t have to pay upfront, only if they find a job. A win-win model.
Svenia Busson is co-founder of LearnSpace, Edtech Tours and the European Edtech Alliance, VP of Edtech France and author of ‘Exploring the Future of Education’.
This article was originally published in the X Report — a monthly newsletter published by EdTechX which shares features based on current trends in the world of learning and training.
