💥 Reach Capital welcomed their next cohort of 34 Roadrunners. They are operators, founders, and active practitioners hailing from a range of organizations, including Chegg, Maven, Outschool, Meta, Seesaw, Variant Fund, and more. They are all connected by their shared excitement and passion for education and the future of work. Check the list out here
💥 Brighteye Ventures released their half year European Edtech funding report
⚡️ The good news: European Edtech is showing its resilience compared to other major Edtech markets 💪
⚡️ The less good news: They expect to see fewer deals done this year, with total VC investment similar to the 2021 figures
Top lines include:
1️⃣ European Edtech VC investment reached $1.4bn in H1 2022, compared to $1bn at the equivalent point last year
2️⃣ European Edtech VC represents 22% of the global total, compared to 11% in 2021 and 6% in 2020
3️⃣ The UK leads the way by total funding and deal count, but 3/10 of the largest deals have been done my companies based in Germany
Notable raises
Workforce:
💰 Ukrainian startup Preply beat the geopolitical odds with a $50m raise to grow its language learning platform. Since 2019, the company has grown revenues and users more than 10x. The company has been doubling down on a newer B2B2C business line servicing customers such as Bytedance (specifically TikTok), Mercedes and McKinsey
💰 The talent solutions division of Prytek, a Singaporean tech firm, invested $30m in London-headquartered global executive search firm, TritonExec. Specialising in leadership hiring for professional, tech services, and fintech, TritonExec will bolster Prytek's HR tech services portfolio, and further its mission of building a tech-enabled talent solutions ecosystem
💰 Over the past 18 months, Inflection Points has been working in stealth mode to build out a crypto-focused employment and corporate training business and just secured $12.6m. The firm also acquired crypto-focused recruiting agency Proof of Talent. Inflection Point has helped over 1,000 people obtain new jobs in the crypto space at firms like Coinbase
💰 Continuum, a Salt Lake City based startup, raised $12m. The company is an executive marketplace, connecting VC-backed and high-growth startups with VC-experienced executives and leaders
💰 Singapore based Intellect raised $10m for its mental health care app. Intellect describes this as “the largest venture round raised by any mental health company in Asia.” Its clients include Merck, Philips, Singtel and Omnicom Media Group. It currently serves 3m users in 60+ countries
💰 New-York based APDS raised $7m for its tech-backed career readiness program used in 110 correction facilities. According to the company, its learners see a 130% increase in high school equivalency (HSE) passing rates and are about 70% more likely to complete their post-release personal and professional plans
💰 Hintsa Performance, a Finland-based provider of coaching and wellbeing services, raised $5.3m. Hintsa has served 500+ organisations including CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, Formula 1 World Champions, and global organisations such as Reckitt, Accenture, Deloitte, Nokia, and CGI
💰 Spanish edtech startup Twenix picked up $3.6m to enhance professional language skills. Twenix is now working with over 400 companies
💰 Polish startup Staffly raised $425k. Staffly uses proprietary psychometric tests and machine learning technology to determine key personality traits of candidates for job positions. The startup now partners with the largest recruitment system in Poland — eRecruiter, created by Grupa Pracuj
💰 Scottish startup Gigged.AI secured $120k in grant funding to develop its digital talent platform. Gigged.AI CEO Rich Wilson said: “In 2021 we learnt quickly there was a huge demand from SMEs to tap into freelance talent while a huge opportunity for larger enterprises to tap into internal talent”
Higher Ed:
💰 Australia startup InternMatch raised $6.9m. InternMatch partners with leading companies, start-ups and education providers across the globe to provide university students and career changers with professional internships, training and mentorship
K-12:
💰 Italian startup Treccani Futura raised $8.01m. Treccani Futura develops digital content aimed at school-age children including a specific section of news and current affairs
💰 India based Vidyakul raised $1.53m. The platform provides a one-stop terminus for education-related material such as books, notes, and state board exam preparation modules
💰 JetLearn secured $1.3m. JetLearn’s platform provides children between 6 and 16 with a hyper-personalised learning experience – and connects them to the top 1% of educators experienced in teaching Web 3.0, AI, and robotics
Events
🌏 Alumni Fireside Chat - Techstars Workforce Development accelerator event on 26 July. Find out more and register here
🌏 Mind CET and LearnLaunch Fund present “EdTech Insider Online Meetup: B2B or B2C? Workforce Training Business Models” on 9 August. Find out more and register here
🌏 The Global Apprenticeship Network (GAN) presents “The Future of Apprenticeships” on 21-24 August. Find out more and register here
🌏 Israel Edtech Week will be from 25 October 2022. Find out more and register here