New Nordic partnership launches Nordic Edtech Awards at Slush education side event

The best of Nordic edtech startups will be on show at Nordic Edtech Awards 2017, which is done in collaboration with Slush in Helsinki later this year. The awards is the first initiative from a new Nordic edtech partnership, putting Nordic edtech on the international investor map.

Educational technology is one of the five fastest growing markets in the world, attracting heavy investments. And edtech startups from Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland and Sweden are starting to make some serious international noise. Now these countries´ ecosystems are partnering to create the Nordic Edtech Alliance (NEA) to show the world the quality and potential of Nordic edtech.

The awards final will be celebrated at an Edtech event, done in collaboration with Slush, the largest international tech startup scene in the Nordics. The awards will identify, showcase and recognise the most promising edtech startups from the Nordics. The winner will be picked by a top class jury and prizes include a €10.000 grant and a fast track to the Nordic Edtech Accelerator xEdu in Helsinki.

- The Nordics attract a lot of capital. We are extremely good at innovation, userability, high technology and scaleability. Our strong gaming industry and fintech are examples of this. Adding our internationally renowned education system to the mix, where we are extremely good at developing future skills like collaboration, creativity and entrepreneurship, and are leading in digitalising the education sector, we have all ingredients we need to be the home for the next edtech unicorn, says Jannie Jeppesen, CEO of Swedish Edtech Industry and NEA partner.

Activity on the Nordic edtech scene is increasing with innovative new ideas and companies paving the way to international markets and investments like Kahoot! (N), Mightifier (SF), Labster (DK) and Digiexam (S). And most recently Peergrade (DK) was accepted to the legendary Y Combinator accelerator, known for its seed investments in numerous tech giants like Airbnb, Reddit and Dropbox.

- The time is right. The Nordic edtech community is getting in formation and we know how many promising and exciting entrepreneurs we have in our countries. Through joining forces and pulling together, Nordic edtech has the opportunity to take a position as the best and most competitive in the world, says Hege Tollerud, CEO at Oslo Edtech Cluster, one of the NEA partnering networks.

Nordic Edtech Alliance is a partnership between Nordic edtech communities and actors. The aims of Nordic Edtech Alliance are to support and profile Nordic edtech internationally, where the Nordic values of Equality, Democracy, Quality, Motivational Learning and Efficiancy are at the core. The goal is to attract Nordic and International investors to invest in Nordic edtech companies and to build bridges to international markets for Nordic Edtech companies and suppliers. The Nordic Edtech Startup Award is NEAs first cooperative initiative.

Slush is a startup and tech event, organized annually in Helsinki, Finland. In 2016, Slush gathered 17,500 attendees, including 2,300 startups, 1,100 investors and 600 journalists, together representing 130 countries. This year there will be an Edtech side event, done in collaboration with Slush, where The Nordic Edtech Awards will be held.

Want to know more about the Nordic Edtech Alliance or the Nordic Edtech Awards?

Sweden:Jannie Jeppesen, CEO Swedish Edtech Industry, jannie@swedishedtechindustry.se /+ 46 702 244 865

Finland: Olli Vallo, Co-Founder, Kokoa / +358407576961

Denmark: Pamela Kunkel, Peergrade, pamela@peergrade.io / +45 50204065

Norway: Hege Tollerud, CEO Oslo Edtech Cluster, hege@osloedtech.no/+ 47 920 30 968