The European edtech market bucked the global trend by enjoying a strong first half of the year, according to a new report by venture capital (VC) firm, Brighteye Ventures.
While the worldwide picture shows edtech investment tailing off, as we reported earlier this month, a number of factors point to the European market being in much ruder health.
The overall VC investment of £1.2 billion in the first half (H1) of 2022 was fully 40% higher than the same period last year.
This growth, when set against cooling in markets elsewhere, means that Europe now accounts for almost a quarter (22%) of the global edtech VC market, exactly double the share of the previous year and in stark contrast to the 6% share in 2020
Deal sizes are also increasing. That £1.2bn H1 investment was the result of 107 transactions, compared to the 299 transactions comprising the £2.1bn invested in the whole of 2021.
That makes for an average H1 deal size of £11 million in 2022 in the European edtech market, compared to £7m in the first half of 2021.
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“This represents investors doubling down on companies they consider robust and likely to be able to survive and thrive through the current environment,” said Brighteye Ventures.
The UK remains top of both the funding and deal count charts in H1 2022, with 33 deals marking a total VC investment of £316m.
The next five countries in the list – Austria, Germany, Spain, France and Denmark – can count only 38 deals between them.
Finally, a total of three European companies raising more than $200m (£167m) in H1 2022 is already one more than the whole of last year.
“This bodes well for the development of the ecosystem,” said Brighteye Ventures, “as does the fact they cover varied verticals: early employment, tutoring and coaching.”
