Edutech scale-up Edumundo raised an investment of €1.2 million at a consortium, consisting of the investors Capital Mills, InnovationQuarter, and the Edumundo founders. The 'educational publisher of the future', located in The Hague, is led by a group of relatively young lovers of education. Together they developed a unique book-replacing platform: the Edubook. With this, they wish to improve higher education. For years, Edumundo has been the market leader in higher education in the field of business games in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. During a conversation with Minister of Education, Culture and Science Ingrid van Engelshoven today, this investment was explained. Van Engelshoven: "I believe it is important that we support the collaboration between EduTech companies like Edumundo and education. It is good to see that private parties are willing to invest in the Educational Technology sector".
Entrepreneurs Menno Thijssen (41) and Patrick Bouwens (41) noticed years ago that digitisation in higher education could use a boost. They met at the VU during their studies in Business for the financial sector and later developed business games for the business sector.
It was not until 2015 that they believed higher education to be ready to adopt Edubook, a product that goes beyond a simple e-book. Edumundo's growth went fast from there. About 300 Dutch and 60 English educational programmes now use the product inside and outside the classroom. "It should be clear that we, as entrepreneurs, aim to expand the business in terms of revenue. After several years of research, we can now also steadily show that exam grades significantly improve for students using our Edubook platform", says Menno Thijssen, co-founder and CEO. "Thus social objectives are reached as well." Not only do Edumundo's attractive design and interactive character make studying more appealing, the teacher dashboard with feedback function allows teachers to provide more specific feedback.
Edumundo is working on more modern education for a brand-new generation. They do not do this alone, but in collaboration with hundreds of teachers, tens of thousands of students and many professional writers. Edumundo raises this money in order to grow faster. Not only does the growth of its current products get a boost from this financial injection, but it also benefits the growth in the United Kingdom and the new business market.
Students of HAN University of Applied Sciences attend a lecture using the Edubook.
Investment offers Edumundo the opportunity to really change education
Menno Thijssen: "We are incredibly happy with InnovationQuarter's and Capital Mills' trust. Raising this investment provides Edumundo with the opportunity to truly change education by developing and internationalising innovative technologies faster. Those technologies are not only aimed at expanding our titles, but we will also start helping educational institutions to reduce the student drop-out rate, increase the student success rate, improve students' soft skills, and boost the employability of its teachers. Edumundo also uses the money to let teachers give training courses in business, so they themselves can keep their practical knowledge up to date."
Barry de Kock, investment manager Capital Mills: "We are impressed by the innovative technology and executive power of Edumundo. Due to the right mix of commercial clout, substantive knowledge and technology, Edumundo grew quickly and is now market leader in the Netherlands. The combination of technology and unique content also ensures that Edumundo has a distinctive position in the market in which the growth potential is supported by customer reviews and market research. We are happy to be able to be a part of Edumundo and can help the company scale-up and thereby contribute to further innovation in the educational sector."
Liduina Hammer, Head of Investment at InnovationQuarter is very happy with the investment: "What appeals to us in Edumundo is that this fast-growing, innovative, The Hague based, Edutech scale-up supplies many educational institutions with its business games and Edubooks in both the Netherlands and internationally. By investing in Edumundo, the company can scale-up faster and realise its growth ambitions. InnovationQuarter, together with co-investor Capital Mills and existing shareholders with a Revenue Based Financing loan, offers a custom financing solution that perfectly fits this growth phase at Edumundo."
FLTR.: Barry de Kock (Investment Manager Capital Mills), Johan Stins (Senior Investment Manager InnovationQuarter), Ingird van Engelshoven (Minister, Ministry of Education, Culture and Science), Menno Thijssen and Patrick Bouwens (CEO & TEO Edumundo) and Liduina Hammer (Head of investments InnovationQuarter) © Daniel Verkijk
In addition to the investors Capital Mills and InnovationQuarter, the founders themselves also participate substantially in the investment. "We cannot express more faith in the future than this," says Patrick Bouwens, co-founder and CTO.
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