Helsinki's Sparkmind.vc launches €40 million fund for Nordic edtech startups

Helsinki-based venture firm Sparkmind.vc launched a €40 million fund dedicated to education technology on March 10, 2020, Tech.eu reported. The firm said it aimed to grow the fund to a final close of €60 million by the end of that year. It presented the vehicle as an edtech-focused venture fund for the Nordic region.

Cornerstone investors named at launch were Tesi, the KRR III fund, OP Banking Group, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Company, the University of Jyväskylä and the City of Espoo. Sparkmind.vc said it also expected specialist investors from elsewhere in Europe and from the United States to join, and that the fund was open to backers from outside the Nordic countries.

The fund planned to invest from seed through Series B in companies across the learning spectrum, from early childhood education and K-12 schooling to corporate training and lifelong learning. Its geographic focus was Northern Europe, though it said it would also consider startups from other parts of Europe. Its first investment was Fuzu, a Finnish career development platform aimed at emerging economies; Sparkmind.vc led Fuzu's €3.4 million Series A, which the company planned to use to expand into new markets.

According to Tech.eu, co-founder Kai Talas said the Nordic and Baltic region had produced a growing number of edtech startups but had lacked a venture investor focused on the sector, a gap the new fund was designed to fill. Sparkmind.vc presented the vehicle as the first fund of its kind in the Nordics, a claim the report attributed to the firm. The cornerstone group named at launch combined financial institutions, a pension insurer, a university and a city. The firm said the fund would remain open to investors from outside the Nordic countries and that it expected to partner with specialist investors from across Europe and the United States. Its stated investment remit covered the full learning spectrum, from early childhood to lifelong learning, and the Fuzu deal, a Series A in a Finnish platform built for job seekers in emerging economies, was presented as its first investment.