You’re reading Nordic EdTech News. From policy shifts and product launches to funding rounds and market trends, it’s the smartest way to stay in the loop across the Nordic and Baltic EdTech ecosystem. Not subscribed yet? Join the free list now.
I’m Jonathan Viner. I help EdTech leaders and investors turn complexity into clarity, make smarter decisions and scale with confidence and impact. Contact me here to talk about working together.
Good morning and welcome to today’s Nordic EdTech News. With just over 3 weeks to go before the Nordic EdTech Summit takes place in Oslo, this is your final reminder to book tickets before Friday’s deadline.
The programme is now 99% complete. So if you’ve been meaning to book or started to confirm your spot and then got distracted, now’s the time to act.
But don’t just take my word for it! I was delighted to receive this via email from one attendee last week: “PS. Just went through the summit programme and speakers, and wow, I’m so excited!!” (Tack Niklas!)
Ticket sales close at midnight on 21 August — or sooner, if we sell out first! So if you haven’t booked your ticket yet…
The big news story from the last fortnight comes from Denmark where Magnus Heunicke, the country’s education minister, has detailed plans for immediate action against the use of AI. “Unfortunately, we have a problem with AI cheating in upper secondary schools,” he said. “Action is needed now.”
Heunicke’s plan aims to address a flurry of recent concern from upper secondary schools and teachers. In one recent survey, 81% of teachers responded that the use of AI weakens students’ learning, with a similar percentage agreeing that it affects students’ ability to think independently.
The plan has 3 core components.
About 9,000 upper secondary school students each year write a big assignment (known as større skriftlige opgave or SSO), which they will now have to defend orally.
Schools will be required to use monitoring tools to oversee how computers are being used in formal exams.
Pupils will be encouraged to do more of their written assignments at school under controlled conditions. This will enable staff to “follow the students’ work process, provide relevant feedback and create a more accurate basis for assessment”.
These announcements were made at the 2026 Sorø meeting. This article is an excellent summary of what was discussed. I love the author’s suggestion that “we should not ask how do we detect cheating, but how do we design learning so that cheating becomes irrelevant?”
His plans have received the backing of key organisations such as Danish High Schools, High School Teachers and the Danish High School Students’ Association. The latter has even launched their own 9 recommendations for how AI should be implemented in high school (Link).
Unsurprisingly the Danish Employers’ Association has argued that AI should be more widely used in education (Link). Their rationale being that students must be prepared for a job market that is increasingly powered by AI.
The minister also reiterated his position that screens should take up less space in all schools. He confirmed that the government would not dictate the use of digital or print, but emphasised that Denmark’s new curriculum should make room for more engaging teaching.
Of course this is only one side of the coin and we’re now starting to see the impact of the exceptional work in our ecosystem driving the AI agenda forward. For example, Estonia’s AI Leap Foundation has published a review of its first year, brilliantly summarising what was done and created during the school year, as well as the results achieved so far.
Do also check out this excellent video from Iceland, showing how their pilot has worked in schools across the country. If you want to learn more, Fríða and Tinna, who are heavily featured in the film, will be speaking about the programme at the Nordic EdTech Summit
In Norway, the government’s commission reviewing the future of compulsory education published its full report at Arendalsuka (Link). Alongside proposals on boosting teacher numbers and curriculum reform, the commission wants a legal duty on municipalities to guarantee primary school pupils access to printed teaching materials in every subject, plus a new professional council overseeing their quality.
On the digital side, it calls for stronger home-school cooperation on responsible use of AI and building digital literacy, but gives no detail on what that actually means in the classroom. This pattern is, of course, familiar: governments provide a concrete, funded, legally enforceable commitment to print, next to a vague aspiration on digital. Plans to introduce a new national programme that will support teachers’ use of and work with AI and technology are certainly to be welcomed. But they need the same statutory backing and funding as print.
And finally, this year’s Nordic EdTech Summit (Oslo, 9 September) now sits at the heart of a network of events. I’m delighted to be working on these to support the region’s EdTech builders and founders.
EdTech for Inclusion in Workplaces gets things going with SMB Norge and Bare si det in Oslo on 8th Sept. Free, max 60 places and attending gets you 15% off your summit ticket.
The Stockholm Leadership Forum, hosted with IEI on 10 September, puts Nordic EdTech companies in the room with eight US superintendents. Only six spots available, so book your space before they’re gone.
And of course, don’t forget to book your Nordic EdTech Summit ticket too!
As always, if you’ve got a story that you’d like me to include in a future issue of this newsletter, please email hello@10digits.org, tag me on X or LinkedIn or use #nordicedtech / #balticedtech.
Thanks for reading, Jonathan
Den Classenske Legatskole in Copenhagen is buying “books like never before“ thanks to new funding.
Lumant raises new investment and is beginning to expand internationally with new customers from Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the USA. (Link)
Nine A/S has been awarded a four-year contract with an estimated value of DKK 50 million to maintain and further develop Denmark’s digital admissions platform for higher education. (Link)
According to national press coverage, claims continue to “pour in” on Shape Robotics’ Romanian subsidiary as bankruptcy proceedings continue.
Torben Arentoft has been named as the new publishing director at Systime. (Link)
Sønderborg Municipality has banned teachers from using their own mobile phones and laptops for work-related tasks. (Link)
Estonia’s approach to AI in education was featured on CNN International. The segment discussed how it can be best used as a learning / thinking tool. (Link)
The Estonian Centre for International Development has signed framework agreements with 15 Estonian organisations to “implement education projects in partner countries, with a total estimated value of €16 million.” (Link)
3DBear published insight on how vocational education practitioners in the social and health sector use Simuna AI. (Link)
How the Finnish Solutions Fund Effekt has helped Annie Advisor develop and grow. (Link)
A partnership between Vegemi and Picnic, a Finnish restaurant chain, has sold more than 38,000 healthy meals since April. (Link)
Wilma’s 2 million users send over 300,000 messages through the platform every week. The business has announced plans to save teachers time and reduce unnecessary clicking. (Link)
LESA, a new reading app, prepares for launch “to boost the joy of reading and enhance reading skills for children in grades 1-4.” (Link)
Industry argues for “consistent education policy, sufficient funding and cooperation” to build a national teaching materials market. (Link)
Interesting Tech Philomaths interview with the Co-founders of ExoClass. (Link)
They also report that Memby closed 2025 with revenues of almost €4 million. The business now appears to be focused on the South African market. (Link)
Vextur is expanding their business building Moodle learning environments, to the Polish market. (Link)
36% of respondents in this year’s Knowledge Barometer believe that AI weakens HE students’ knowledge. (Link)
Sigrun Aasland, Minister of Research and Higher Education, believes mobile phones are a “concentration thief” and is now asking universities to consider their own measures and rules. (Link)
Publishers and producers of teaching materials argue for increased investment and more choice for teachers (Link)
Scrimba launched a Chrome extension that turns any article into a video tutorial. (Link)
Storyboard will deliver a new learning solution for the Norwegian Police after a public tender process. (Link)
WeWillWrite celebrates back to school with a free 90-day pilot period for schools and districts. (Link)
As students return to schools, the national mobile phone ban comes into effect. Here’s a guide on what to expect.
National exams will remain in print form until 2028. After that, a new grading system will be introduced that will include centrally marked digital national final exams. (Link)
One of my periodic reminders that our region is going through significant population change that will affect K12 EdTechs. Sweden is expected to have over 200,000 fewer children and young people in nine years, a decrease of 8.6%.
Very detailed deep dive into Albert Group covering their financial and strategic direction / options. (Link)
The Gotland region of Sweden has signed a two-year license deal with Kattalo, providing “access to a common, structured tool for reading and writing development.” (Link)
Memmo has confirmed a new partnership with Oxford University Press, whose higher education titles will be now available on their platform. (Link)
Skoolie has confirmed Boxholms municipality as a new customer. (Link)
Thanks for reading this newsletter. If you think that your colleagues and wider network would find it useful, please share it with them.
No posts
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.