🔆 Happy 2023 - January Update
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🔆 Happy 2023 - January Update
🧤Hi all,
Happy mid-January!
We are having a very exciting start to the new year, welcoming Isabella Vahdati onto the team as our new Associate. Izzy just joined us at the London 🇬🇧 office and will be a great addition, focused specifically on identifying and working with relevant companies in the UK and the Nordics. Izzy brings hands-on experience building software companies having previously led business strategy at Emex, and before that advised companies large and small at Accenture. She is keen to dig in🔍, so if you are a founder or know a startup that we should talk to, please feel free to reach out 📧!
As we prepare for the launch of our own European Edtech Funding Report 2023 next week, it is good to see reports for other regions 🌏, too. For the US, Tony Wan at Reach Capital reports that edtechs raised a total of $5.2 billion in investment, and HolonIQ just published their global numbers at $10.6 billion. Excited to see our numbers for Europe 🇪🇺? Join us on Wednesday 25 January for the launch event!
For now, we have some other updates to share, too, including:
Investment Update – Hack The Box grabs $55M in a Series B round
Selected News from the Portfolio – new CEO at Ornikar
Insights and Events – launch of the European Edtech Funding Report 2023
Talent Wanted - could you be a Customer Joy Manager?
Curated Content – new podcast from Tech Funding News
Enjoy and have a nice Thursday!
The Brighteye Team
💰 INVESTMENT UPDATE
🔥 Hack The Box - $55M Series B
Huge congratulations to our portfolio company Hack The Box, the gamified cybersecurity online upskilling & talent assessment platform, on securing $55M in Series B funding 🚀
The round was led by The Carlyle Group, and we were happy to take part alongside Paladin Capital Group, Osage University Partners (OUP), Marathon Venture Capital and Endeavor.
❝Hack the Box embeds best-in-class hands-on training within a vibrant community of cybersecurity professionals, making it the most dynamic and effective cybersecurity learning solution across industry, higher education and government. We’re proud to continue to support the company in its next phase of growth,❞ said Brighteye Partner Alex Spiro Latsis.
Team Hack The Box are set to reduce the severe global cybersecurity skills shortage and help organisations enhance their cyberattack readiness. We are impressed and excited for the future!!
📣 SELECTED NEWS FROM THE PORTFOLIO
🚙 Ornikar introduces new CEO
Ornikar Group has welcomed a new CEO, as Co-Founder Benjamin Gaignault moves to the role of President. Philippe Maso y Guell Rivet has taken the helm at the French company that has made driving education more accessible by reducing prices and making students experience frictionless thanks to the digitalisation of the experience. The new CEO joined the company as CEO of their insurance arm in 2022. Exciting times as the company celebrates its 10-year anniversary in 2023.
🇫🇷 Top of France
It’s great to learn that 2 of our portfolio companies – La Solive and Simbel - are on the Edtech Capital list of Top 10 fundraises in France for 2022. Well done!
We’re proud also see 3 portfolio companies - and ourselves - on the list of 69 top edtech companies in Ile de France, published by Best Startup – Go beekast, LabLabee, Lynx Educate and us!
🏆 Lynx Educate on Elite 200 for ASU+GSV Cup
As we are preparing for ASU+GSV in San Diego in April, it is good to receive the news that our portco Lynx Educate are among the selected semifinalists for the Elite 200 at the GSV Cup – we’ll be there to chair you on!
🔎 INSIGHTS & EVENT
💥 The European Edtech Funding Report 2023
Our main focus right now is on next week, when it is time to publish the annual Brighteye European Edtech Funding Report. ✍🏽 Join us online for the launch on Wednesday 25 January at 3-3.45pm GMT, for a presentation of the key results, followed by an industry panel on the current edtech investment landscape.
💪🏻 TALENT WANTED
An exciting opportunity at Create Academy this month - they are looking for a Customer Joy Manager.
💁 CURATED CONTENT
🎙 Podcast
Tech Funding News just launched their new podcast, TFN Podcast Network, with the very first episode being a chat with Ian Merricks of VenturePath, a UK membership community for tech entrepreneurs. Check it out here!
✉️ Newsletter
The Edtech Thoughts by Matthew Tower are a good source of updates on the business side of education – brought to inboxes from a very experienced expert in the edtech industry.
🇪🇺 Report
The European Edtech Alliance has launched their first European Edtech Map Insight Report – based on data shared by 1233 European edtech companies in 36 different countries. Well worth a look at!