News

June 1, 2022

Startup from small Spanish town raises €60m to build the 'Netflix for Education'

The company has big clients like Google and Vodafone on its books


Tim Smith

2 min read

ODILO founder, Rodrigo Rodríguez

Spanish digital education startup ODILO, founded in the southern Spanish town of Cartagena, has raised a €60m investment round, led by Bregal Milestone.

What does ODILO do?

ODILO describes itself as the “Netflix of education”, and partners with other organisations wanting to build engaging e-learning courses. Its clients include Google, Vodafone, Beijing University and 19 different governmental organisations.

Who's invested in ODILO?

  • Bregal Milestone, a London-based growth capital firm, took the whole round.
  • Swanlaab Venture Factory, a Madrid-based venture builder.
  • CDTI, the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology, a public investment body connected to the Ministry of Science and Innovation.
  • Early backers of the startup also include Madrid-based Kibo Ventures.

The state of the edtech market

  • Edtech startups have benefited from a big pandemic-fuelled boom, as learning was forced online around the world. In 2021, edtech startups raised €1.5bn in funding — double the figure for the previous year.
  • Other exciting European companies in the space include Norway's Kahoot!, which became a unicorn in 2020 after raising $28m; Vienna-based GoStudent, which raised €300m in January 2022, and Danish Labster, which raised $47m in April 2022.

Sifted’s take

As we’ve seen with healthtech stock prices crashing in recent months, edtech may have had been over-inflated as a result of the pandemic. Now, as children return to classrooms and workers return to offices, we’ve seen consumer-facing edtech startups like Domestika laying off staff. Business-to-business edtechs like ODILO are likely to be more resilient, as remote working for staff remains popular even after lockdowns have ended.

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Tim Smith

Tim Smith is a senior reporter at Sifted. He covers deeptech and all things taboo, and produces Startup Europe — The Sifted Podcast . Follow him on X and LinkedIn