Digital learning has become ever more important in the lockdown year of 2020, but education technology, EdTech, has been a growing business sector already before, with annual growth rates around 20%. There is a global shift from conventional learning to a personalised and interactive approach.

The Finnish capital Helsinki wants to play a leading role in this development and is now taking a further step in that direction, bringing together startups, pedagogic competence and academic research in an innovation centre in the city. The Helsinki Education Hub will open next spring for companies, investors, teachers, researchers, and public sector operators.

“Helsinki aims to be the learning capital of the world,” says deputy mayor Pia Pakarinen, chair of Eurocities’ Economic Development Forum. “The Education Hub will allow world-class innovations in education and shape learning and education into an even better export product.”

Helsinki Education Hub will comprise collaboration and exhibition facilities for learning and education technology companies, consultancy services for growth companies, incubation activities, a space for learning and experiments, and shared and targeted events and trainings. In addition, the Hub will be accompanied by a learning and education accelerator, which helps companies to scale up into the international market.

Finland has more than 300 EdTech companies, the majority based in the metropolitan area.

You can read more here.