kahoot acquires clever, the us-based edtech portal, for up to $500m

Kahoot Acquires Clever to Expand K-12 Education Reach

Kahoot, the well-known edtech firm headquartered in Oslo, is strategically expanding its presence in the K-12 education sector through the acquisition of Clever. This move aims to capitalize on growth opportunities within the U.S. market and further develop its gamified learning platform.

Clever: A Single Sign-On Solution for Digital Learning

Clever has established itself as a leading provider of a single sign-on portal. This portal facilitates access for educators, students, and families to digital learning environments. Currently, approximately 65% of all K-12 schools in the United States utilize Clever’s services.

The acquisition, structured as a combination of cash and shares, values Clever at an enterprise value ranging from $435 million to $500 million. This valuation is contingent upon the achievement of specific performance targets.

Strategic Growth and Global Expansion

Kahoot intends to foster the continued growth of Clever’s U.S. operations, where it currently employs 175 individuals. Furthermore, the acquisition will serve as a catalyst for expanding Clever’s reach internationally, aligning with Kahoot’s broader suite of edtech solutions.

Leadership Perspectives

Eilert Hanoa, CEO of Kahoot, stated, “Clever and Kahoot share a common dedication to education and unlocking the potential of every learner.” He further emphasized the potential for collaboration and innovation to enhance services for all users – schools, teachers, students, parents, and lifelong learners – while leveraging Kahoot’s global scale to distribute Clever’s platform worldwide.

Recent Acquisitions and Financial Performance

This announcement coincides with Kahoot’s report of strong Q1 financial results. The company also revealed the completion of its acquisition of Whiteboard.fi, a provider of interactive whiteboard tools for teachers, for an undisclosed amount.

The Rise of Edtech and Clever’s Origins

The positive momentum experienced by Kahoot is mirrored by the growth trajectory of Clever and other companies in the edtech space.

Initially incubated at Y Combinator, Clever was founded with the ambition of becoming the “Twilio for education.” The core vision was to create a standardized interface for accessing diverse student sign-on systems and educational databases.

This approach aimed to simplify the scaling process for edtech service providers, enabling them to attract more customers – schools, teachers, students, and families. Like other sectors such as payments and telecommunications, education presents a fragmented landscape, and Clever sought to address this complexity through an API.

A Growing Marketplace and Increased Adoption

Over time, Clever developed a marketplace, featuring approximately 600 software providers and application developers integrated with its single sign-on system. This integration allows schools and districts to readily expand their selection of edtech tools.

This capability has proven particularly valuable in the past year, as schools transitioned to fully virtual learning environments to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Impressive User Statistics

Clever’s approach has resonated strongly with both schools and investors. The platform is currently utilized by 89,000 schools and serves approximately 65% of K-12 school districts (13,000 total) in the U.S., including 95 of the 100 largest districts.

This translates to 20 million students logging in monthly and a total of 5.6 billion learning sessions completed through the platform.