GraphoGame, Eduten and TeachersPRO have ambitious goals in exporting Finnish educational expertise to the world. UNICEF Learning Cabinet listing helps them to stand out from the maze of educational technology solutions available.
and well-planned support from the municipalities and universities in the Turku region.
The educational technology (EdTech) companies GraphoGame, Eduten and TeachersPRO have many things in common, one of which is their strong international business potential.
– There is a huge need in the world for solutions in literacy, numeracy and teacher training, GraphoGame CEO Mervi Palander says.
– If you look at national educational development plans anywhere, all those three are almost always mentioned, Eduten CEO Henri Muurimaa adds.
GraphoGame is a literacy app, Eduten a math learning platform. TeachersPRO is a virtual environment for professional development of teachers. All three solutions are based on extensive scientific research.
GraphoGame’s roots are in University of Jyväskylä, Eduten’s in University of Turku. TeachersPRO was originally created in Spain but is now further enhanced with Finnish university partners.
All three companies benefit from Finland’s internationally renowned educational system and strong educational research. Palander stresses that entrepreneurs have a crucial role in education export.
– We have over 300 EdTech solutions by Finnish private companies. Some of them are already proven to work and are heavily established in foreign markets.
Tailoring to Local Needs
Exporting education technologies is much more than just translations to new languages. The solution must be tailored to meet the needs of the local education system. This requires cooperation with local research partners.
– We take our research methodology to foreign universities, where they do their own research based on our methodology. Usually the R&D funding comes from the local government, Palander explains GraphoGame’s approach.
Palander, Muurimaa and TeahersPRO CEO Federico Malpica also stress the importance of local sales partners who understand the local education system with its demands and distinctive features.
– When we’re selecting partners, we expect them to already have strong relations with the local education sector, Malpica says.
Muurimaa adds that it is hard work just to close a deal with one school and to keep them renewing the deal every year. This work also varies from country to country. He thinks that the key challenge is finding high quality partners.
– We have closed over 100 contracts with partners around the world in the past seven years. Twenty of the partners are good and maybe ten amazing.
Listed in the Learning Cabinet
The companies also have news on international recognition. GraphoGame, TeachersPRO and Eduten are among the first 20 companies listed in UNICEF’s Learning Cabinet, launched in November 2024.
The Learning cabinet is created to help schools and policymakers all over the world, who are navigating through the maze of thousands of EdTech tools available. It lists the most impactful, inclusive, secure, and scalable EdTech solutions, especially for low-resource countries.
As a result of this, Eduten has already had commercial pilots in Uzbekistan, Bhutan, and Laos, TeachersPRO in Mexico. Muurimaa thinks that, in addition to pilot opportunities and local contacts, the Learning Cabinet gives the companies a sort of “UNICEF street credibility”.
– It brings us visibility and validation when negotiating with ministries all over the world.
All Learning Cabinet’s EdTech solutions have gone through a rigorous assessment. This goes well with Palander’s, Muurimaa’s and Malpica’s key value: the effects of the technology solution must be evidence-based.
Ambitious Plans Ahead
These EdTech entrepreneurs have ambitious goals for the future. GraphoGame aims to have 100 million students in two years. Palander stresses that the world is lacking 44 million teachers, and one key business area is developing countries.
– Our solution is proven to work without teachers. We want to have this Robin Hood model, where we teach kids to read and write with an offline model. At the same time, we want to use data and AI tools to help teachers to teach literacy so that no child is left behind.
According to Muurimaa, Eduten aims to do more and more business with multilateral organisations like development banks and UN organisations.
– Our specific goal is to have 100 million students by 2030.
Malpica stresses that teachers are the largest professional group in the world. He wants to develop TeachersPRO to meet the needs of teachers in as many fields as possible.
– Our goal is to arrive to one million classrooms by 2030.
Companies in a nutshell
GraphoGame is the world’s most researched literacy game, designed for children aged from five to nine. It is also the largest literacy data producer, allowing teachers to monitor students’ progress in real-time and to offer targeted support. Methodology created in University of Jyväskylä. Business deals with 18 governments.
Eduten is a digital math learning tool for students and teachers. It offers more than 250 000 pedagogical tasks that have been designed by Finnish teachers and learning analytics and tips for teachers on how to help students individually. The tool is based on more than 20 years of research in University of Turku. Business in more than 50 countries.
TeachersPRO is a research-based, virtual professionalisation platform designed to enhance teacher training and evaluate its effectiveness. It serves as a tool for developing 16 critical teachers’ competencies for an effective teaching. The platform was created by Escalae Institute in Spain 10 years ago and is further enhanced in Finland. Business in 12 countries.
Text and photos: Heidi Pelander
This article is part of the TKI-kompassi project, funded by the Regional Council of Southwest Finland.
