Apprenticeship startup Multiverse snaps up Eduflow

EdTech is booming right now.

Research by Grand View estimates that the EdTech market will reach $348 billion in size by 2030, growing at a 13.6% compound annual growth rate.

Interestingly, the business segment of the market accounts for the largest share (68%) of global revenue in 2023 – this is primarily due to partnerships and collaborations between the various market players.

One of the most fruitful forms of partnership come from mergers and acquisitions – and these have been two a penny in recent weeks. Hot on the heels of GO1’s purchase of Blinkist and Lepaya’s decision to buy Krauthammer, apprenticeship startup Multiverse has acquired Eduflow, a Danish social learning platform

This marks Multiverse’s first acquisition – the company was only founded in 2016 with the goal of creating alternative routes to work (beyond college degrees) – and comes less than a year after Multiverse became the UK’s first EdTech unicorn.

Talking about the deal, Eduflow co-founder and CEO David Kofoed Wind (who will now serve as senior director of product at Multiverse) said: “When it comes to learning the skills needed to navigate the workplace, it’s clear that the future of learning isn’t lectures and textbooks, it’s delivered through the transformational power of working and learning combined.

“By integrating Eduflow’s technology and team into Multiverse’s existing stack, apprentices will benefit from more specialization to ensure their skills are directly applicable to their careers, and a greater level of peer-learning, to help build the connections, communication skills and teamwork necessary to thrive.”

Leaning into AI and automation at Multiverse

This deal marks the company’s largest investment into its tech stack to date. However, currently, it remains unclear how the pair’s technology will integrate to the benefit of customers.

Writing on LinkedIn, Multiverse founder and CEO Euan Blair shared: “Eduflow has created social and collaborative learning experiences for thousands of individuals, powered by an exceptional learning platform.

“In a market full of static courses, the product they bring to Multiverse will allow for personalized, continuous applied learning programs, assisted by generative AI.

“Our partnership will enable us to offer far greater automation and customization within our programs, while unlocking greater peer and community learning for the benefit of apprentices and their employers.

“Tech is the key to scaling our offering: creating hundreds of thousands of apprentices, driving systemic change, building an alternative to university that is truly sustainable and accessible, and available at any point in your career.

“Tech has always been a core part of how we deliver, but as we expand our platform it’s integral to this next phase.”

This focus on technology, and particularly the power of automation and generative AI, also explains why Multiverse has hired its first chief product and technology officer: Ujjwal Singh.

Singh is joining Multiverse from Meta where he headed up their HR offering, Workplace from Meta.

Blair added: “Ujjwal’s career has seen him drive real innovation at global tech giants, including as Head of Workplace at Meta, Director of Engineering at Google, and CTO at GoFundMe.

“He’s also been a successful entrepreneur – selling his first company to Google and consequently building and scaling Google Hangouts to 750m users.

“He’s an inspiring, highly driven leader who will help us to develop our platform and product as we expand apprenticeships in Britain, America, and beyond.”

Stay tuned.

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