Verdane invests in Eduhouse and Wistec to create Northern European leader in specialised e-learning content

Verdane, the Northern European specialist growth equity investor, announces that it has made a platform investment in Eduhouse and Wistec, two Finnish providers of B2B e-learning content, to create a Northern European leader for subscription-based e-learning focused on accounting, finance, HR, IT, and payroll. The combined group will harness Verdane’s strong technology sector and M&A expertise to accelerate its international growth.

The platform comprises two niche markets leaders in Finland, with over 25,000 users combined, thousands of videos of educational content, and consistently strong growth since inception, with the platform’s combined learning as a Service (LaaS) revenue growth reaching around 30% in 2020. Verdane intends to utilise Eduhouse and Wistec’s combined expertise and networks to continue developing a market-leading content offering combining Wistec’s IT, HR and self-development offering with Eduhouse’s Accounting and Finance products. The platform, which plans to expand into new content areas, will also draw on Verdane’s proven expertise in supporting internationalisation to grow beyond its current leadership position in Finland and take market share across fragmented markets in Northern Europe.

Verdane strongly believes that investing in professional development will be a key way to ensure that organisations are able to keep employees’ skills up to date, proactively reskilling where needed. Learning over an e-learning platform provides equal access to the learning for employees in all locations, including those working remotely.

Iikka Moilanen, Principal at Verdane commented: “We are excited to bring together two growing and attractive businesses, operating in a fast-developing market. As corporate learning grows and shifts towards digital solutions, the combined forces of Eduhouse and Wistec will be uniquely placed to respond to professionals’ needs for high-quality training services through a purely content-focused offering. With over 30 software businesses in our portfolio and a strong track record in the educational tech-enabled sector, Verdane is well-positioned to partner with the company and support its plans to consolidate product offering and scale operations across Northern Europe. We are looking forward to collaborating with the team on this journey.”

Jukka Vento and Johannes Jokelin, Co-Founders of Eduhouse commented: “It is with great enthusiasm that we team up with Verdane, a partner that brings valuable experience as an investor in businesses looking to reach their next stage of growth. We are also excited to expand our team and offering by having Wistec on board, and believe that our shared values and passion for learning and pedagogy will enable us to boost the educational services we provide to our customers, and to broaden our horizons beyond Finland. Lastly, our thanks go out to the Accountor team for a successful partnership that has brought us to where we are today.”

Juha Huhtanen, Founder of Wistec commented: “We are pleased to partner with the Eduhouse team and Verdane, a proven and collaborative investor in high-quality tech-enabled businesses across Northern Europe. Wistec and Eduhouse share a similar culture, drive for learning and knowledge, and provide
complementary services, and I believe that we could not have found a better fit for Wistec. I look forward to working with Jukka, Johannes and the Verdane team on this next stage of our journey.”

The main selling shareholder in Eduhouse is Accountor, which is exiting its majority shareholding. Accountor will remain as a customer and commercial partner by
offering the content and services to its personnel and customers in Finland, Sweden and Norway. Eduhouse Co-Founders Jukka Vento and Johannes Jokelin will remain shareholders. Wistec’s main seller is the CEO Juha Huhtanen and his family, who will retain a minority holding in the combined group.

The investments in Eduhouse and Wistec were made by Verdane Capital X. Financial terms for the transactions are not being disclosed.

Verdane has a proven track record investing in software and educational tech, having first invested in the sector in 2003. Its current portfolio of Finnish software and tech-enabled businesses includes Clausion, Evondos, HappyOrNot, Nomentia and Vaadin. Current and former Verdane EdTech and digital education investments include Conexus, CAP-Group, Educations Media Group, Lingit, and Studytube.

Verdane is currently investing across the Nordics and Germany from its 6 billion SEK Verdane Capital X fund as well as Edda II, which closed earlier this year at its EUR 540 million hard cap.