Top 10 Startup Competitions for EdTech Startups in Europe in 2025
Europe's EdTech landscape is evolving rapidly, and 2025 presents a plethora of opportunities for startup founders looking to make a mark. From prestigious awards to comprehensive accelerators, these competitions are designed to spotlight innovative solutions in education technology. Here’s a detailed overview of the Top 10 Startup Competitions for EdTech Startups in Europe in 2025, including their locations, dates, benefits, and links to official resources.
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1. Global EdTech Startup Awards (GESAwards) at Bett Show
When: January 22-25, 2025
Where: London, UK
Focus: Emerging trends and transformative ideas in education.
Highlights: This prestigious event features top EdTech startups from over 800 entrants across 130 countries. It provides significant networking opportunities, a platform to showcase innovative solutions, and engagement with industry leaders during the Bett Show.
Opportunities: Discover impactful tools, engage with professionals, and network with educators and innovators.
2. EIT EdTech Conference
When: Postponed to Q4 2025
Where: Brussels, Belgium
Focus: Fostering European EdTech innovation and enhancing cooperation.
Highlights: The conference will address fragmentation in the EdTech sector, promote supportive policies, and explore disruptive technologies. Participants will include higher education institutions and government representatives, making it an essential hub for collaboration.
Opportunities: Networking with stakeholders and workshops to address sector challenges.
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3. EdTechX Awards
When: June 16-20, 2025
Where: London, UK
Focus: Celebrating impactful EdTech companies across various maturity stages.
Highlights: The awards recognize contributions to transforming the education and training sectors. Categories range from Innovator to Growth and Generator, fostering growth through recognition and visibility.
Opportunities: Past winners have achieved significant milestones post-award, such as securing funding.
4. Slush 100
When: November 19-20, 2025
Where: Helsinki, Finland
Focus: Connecting startup founders with investors.
Highlights: A highly competitive pitch event where startups can secure equity investments from leading early-stage funds. The competition offers valuable mentoring and media exposure.
Opportunities: Network with industry experts and fellow founders, gaining insights into building successful startups.
5. Go-Together EdTech Accelerator
When: Not specified
Where: Unspecified
Focus: Supporting EdTech startups through focused acceleration programs.
Highlights: The accelerator features a 4-week diagnosis phase followed by a 20-week acceleration phase, providing tailored coaching and strategic guidance to achieve key objectives.
Opportunities: Personalized mentoring and actionable strategies to enhance startup performance.
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6. EU-Startups Pitch Competition (EU-Startups Summit)
When: April 24-25, 2025
Where: Valletta, Malta
Focus: Tech-based startups aiming for global expansion.
Highlights: Attracting over 2,500 participants, this competition is renowned for its high visibility and engagement via keynote speeches and fireside chats with industry leaders. Startups are selected from around 1,500 applicants for this competitive platform.
Opportunities: Pitch to investors and gain exposure within the European startup ecosystem.
7. EIT Digital Champions
When: Not specified
Where: Various locations across Europe
Focus: Empowering European digital tech scale-ups.
Highlights: This competition supports fast-growing scale-ups with access to growth services and VIP networking opportunities. The process includes an application period followed by a pitching event to investors.
Opportunities: Tailored mentoring and resources to enhance growth and competitiveness in the global market.
8. Tools Competition
When: Launched on September 12, 2024
Where: Not specified
Focus: Addressing key educational challenges through innovative technologies.
Highlights: This multi-million dollar funding initiative spans K-12 to higher education, aiming to catalyze learning science research at scale.
Opportunities: Significant financial awards for the most innovative educational tools.
9. START Summiteer (START Summit)
When: Deadline for applications: February 21, 2025
Where: Not specified
Focus: Showcasing innovative startup ideas to investors.
Highlights: Intended for startups founded in 2022 or later with less than CHF 500,000 in funding, this competition forms a critical platform for demonstrating business potential to investors.
Opportunities: Networking with investment experts and potential collaboration.
10. Impact Festival Pitch Competition
When: Deadline for applications: September 15, 2024 (for 2025 event)
Where: Not specified
Focus: Empowering Greentech startups with scale-up potential.
Highlights: The competition awards startups making significant social and environmental impacts, providing valuable connections with investors.
Opportunities: Networking and showcasing innovations to a panel of experts in sustainability.
These competitions signify the plethora of opportunities available for EdTech startups in Europe, offering platforms for innovation, networking, and potential funding on a grand scale in 2025.
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FAQ
Q: What is the Global EdTech Startup Awards (GESAwards)?
A: The GESAwards celebrates top EdTech startups from over 800 entrants globally, highlights innovative solutions, and offers networking opportunities. Learn more about the Bett Show and GESAwards.
Q: Where and when is the EIT EdTech Conference taking place?
A: The EIT EdTech Conference will be held in Brussels, Belgium, in Q4 2025, focusing on fostering cooperation in the EdTech sector. Discover EIT EdTech Conference.
Q: What categories are featured at the EdTechX Awards?
A: The EdTechX Awards include categories for startups at different maturity stages, such as Innovator, Growth, and Generator. Find out more about EdTechX Awards.
Q: What benefits does participating in the Slush 100 competition offer?
A: Competing in Slush 100 provides startups with potential equity investments and mentoring opportunities in a major networking event. Explore Slush.
Q: How does the Go-Together EdTech Accelerator support startups?
A: The Go-Together EdTech Accelerator provides structured coaching and strategic guidance over a 20-week program to help startups achieve their objectives. Learn more about Go-Together EdTech Accelerator.
Q: What is the main focus of the EU-Startups Pitch Competition?
A: The EU-Startups Pitch Competition highlights tech-enabled startups seeking global ambitions during the EU-Startups Summit in Valletta, Malta. Find out details about the EU-Startups Summit.
Q: What advantages do the EIT Digital Champions offer to participants?
A: EIT Digital Champions provide access to a tailored growth services program and networking with investors, empowering scale-ups in the digital tech sector. Discover the EIT Digital Champions.
Q: What types of funding opportunities does the Tools Competition provide?
A: The Tools Competition offers multi-million dollar funding for innovative edtech solutions addressing key educational challenges across K-12 and higher education. Learn more about the Tools Competition.
Q: Who is eligible to participate in the START Summiteer competition?
A: Startups founded in 2022 or later with less than CHF 500,000 in funding can participate in the START Summiteer competition. Find more info about START Summiteer.
Q: What is the focus of the Impact Festival Pitch Competition?
A: The Impact Festival Pitch Competition aims at Greentech startups with scale-up potential, emphasizing sustainability and impact-related initiatives. Explore the Impact Festival Pitch Competition.
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond and launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks.
