Read the report here.
If you prefer listening, Rhys and David discuss the report, the biggest surprises and what they mean for founders in the latest episode of Sidekick FM. Listen to the conversation here.
Six months into 2026, the structural shift we identified in the full-year report has become more visible.
European Edtech has continued to move beyond its traditional boundaries, with innovation and capital increasingly converging around a broader Learning & Work stack. Education delivery remains an important part of the ecosystem, but many of the most compelling companies are being built across skills, talent, hiring, workforce management, professional workflows and productivity.
The H1 data reinforces this evolution. Funding has remained resilient, with capital deployment already approaching the level recorded across the whole of 2025. At the same time, the market has become more capital-intensive and more concentrated, driven by a relatively small number of large rounds. This is particularly evident in our Learning & Work category, where established category leaders are attracting significant later-stage capital, while our expanded category, ‘Broader Productivity’ continues to generate the deepest pipeline of seed and early-stage companies.
The expansion of the category is also becoming harder to ignore. Some of the most interesting businesses sit at the boundary between learning, work and software: vertical AI applications, professional workflow tools, workforce platforms and products that help people and teams perform more effectively. These companies may not resemble traditional education providers, but they increasingly shape how knowledge is applied, how capability is developed and how work gets done.
This H1 report therefore builds on the Learning & Work framing introduced in our previous edition. Rather than redefining the category again, it provides further evidence that the market is reorganising around human capability and productivity, with learning becoming more deeply embedded in the systems through which people work, develop and progress.
We remain excited by the breadth of opportunity across this ecosystem and by the founders building at the intersection of learning, talent and productive work. We look forward to continuing to support existing partners and to forming new relationships as the category develops.
Read the report here.
Some of the headlines:
- VC funding into Learning & Work in 2025 totalled €1.6B - in H1 2026, companies in the space raised €1.4B, equivalent to ~90% of the 2025 total.
- More 'Later Stage' deals were done than Early Stage and Seed deals in H1 2026, signalling that increasing numbers of Learning & Work companies are able to demonstrate the growth and revenue metrics required to raise Later Stage rounds than in previous years.
- The 10 largest deals show clear trends towards the largest rounds being raised by companies focused on AI within specific workflows, improving specific workforce and institutional outcomes and heavily verticalised solutions.
For the full story, download the report, linked below!
Read the report here!
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