Kahoot!

Founded in 2012 and based in Norway, Kahoot! is a free game-based learning platform offering premium features for a fee. User-generated multiple-choice quizzes on Kahoot! can be used to review students' knowledge (formative assessment) or for fun. The product is used by schools (for traditional learning) and by businesses (for training). The company reports that its active users include 50% of all US students and 47% of all US teachers. As of March 2021, Kahoot! reported more than 7 million educators and hundreds of millions of students worldwide using its service.

“Kahoot!+” is a series of paid subscription products (+ Home, + Family, and + Premier launched in November 2020) to help children learn and play concurrently. Teams and players can compete in-person or virtually with league play and leaderboards, and also form their own virtual study groups. Meanwhile, the “Kahoot!+ AccessPass” subscription plan (introduced in December 2021) offers access to an expanded library of premium kahoots, courses, and other resources.

Kahoot! has expanded its list of features and overall portfolio through a series of acquisitions. It strengthened its corporate learning and engagement tool ‘Kahoot! 360’ by integrating Actimo, an employee engagement tool, in September 2020.The acquisition of Drops in November 2020, its largest to date, allowed Kahoot! to integrate its language-learning content (which uses short picture- and word-based games) on the Kahoot! platform and add Kahoot! features to Drops’ apps.Moreover, in line with Kahoot!’s plans to expand its platform to include learning and engagement tools for teachers and learners, it acquired Digital Teaching Tools Finland Ltd., the company behind Whiteboard.fi, an online whiteboard tool for teachers and classrooms, in February 2021.In May 2021, Kahoot! acquired Clever, a digital learning platform used by several schools across the US, strengthening its US presence. Clever will operate as an independent company, remain an open platform, and continue to operate under the Clever brand.

The platform has regularly added new features and undergone enhancements. In May 2021, the platform added a read-aloud game option to enhance the self-study experience with the app reading aloud questions and answer alternatives assisting young learners and those with reading and visual impairments. The company launched Kahoot Zapp, a new version of the Kahoot! app made for Zoom, in July 2021, allowing users to access, host, and play Kahoot! games directly in Zoom meetings. 

Key customers and partnerships

Kahoot!’s integration with Snap, Inc.'s Bitmoji (in November 2020) allows users to add Bitmoji avatars to Kahoot! learning games. In February 2021, Kahoot! announced integrations with Google services. The Google Classroom add-on will allow educators to access Kahoot! features, share Kahoot! games with students, and launch live Kahoot! games in-person, or via video conferencing. Further, Google Search results will include a sample of practice problems from Kahoot! Academy, Kahoot!’s knowledge platform and online teacher community, made available to Kahoot! and Google users. Kahoot! also announced an integration with Microsoft PowerPoint in May 2021 that will allow users to host games without leaving their presentations. In November 2021, the company partnered with Mojang, developer of Minecraft: Education Edition, to launch free learning content as part of Minecraft’s “Hour of Code: TimeCraft” program, which will offer interactive learning experiences within the world of Minecraft and on Kahoot!. In September 2021, the company partnered with Disney to add Star Wars characters to its educational material in a series of free quizzes and games to teach kids about STEM, leadership, and creativity.

Funding and financials

In October 2020, Kahoot! raised USD 215 million from SoftBank Group, a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company, through a private placement of 43 million new shares to one of its subsidiaries, SB Management Limited. The company intends to use the funding for acquisitions and further product expansion. In December 2020, SoftBank purchased 12 million shares in Kahoot! from Northzone, a venture capital fund. With 60 million shares in total, 13.45% of the company, SoftBank became Kahoot’s largest shareholder. In March 2021, it was rumored that Kahoot! was considering expanding beyond its key markets of North America and Europe, into Asia, on the back of SoftBank’s increased investment. In May 2021, the company completed a private placement of 25 million shares at a price of NOK 68 (approx. USD 8) per share, raising NOK 1.7 billion (USD 203 million) in gross proceeds. The funds were used to partially finance the acquisition of Clever.

In March 2021, Kahoot! started trading on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker KAHOT.OL after being listed on Oslo's Euronext Growth market since October 2019. The listing had made the company's shares available to a larger, global investor base. Additionally, the company had been considering a secondary listing, potentially in the US, to capitalize on the surge of pandemic-driven interest in stock trading. However, in July 2023, the company announced an all-cash private equity deal led by Goldman Sachs, which valued the company at USD 1.72 billion. As a result of this acquisition, Kahoot! has now become a private company, enabling it to concentrate on long-term expansion and innovation without being publicly traded.

For the full-year 2022, Kahoot!’s recognized revenue increased 60% YoY to USD 146 million and invoiced revenue grew 58% YoY to USD 169 million. For FY2023, Kahoot! expected to achieve double-digit YoY growth in billings, with recognized revenues surpassing USD 170 million and moderate yearly growth in operational costs. The company also expected an adjusted EBITDA growth exceeding 40% YoY and solid free cash flow.