Mars Growth Capital, a joint venture between MUFG and Liquidity Group, announced their first Nordic deal, with a $5 million funding in Kognity, an edtech company headquartered in Sweden.
Kognity offers a digital teaching and learning platform “used by more than 140,000 students in 1,300 schools worldwide.”
Paul Brodie, Head of Investments, Europe at Liquidity Group, said:
“As experienced EdTech funders, we were attracted to Kognity’s impressive product and ability to scale this globally. Using our proprietary underwriting technology, we were able to quickly and clearly understand Kognity’s funding requirement and structure a facility which will enable them to achieve their growth plans.”
Primarily the funding from Mars Growth will be used by Kognity “for further growth in their U.S. high school science business and for expanding their product offering for customers worldwide.”
Ron Daniel, Co-founder, CEO, Liquidity Group & Mars Growth Capital, said:
“This represents the first of many funding deals we anticipate doing in the Nordics over the coming 12 months. We are committed to the inventive and creative founders in the tech space and expect to commit up to a further $500m in the next year in the Nordics. We remain excited to fund the best companies globally, many of which are in this region.”
Mars Growth Capital’s parent Liquidity Group is “an innovative fintech, fund manager, and the industry’s fastest-growing lender to mid-market, growth-stage companies by automating the entire debt lending cycle.”
The firm’s patented machine learning and decision science technology “have enabled the firm to deploy more capital through more deals faster than any firm in the same time period.”
Through its AI-driven due diligence platform and partnership with MUFG, Liquidity Group and MGC “offer funding to SaaS, marketplaces, and e-commerce businesses globally so these businesses can accelerate their growth opportunities.”
Kosuke Nekoshima, Investment Manager at Mars, said:
“We see the Nordic region as an exciting area where there is a lot of high-quality startup activity, and to work with our first customer in the region is a significant milestone for us.”
Liquidity Group has offices in Singapore, Abu Dhabi, Tel Aviv, London, and New York, allowing Mars Growth Capital “to provide access to growth capital for businesses seeking funding solutions worldwide.”
Liquidity Group’s subsidiary fund, Singapore-based Mars Growth Capital, and its partner MUFG jointly “handle the company’s South East Asia activity.”
Kognity has been rapidly growing “since it was founded in 2015. It has established itself as one of the Nordics leading edtech companies.”
The company is “committed to providing innovative digital solutions that enable better learning experiences for students worldwide.”
This new investment will “allow them to expand their reach even further and offer more educational opportunities for students across the globe.”
Kognity, CFO Niklas Åkesson said:
“We are thrilled to partner with Mars Growth Capital and receive this funding, which will help us to scale our operations and expand our presence in the U.S. market. Our goal is to provide high-quality educational content and technology to more students and teachers around the world. The process was very efficient with Mars Growth Capital utilizing their platform to understand our growth potential and business needs quickly and create a funding model that works exceptionally well with our cash flow patterns.”
With this new investment from Mars Growth Capital, both parties look forward “to collaborating to continue helping schools worldwide improve student outcomes through high-quality products and services.”
