Education Technology · Profile from Education Technology Research Companion
GoStudent GmbH
The Vienna-based online tutoring company that became Europe's most valuable EdTech startup. It sells subscriptions of 1:1 video lessons with freelance tutors to parents through a phone-based sales machine, raised ~€590m in equity in 2020–22, reached a €3bn (~$3.4bn) valuation in January 2022, bought offline tutoring chain Studienkreis, and then cut staff, retreated from markets and squeezed tutor pay to reach EBITDA break-even in 2024.
At a glance
- Founded
- 2016, Vienna, Austria
- Founders
- Felix Ohswald (CEO) and Gregor Müller (COO / co-CEO roles over time)
- Headquarters
- Vienna, Austria; large sales and operations hubs in other European cities
- Ownership / structure
- Private, venture-backed Austrian GmbH (group with German, UK and Spanish subsidiaries)
- Leadership (2026)
- Felix Ohswald, co-founder and CEO; Gregor Müller, co-founder (verify current titles)
- Segment and buyer
- Consumer K-12 tutoring (homework help, exam preparation, languages); buyer is the parent; some adult learners
- Scale
- ~23,000 tutors and "11m families" reached (company claims, 2024, the latter likely including group brands); revenue above €100m by 2022 (founder statement); exact revenue not disclosed in English-language press (verify filings)
- Capital raised / valuation
- ~€590m equity across 2020–22 rounds (reported), plus a ~€87m (~$95m) equity-and-debt package around early 2024 (verify date); peak valuation €3bn (Series D, January 2022); current valuation not disclosed, widely assumed lower
- Signature moves
- Pivot from free homework chat to paid subscription tutoring (2018–19); DST and Prosus-led unicorn rounds (2021); €300m Series D at €3bn led by Prosus with SoftBank, Tencent and Coatue (2022); acquisitions of Studienkreis, Seneca Learning and Tus Media (2022); layoffs and US/market retreat (2022–23); EBITDA break-even (2024); AI tools. Misses: €221m net loss in 2022; consumer-protection complaints about contracts; tutor pay cuts
9 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2016
Founding Homework Help Chat
Launch
2019
Pivot to Paid Subscription Tutoring
Pivot
2021
DST and Prosus Unicorn Rounds
Funding round
2021
International and US Expansion
Expansion (international launch)
2022
Acquires Studienkreis Seneca Tus Media
Acquisition
2022
Layoffs and Market Retreat
Restructuring
2022
Series D 3bn Valuation
Funding round
2023
AI Tools and Amelia
AI launch
2024
EBITDA Breakeven and Equity Debt Round
Restructuring / funding round