Education Technology · Profile from Education Technology Research Companion
Labster
The Copenhagen-founded company that turned the university science lab into a library of gamified 3D simulations. It sold licences to universities and high schools, rode the 2020 campus closures to a $60m Andreessen Horowitz-led round and roughly $150m in total venture funding, bought the nursing VR platform UbiSim, and then spent 2022–2026 cutting costs, changing CEOs and trying to prove that a pandemic-era stopgap is a lasting part of STEM teaching.
At a glance
- Founded
- 2011, Copenhagen, Denmark (roots in work at the Technical University of Denmark, reported)
- Founders
- Mads Tvillinggaard Bonde (PhD, biotech) and Michael Bodekaer Jensen (serial entrepreneur)
- Headquarters
- Copenhagen, Denmark; large US operation (Boston area) serving North American institutions (verify current office footprint)
- Ownership / structure
- Private, venture-backed (Danish ApS / holding structure). Investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Owl Ventures, GGV Capital, Balderton Capital, Northzone, Nordic Makers and Sofina (reported)
- Leadership (2026)
- Shawn Boom, CEO (since January 2024; ex-Blackboard, ex-Vanco). Co-founder Michael Bodekaer Jensen moved from CEO to executive board member focused on AI strategy; co-founder Mads Bonde is executive board chairman
- Segment and buyer
- Higher education (biology, chemistry, physics, health sciences and nursing) and US high schools. Buyers are universities, community colleges, schools and districts; some per-student access is sold through bookstores and publisher bundles
- Scale
- 300+ virtual lab simulations; 3,000+ institutions; 6m+ students in 100+ countries have used it (company claims, January 2024). Revenue not disclosed
- Capital raised / valuation / market cap
- ~$147m–156m total venture funding (Tracxn and PitchBook figures). Largest rounds: $60m Series C led by a16z (February 2021) and a ~$47m extension with Sofina (2022, reported). Valuation not disclosed
- Signature moves
- Founding on gamified simulations (2011); VR labs with Google and the ASU online biology degree (2017–18); free access for closed campuses (2020); a16z-led $60m round (2021); UbiSim acquisition (announced 2021, closed 2022); post-COVID layoffs and reset (2022–23); CEO change and AI pivot (2024). Misses: growth plan priced for permanent pandemic demand; repeated layoffs; VR consumer hardware (Google Daydream) discontinued
8 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2011
Founding Gamified Virtual Labs
Launch
2017
VR Labs with Google and ASU
Partnership / launch
2019
Series B US Expansion
Funding round
2020
COVID Free Access Remote Lab Surge
Pricing change (temporary free access) / market expansion
2021
Acquires UbiSim
Acquisition
2021
a16z Series C
Funding round
2022
Layoffs and Post COVID Reset
Restructuring
2024
CEO Transition and AI Strategy
Restructuring (leadership change) / AI launch