The colourful Kahoot! booth at this year’s British Educational Technology (BETT) show in London stands out among the sea of edtech exhibitors because teachers and school children alike are flocking to engage with a platform they know and love.
The platform became a household name during the pandemic as teachers worldwide sought to gamify their online curriculum, and families searched for new ways to connect and entertain each other during lockdown periods.
Since then, the company has gone from strength to strength, with over 9 million educators worldwide using the platform for learning support.
“Kahoot is famous for engagement,” explains Crawford. “Most people know us as a really engaging quiz tool, but our aim is to showcase how we’ve transformed and grown over the years to become a very comprehensive learning platform grounded in research.”
The company cites nearly 200 independent research surveys into student engagement and motivation, class participation, test anxiety and student stress levels that validate Kahoot’s approach to gamified learning support.
“We want the platform to be known for student outcomes. We see students improve by one letter grade on an average test [when they have engaged on Kahoot],” continues Crawford.
“We have a feature called ‘Kahootopia’ where all the kids in the class help contribute points and rewards to help build an imaginary island, and they can really visualise their learning growing. This builds a sense of belonging and participation that is inclusive, which helps students who might not be able to communicate as easily as others.”
Kahoot’s biggest global market is the US, but it is experiencing significant growth in Southeast Asia especially in countries like Indonesia and Japan. Headquartered in Norway, the company has a global footprint of offices from Australia to Paris as it attempts to localise the platform – including recognition of various languages.
“While we operate the platform in over 20 languages, localisation means more than just the translation and the cultural appropriateness,” says Crawford. “Kahoot is an extremely versatile tool because the educator plays a big part in the design, they’re the ones adapting the lessons and the instructional delivery adapted to their style. This allows for so much more cultural flexibility.”
We see a lot of demand created in universities from kids who have used Kahoot! in K-12 and have grown up using the platform. We say that they’re ‘Kahooting’, which is a verb now
Liz Crawford, Kahoot!
The product innovation is accelerated by new AI features and with a legacy association of the co-creation of content between the educator and the learner.
“Our growth in higher education has come organically as the younger generations are moving through their education system. We see a lot of demand created in universities from kids who have used Kahoot! in K-12 and have grown up using the platform. We say that they’re ‘Kahooting’, which is a verb now.”
This deep brand adoption extends into the workforce as well through Kahoot’s corporate business focus on learning and development, onboarding and compliance training, and hosting online town halls for big companies.
In a week when the new International Education Strategy targeted significant export revenue growth from edtech and Bridget Philipson, the UK’s education secretary announced further investment in AI infrastructure, the UK can look to Kahoot! as a blueprint of small product innovation from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) that was embraced by the world.
Kahoot! will be supporting The PIE Live Europe 2026 with its interactive tools including the BIG intled quiz in partnership with Duolingo. Secure your tickets online here.
