Swedish Edtech Going Global

Sammanfattning: The educational technology sector is an emergent industry across the world. Highly technological ventures in this field from smaller national markets, such as Sweden, often find themselves soon outgrowing the domestic market, and choose to internationalise quickly to further their growth. However, the educational sector is a difficult one to access; it is often, to varying extents across international markets, publicly governed, and thus aligned with traditional, non-digital practices of learning. Success and longevity is dependent on being able to adapt quickly to the demands of new markets. Therefore, implementing digital product offerings in new markets can be both demanding and difficult for new and developing SMEs. These companies often experience challenges in finding an appropriate business model when expanding operations globally. Existing research has suggested that the survival of new ventures undergoing internationalisation is very much dependent on the business model adopted. This study investigates how the internationalisation strategies of SMEs entering new and complex markets impacts upon their business model. To this end, a qualitative multiple case study was conducted with four edtech companies founded in Sweden, whom had either opted for global business opportunities from inception, or in recent years. A framework combining theories from the research fields of internationalisation and business models, facilitated the analytical discussion. The results of this investigation have shown that a dynamic relationship exists between an SMEs business model, and its internationalisation strategies. Changes in one, have been seen to possess a tangible impact upon the other. This relationship is not only resultant from the decisions of management who look to best equip their business models for international activity, but also as a natural response to the fast-moving nature of the environment in which the SMEs operate.