Who Owns Kahoot!: The Largest Shareholders Overview
Kahoot! ASA (OL: KAHOT) is a company behind a game-based learning and presentation platform for schools and businesses. Their mission is to make learning awesome. Kahoot! makes money by charging schools and businesses subscription fees to use its products. Let’s now look at who owns Kahoot! and who controls it.
Kahoot!’s largest shareholders are private equity firm General Atlantic, which owns 14.9% share, followed by Kahoot!’s CEO Eilert Hanoa (8.4%) and investment firm Datum (6.8%). Sizable ownership also belong to company co-founders Åsmund Furuseth (1.5%) and Morten Versvik (1.5%)
 Kahoot!'s Largest Shareholders (Dec 2022)
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| Shareholder | Ownership | Voting Power | |
|---|---|---|---|
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General Atlantic | 14.9% | 14.9% |
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Eilert Hanoa | 8.4% | 8.4% |
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Datum | 6.8% | 6.8% |
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Åsmund Furuseth | 1.5% | 1.5% |
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Morten Versvik | 1.5% | 1.5% |
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Other | 66.9% | 66.9% |
| Listed are shareholders holding >5% of any share class or notable in other ways | |||
 Source: Annual Report |
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In this article, I will dive more into who owns Kahoot! and who controls it. I will show you who Kahoot!’s largest shareholders are, how many shares and votes they have, and how much their stake is worth.
If you are interested, you can also explore who owns other companies like Microsoft, Alphabet(Google), Lenovo, L’Oréal, Ferrari, or Twitter.
📃 Who Owns Kahoot!?
Kahoot! is owned by its shareholders. The largest ones are private equity firm General Atlantic which owns 14.9% of the company, followed by CEO Eilert Hanoa, who owns an 8.4% share, and investment firm Datum with a 6.8% ownership share.
Notable owners are also co-founder Åsmund Furuseth, with a 1.5% ownership share, and co-founder Morten Versvik with 1.5% ownership.
The largest Kahoot!’s owner is General Atlantic, which owns 14.9% of the company.
- General Atlantic’s ownership is quite new. They acquired the stake from SoftBank in 2022.
The second largest Kahoot!’s owner is its CEO and early investor, Eilert Hanoa, who owns an 8.4% stake in Kahoot! through his company Glitrafjord AS.
- Eilert Hanoa became CEO in 2019. Until then, he was chairman of the board since 2014.
- Next to CEO salary and stock options, Hanoa’s company Glitrafjord AS also charges “Consulting services” to Kahoot!. The total amount in 2021 was $380 thousand.
The third largest Kahoot!’s owner is an investment firm Datum Group with a 6.8% ownership. Datum is controlled by Norwegian investor Jan Haudemann-Andersen..
Kahoot! ASA was founded in 2012 by Morten Versvik, Johan Brand, and Jamie Brooker. Later Åsmund Furuseth joined the team. Kahoot! has been a publicly traded company on the Oslo stock exchange since 2019, but it was not on its primary market. After its re-IPO in 2021 on Oslo’s stock exchange primary market, Kahoot! is currently traded under the ticker KAHOT.
- Except for Åsmund Furuseth, who works as Kahoot!’s Chief Product Officer, none of the founders are actively involved in the company anymore.
- Some of the founders are still invested in the company. Åsmund Furuseth owns a 1.5% stake, and founder Morten Versvik owns 1.5% of the company through his company Versvik Invest.
- The company is also traded in the US OTC market under the ticker KHOTF
Among Kahoot! investors were also Microsoft (through M12) and Disney (through Accelerator Investments LLC). Unfortunately, I was not able to confirm that these companies still own Kahoot shares and how sizable their stake is.
- Companies’ ownership below 5% does not require disclosure. Therefore if Disney and Microsoft are still invested, their stake is below 5%.
Kahoot! ASA has a registered office in Oslo, Norway, but Kahoot also has offices in other countries around Europe and North America.
🎮 Who Controls Kahoot! (OL: KAHOT)?
Kahoot!’s shareholders with the largest voting power are private equity firm General Atlantic, which holds 14.9% of all votes, followed by CEO Eilert Hanoa with 8.4% voting power, and investment firm Datum with 6.8% voting power.
Kahoot!’s co-founders are still invested in the company, but their stakes are not large enough to have significant influence over it just from the stake itself.
Kahoot! has only one class of outstanding shares, with one vote per share. Therefore, there is no difference between the shareholder’s ownership and voting power.
The top three shareholders together hold 30.1% of the company. They all have significant influence over the company through their votes and nominees on Kahoot!’s board of directors. However, they do not have full control over Kahoot!.
Kahoot’s CEO is Eilert Giertsen Hanoa, who was the company’s early investor that became CEO in 2019. He is also the second largest shareholder and has significant influence over the company.
- When you look at Kahoot! ‘s annual report, what caught my attention is that, in addition to Eilert Hanoa’s salary and stock options, Hanoa’s company is also charging Kahoot” for “Consulting service.” The total amount was $380 thousand in 2021.
Kahoot!’s insiders that have influence over the company besides CEO Eilert Hanoa is chairman Andreas Hansson and other board members and executives.
- Kahoot! currently has a 6-member board of directors.
- Two current board members, including chairman Hansson, were nominated by the previous largest shareholder, SoftBank. It is expected that the new owner will nominate its own directors soon.
The following insiders from management and the board have ownership over 0.05% of the company.
- CEO Eilert Hanoa: 8.4% ownership
- CPO Åsmund Furuseth: 1.5% ownership
- CCO-CMO ars Erik Grønntun: 0.23% ownership
- CTO Jostein Håvaldsrud: 0.08% ownership
🗳️ Breakdown of Kahoot!’s Outstanding Shares and Votes by Top Shareholders
Kahoot! ASA had a total of 493 million outstanding shares as of December 2022. The following table shows how many shares each Kahoot!’s large shareholder holds.
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Kahoot!'s Outstanding Shares by Shareholder
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| In millions of shares as of December 2022 | ||||
| Shareholder | Class A | Total | % Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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General Atlantic | 74 | 74 | 14.9% |
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Eilert Hanoa | 41 | 41 | 8.4% |
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Datum | 33 | 33 | 6.8% |
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Åsmund Furuseth | 8 | 8 | 1.5% |
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Morten Versvik | 7 | 7 | 1.5% |
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Other | 330 | 330 | 66.9% |
| Total (# millions) | 493 | 493 | 100.0% | |
| Listed are shareholders holding >5% of any share class or notable in other ways | ||||
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Source: Annual Report |
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There were 493 million votes distributed among shareholders of Kahoot! ASA. The table below shows the total number of votes for each large shareholder.
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Kahoot!'s Vote Control by Shareholder
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| In millions of votes as of December 2022 | ||||
| Shareholder | Class A | Total | % Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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General Atlantic | 74 | 74 | 14.9% |
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Eilert Hanoa | 41 | 41 | 8.4% |
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Datum | 33 | 33 | 6.8% |
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Åsmund Furuseth | 8 | 8 | 1.5% |
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Morten Versvik | 7 | 7 | 1.5% |
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Other | 330 | 330 | 66.9% |
| Total (# millions) | 493 | 493 | 100.0% | |
| Listed are shareholders holding >5% of any share class or notable in other ways | ||||
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Source: Annual Report |
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💵 Breakdown of Kahoot!’s Market Value by Shareholder
The following table summarizes how much is each shareholder’s stake in Kahoot! ASA worth.
However, keep in mind that a stake in Kahoot! could be just one part of their portfolio, and their total worth could be bigger, thanks to other investments. It could also be lower if they have debts.
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Kahoot!'s Market Value by Shareholder
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| Market value in billions $ as of December 2022 | ||||
| Shareholder | Class A | Total | % Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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General Atlantic | $0.1 | $0.1 | 14.9% |
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Eilert Hanoa | $0.1 | $0.1 | 8.4% |
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Datum | $0.1 | $0.1 | 6.8% |
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Åsmund Furuseth | $0.0 | $0.0 | 1.5% |
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Morten Versvik | $0.0 | $0.0 | 1.5% |
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Other | $0.6 | $0.6 | 66.9% |
| Total ($ billions) | $1.0 | $1.0 | 100.0% | |
| Listed are shareholders holding >5% of any share class or notable in other ways | ||||
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Source: Annual Report |
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Let’s now look at each Kahoot! shareholder individually.
📒 Who Are Kahoot!’s Largest Shareholders?
Let’s now go through the list of the largest shareholders of Kahoot! ASA one by one and look at who they are, how many shares they own, what is their voting power, and how much is their stake in Kahoot! worth.
#1 General Atlantic (14.9%)
General Atlantic is the largest shareholder of Kahoot!, owning 14.9% of its shares. As of December 2022, the market value of General Atlantic’s stake in Kahoot! was $0.1 billion.
General Atlantic owned 74 million shares in Kahoot! and controlled 74 million shareholder votes as of December 2022.
General Atlantic is a private equity firm based in New York that invests in companies worldwide. It was founded in 1980 as a captive investment company for Atlantic Philanthropies, a philanthropic organization founded by Charles F. Feeney.
#2 Eilert Hanoa (8.4%)
Eilert Hanoa is the second-largest shareholder of Kahoot!, owning 8.4% of its shares. As of December 2022, the market value of Eilert Hanoa’s stake in Kahoot! was $0.1 billion.
Eilert Hanoa owned 41 million shares in Kahoot! and controlled 41 million shareholder votes as of December 2022.
Eilert Hanoa is the CEO of Kahoot! and also one of its early investors and large shareholder. He served as Chairman of Kahoot! ‘s Board between 2014 and 2019.
Before Kahoot, Hanoa was the founder and CEO of the software company Mamut.
He is also invested in several other start-ups.
#3 Datum (6.8%)
Datum is the third-largest shareholder of Kahoot!, owning 6.8% of its shares. As of December 2022, the market value of Datum’s stake in Kahoot! was $0.1 billion.
Datum owned 33 million shares in Kahoot! and controlled 33 million shareholder votes as of December 2022.
Datum AS is an investment company owned by Norwegian investor Jan Haudemann-Andersen.
#4 Åsmund Furuseth (1.5%)
Åsmund Furuseth owns 1.5% of Kahoot!’s shares. As of December 2022, the market value of Åsmund Furuseth’s stake in Kahoot! was $0.0 billion.
Åsmund Furuseth owned 8 million shares in Kahoot! and controlled 8 million shareholder votes as of December 2022.
Åsmund Furuseth is a co-founder of Kahoot! and currently Kahoot’s Chief Product Officer. Furuseth also advises and secures funding for various other start-ups.
#5 Morten Versvik (1.5%)
Morten Versvik owns 1.5% of Kahoot!’s shares. As of December 2022, the market value of Morten Versvik’s stake in Kahoot! was $0.0 billion.
Morten Versvik owned 7 million shares in Kahoot! and controlled 7 million shareholder votes as of December 2022.
Morten Versvik is a co-founder of Kahoot! and also its former CTO.
Kahoot! ‘s technology was based on Versvik’s research that he did for his Master’s degree.
🧱 Who and When Founded Kahoot!
Kahoot! ASA was founded in 2012 by Morten Versvik, Johan Brand, and Jamie Brooker. Later entrepreneur Åsmund Furuseth joined the team.
The technology was based on research conducted by Kahoot!’s co-founder Morten Versvik for his Master’s degree. Later co-founders Jamie Brooker and Johan Brand joined the company and worked on the UX and design of Kahoot!. After that, Asmund Furuseth joined. Johan Brand held the position of CEO, and Jamie Brooker was the chief creative officer. Versvik worked as CTO Åsmund Furuseth as CPO and shorty also as CEO
Except for Åsmund Furuseth, who is still the company’s Chief Product Officer, none of the founders are actively involved in the company anymore.
Some of the founders are still investors in Kahoot!. Åsmund Furuseth owns 1.5% stake and founder Morten Versvik owns 1.5% of Kahoot! through his company Versvik Invest. I was not able to verify the current ownership stakes of Johan Brand and Jamie Brooker.
📅 Kahoot!’s History Timeline
These are selected events from Kahoot!’s history:
- 2012: The company was founded under the name Mobitroll AS.
- 2013: Kahoot! product was launched to the public.
- 2014: The company was renamed Kahoot! AS.
- 2016: Erik Harrell replaced Johan Brand as CEO.
- 2017: Funding raised from Microsoft’s M12.
- 2017 Co-founders Johan Brand and Jamie Brooker. leave the company to focus on other education technology projects through We Are Human.
- 2018: Co-founder Åsmund Furuseth becomes CEO.
- 2019: Eilert Hanoa was named CEO, after being Chairman since 2015.
- 2019: Acquisition of Poio and Dragonbox
- 2020: Acquisition of Actimo and Drops
- 2021: Acquisition of Clever, Motimate, Whiteboard.fi
- 2022: General Atlantic private equity group buys SoftBank’s stake in Kahoot.
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