Kahoot game platform: what it is and the 2021 Clever deal
Kahoot! is a Norwegian game-based learning platform on which teachers, trainers and event hosts build and play quiz-style learning games. In May 2021 it announced the purchase of the school platform Clever, and its website loads today.
Updated
What a Kahoot game is
A Kahoot game is a quiz or trivia round built on the Kahoot! platform. Crunchbase describes the platform as a way to create, share and play learning games in minutes for any subject, in any language, on any device and for all ages. Educators and students use it, and so do corporate teams and sporting and cultural events.
Five co-founders, Alf Inge Wang, Asmund Furuseth, Jamie Brooker, Johan Brand and Morten Versvik, established the company in Oslo in 2012. By May 2021 the company counted 279 million games played on the platform over the previous 12 months, with 1.6 billion participating players in more than 200 countries. Its family of products by then also included the DragonBox math apps, the Poio reading app, the Drops language apps, the Actimo and Motimate employee engagement platforms and the Whiteboard.fi online whiteboard.
Kahoot! at a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Game-based learning platform |
| Founded | 2012, Oslo, Norway |
| Clever deal | Announced May 2021, enterprise value $435 million to $500 million depending on targets |
| Official site | kahoot.com, available when checked in November 2026 |
The 2021 Clever acquisition
In May 2021 Kahoot!, then a publicly traded company, announced that it would buy 100 percent of Clever Inc., a privately held San Francisco company whose platform is widely used by U.S. K-12 schools. The enterprise value was set between $435 million and $500 million, depending on targets. It was Kahoot!'s seventh acquisition in two years.
Clever, founded in 2012, claimed to have served half of all U.S. students in 2020, with a footprint in 89,000 schools. That equals 65 percent of the 13,000 school districts in the country. Chief executive Eilert Hanoa said that more acquisitions or joint ventures could speed growth further.
The deal followed a sale of close to 10 percent of the company to SoftBank for $215 million in October 2020. At the time of the Clever announcement Kahoot! was valued at $6 billion, had invoiced $45 million in revenue the year before and aimed to double revenue that year and reach $200 million by 2023.
What is true today
The official site loads in November 2026. kahoot.com loads with a 2026 copyright line and presents interactive, gamified learning. It lists the plans Kahoot!+, Kahoot! One, Kahoot! 360, Kahoot! EDU, Kahoot! Study, Kahoot! Kids and Kahoot! Sparks.
The page also lists Clever, Actimo, Motimate, Whiteboard.fi, Drops, DragonBox and Poio among its solutions. It does not say who owns the company today.
Questions about Kahoot!
What is a Kahoot game?
A Kahoot game is a quiz or trivia round created on the Kahoot! platform, which lets anyone create, share and play learning games in minutes.
How much did Kahoot! pay for Clever?
The announced enterprise value was between $435 million and $500 million, depending on targets, for 100 percent of Clever Inc.
Is the Kahoot game platform still available?
Yes. The kahoot.com website loads in November 2026 and lists several plans, among them Kahoot! EDU and Kahoot! Kids.