This is a bet on vocational EdTech infrastructure because Italy’s training system is being pulled into digitisation faster than legacy providers can execute.
Milan-based BRUM has closed a EUR 5 million funding round led by Italian Founders Fund, according to a report by EU-Startups. The company operates in the education sector, with a focus on bringing driving schools into a more digital, data-driven operating model.
Why this round fits the direction of travel
Italy’s EdTech market is on a clear growth path, and capital is following adoption rather than waiting for it. Forecasts cited in recent market research put the Italian EdTech market at USD 5,807.20 million in 2024, with projections reaching USD 15,923.55 million by 2033 (11.86% CAGR) or USD 16,300 million by 2035 (15.5% CAGR), depending on methodology. Either way, the direction is consistent: more spend, more tools, more institutional pull.
Public-sector programmes are also moving the baseline. Italy’s Recovery & Resilience Plan includes EUR 2.1 billion to upgrade 100,000 classrooms by 2026 under the Schools 4.0 programme. Separately, the Piano Nazionale Scuola Digitale earmarks EUR 500 million to modernise education infrastructure and integrate technology. While BRUM’s target segment is not mainstream K-12 classrooms, these initiatives matter because they normalise procurement, digital tool usage, and expectations for measurable outcomes across education and training.
The real angle: execution in fragmented, regulated training markets
Driving schools sit at the intersection of education delivery, compliance, and local fragmentation. That combination tends to produce operational drag: manual workflows, inconsistent quality, and limited ability to scale best practice.
BRUM’s funding round signals investor appetite for platforms that can standardise training delivery and performance management in these categories. The prize is not just content. It is workflow, compliance tracking, scheduling, learner progress data, and a repeatable operating model that can be rolled out across a long tail of small providers.
AI adoption raises the bar on “modern” learning experiences
Italian learners are already moving ahead of institutions on AI usage. Research cited in recent reports indicates 81% of Italian students are using AI tools for personalised study experiences and tutoring, while 66% want better AI literacy from teachers, pointing to a persistent skills gap.
That gap creates a practical opening for platforms that can embed AI-enabled learning and assessment into everyday training, without requiring each school to build capabilities internally. For BRUM, the opportunity is to make “modernisation” tangible: better pass rates, faster throughput, more consistent instruction quality, and improved learner engagement.
What to watch next
The upside is clear: a growing EdTech spend environment, government-led digitisation tailwinds, and a vocational segment that still has room to professionalise.
The risks are equally operational. Execution will hinge on onboarding and retention in a market of small operators, plus navigating regulatory requirements and proving ROI to cost-sensitive schools. In platforms serving fragmented education providers, churn and uneven adoption are typically the first pressure points.
Still, the round underlines a broader market signal: in Italy, EdTech funding is increasingly targeting specific, high-friction training categories where software can remove administrative load and raise learning outcomes, not just sell generic tools.
Source: EU-Startups (January 2026).