In a nutshell:
- Polish-founded Smartschool, a company that develops an AI-guided learning system for K-12 students (kindergarten to 12th grade), has raised $1.5M in a pre-seed round.
- The funding was secured via the backing of Inovo VC, The Explorer Fund, and angel investors, including Andreas Michaelides, Chief of Psychology at Noom, and Konrad Howard, co-founder of Booksy.
- The new investment will be utilized for accelerating market presence in the US and for the further development of content and products.
Their background story:
Smartschool, founded in 2023 by Matt Maslowski, Paul Burzynski, and Agata Mroczkowska, aims to address educational inequalities through an AI-driven learning system tailored for K-12 students.
Smartschool’s primary goal is to combat educational inequalities by offering a learning companion accessible to everyone. The company introduces Yoko, an AI assistant specifically designed to help students in the US prepare for the SAT exam. This includes personalized learning plans, offering a cost-effective alternative to traditional tutoring. Yoko’s capabilities include assessing students’ needs, identifying learning gaps, and customizing study strategies, ensuring comprehensive understanding and goal achievement.
Why it matters:
“Extensive research in the USA has highlighted persistent disparities in SAT performance across different demographic groups. A 2023 study by Harvard’s Opportunity Insights revealed that SAT test takers from families in the top 20 percent income bracket were seven times more likely than those from the bottom 20 percent to score at least 1300 out of 1600, considered a competitive score. These higher-scoring students often benefit from access to advanced courses and costly private tutoring, which address their learning gaps more effectively. Our AI assistant, priced comparably to an ebook, offers high-quality, personalized learning experiences accessible to everyone, at any time,” said Paul Burzynski, co-founder of Smartschool.
Investor’s perspective:
“SmartSchool embodies the ideal qualities we seek in a pre-seed investment: a vast market potential, a robust and well-rounded team proficient in education, technology, and market entry strategies. Impressively, they have also successfully launched a product that has significantly aided numerous students in excelling at their SAT exams,” shared Michał Rokosz, partner at Inovo VC.
