Kinnu, a London-based generative AI EdTech company, has raised $6.5 million in a fresh funding round led by LocalGlobe (a member of the Phoenix Group) and Cavalry Ventures. The round also saw participation from Spark Capital and Jigsaw and angel investors, including Tom Hulme from Google Ventures, Guy Podjarny of Snyk, and Moonbug Entertainment co-founder Rene Rechtman.
Co-founded by Christopher Kahler, Abraham Muller, and Hanna Celina in 2021, Kinnu works with the mission to give everyone the power to learn anything they want to. The platform uses generative AI in a “three-pronged content creation approach” to create content. They are human experts, large language models and community feedback. Human experts create the course outline or pathway. This is fed into the startup’s “Learning Engine”, which uses large language models like those powering ChatGPT to pick out the main ideas of a subject and turn out relevant revision questions in different formats, such as multiple choice. It can also repackage that information to prevent learners from spotting patterns.
Speaking about the company, Co-founder & CEO of Kinnu, Christopher Kahler, said:
There’s a huge opportunity for AI-powered learning that focuses on accelerating the pace of human learning itself. 10 years ago, online learning experienced a boom because it democratised access to content. The next frontier is democratising access to the mechanism of how we learn, from quantum mechanics and Chaucer to idioms and soft skills adapted to the learner’s own pace and ability. It’s this that excites us.
The startup is currently focusing on adult enthusiast learners. Its app, which has over 100,000 downloads, uses artificial intelligence to generate tailored learning content for science, history and psychology.
Adding further about the platform, Co-founder of Kinnu, Hanna Celina, said:
Our backgrounds are perfectly complementary. I worked at Google, Futurelearn and Deliveroo and studied at Harvard, so we all bring a unique perspective on the future of learning and how to build it.
Suzanne Ashman, Partner of LocalGlobe, commented:
We’re on the brink of an enormous transformation in how people learn knowledge and skills. From LocalGlobe’s first meeting with Kinnu’s co-founders, it was clear that their knowledge acquisition and assessment approach could deliver huge leaps forward in learning productivity and give learners more space to focus on applying knowledge. We’re particularly excited about the founder’s approach to AI-driven interdisciplinary learning, allowing people to connect different areas in a way that hasn’t been possible in traditional education institutions.
Last year, Kinnu announced a $2.4 million pre-seed round. The firm’s latest fundraising brings its total raised to $9 million.
