Cadmus, an EdTech startup helping universities detect generative AI plagiarism, has raised $600,000 in investment from Breakthrough Victoria, an independent company that manages a $2 billion investment fund set up by the Victorian Government to make Victoria a global innovation leader.
Founded by Herk Kailis, Cadmus aims to improve the university’s assessment quality. The platform has sophisticated learner analytics that detects the authenticity of a student’s work, including ChatGPT and other AI platforms. With assessment being a primary driver of student learning, the startup shifted its focus to support assessment holistically, balancing the needs of students, teachers, and faculty to transform assessment at scale. It works closely with educators to ensure every assessment is designed to achieve institutional goals, learning outcomes and student needs.
Speaking about the company, Founder & CEO of Cadmus, Herk Kailis, said:
Rather than trying to catch academic misconduct at the point of submission, Cadmus monitors the process around student assessment construction, including metrics such as how many hours a student spends on their assessment and the sources of any third party pasted work. Given the ongoing impact of digital innovation on traditional teaching and learning practices in higher education, our first-in-market assessment for learning platform plays a pivotal role in supporting institutions to address some of their biggest challenges around student experience, student success, inclusive teaching and learning practices, and academic integrity.
Kailis added:
We’re experiencing rapid growth domestically and in new international markets, and this timely investment from Breakthrough Victoria will allow Cadmus to sustain its rapid expansion.
Cadmus also enables universities to design high-quality, authentic assessments across every academic discipline and has already been adopted by more than half of the leading universities in Australia and the UK.
Chief Executive Officer of Breakthrough Victoria, Grant Dooley, commented:
AI language programs like ChatGPT create real challenges for universities. Cadmus is a breakthrough innovation that can solve this problem. With the proper support and investment, Cadmus has the potential to help universities across Victoria and globally maintain academic integrity and improve student outcomes and their learning experience.
According to Kailis, universities using Cadmus have reported a 76% decrease in academic misconduct, a 91% positive student experience and an 8.5% increase in academic performance and pass rates.
