Quizlet secures $20 million for new AI study tools
Investors have pumped millions more dollars into Quizlet, the popular provider of digital study tools, to fund machine learning enhancements and artificial intelligence programs on the online learning platform.
“We’re excited that this new capital will allow us to make key investments in the Quizlet platform, grow our company and work toward our vision of providing an AI-powered tutor to help anyone learn anything,” said Quizlet CEO Matthew Glotzbach in a statement.
The edtech startup — which currently offers more than 220 million study sets — sees over 30 million users each month, claiming that 1 in 2 high schoolers and 1 in 3 college students in the United States uses Quizlet. The company says it is the largest user-generated consumer learning platform in the United States and plans to expand its presence overseas, especially in Western Europe and Asia.
The new $20 million, which was raised through Series B funding, brings Quizlet’s funding totals to $32 million. This recent round of funding was led by investors Icon Ventures, Union Square Ventures, Costanoa Ventures, Owl Ventures and Altos Ventures.
Known for its digital version of traditional paper flashcards, Quizlet adds to the studying and knowledge-retention process through its unique, customized learning activities.
Quizlet Learn, the AI-powered offering that the company plans to develop further with the new funds, creates personalized study plans for any user — all for free. If a student sets a date by which they need to learn the material, Quizlet Learn will generate a sequence of materials to aid in their study, paced appropriately to meet the student’s deadline. Quizlet also launched Quizlet Diagrams, another AI tool that provides a more interactive way for users to learn material.
Both AI programs gather data from anonymous study sessions and combine it with proven cognitive science techniques, the company says. It plans to add between 70 and 120 new employees to improve these existing platforms.
“Quizlet has grown from a tool that helped Andrew Sutherland, its founder, study for his high school French exam, to a scalable and monetizable study platform for people around the globe,” Jeb Miller, general partner at Icon Ventures, said in a statement.
This technology will not seek to replace teachers, but it will be “instrumental in the educational landscape,” Miller added.
