The Edutech startup Riiid has successfully secured a $41.8 million pre-Series D funding round. The funding round was led by state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB), NVESTOR, Intervest, as well as from an existing investor IMM Investment, bringing Riiid’s total funding to date to $70.2 million.

The funding represents another major milestone for the company, highlighting its more than 200 percent annual sales growth and adding over a million cumulative users since 2017. This investment that comes at a time of COVID-19 pandemic is a positive sign for Korea’s startup ecosystem.

Riiid’s committed to creating a new future for education

Riiid, based in S. Korea, offers Santa, a mobile test prep application for the popular English proficiency exam, Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC). Santa, which has been used by more than a million students in Korea and Japan. It has reached No. 1 in sales among education apps in Japan and Korea. Riiid’s proprietary AI technology analyzes student data and content, predicts scores and user behavior, and recommends personalized study plans to help students optimize their learning potential.

Santa has proven the efficacy of Riiid’s technology. The company is now focused on providing back-end solutions for companies, school districts, and education ministries around the world for a wide range of new learning applications.

“Riiid successfully completed domestic funding amid a slower investment environment due to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic and has made significant progress in negotiating with overseas financial investors to accelerate global expansion,” said Riiid CEO YJ Jang. “Riiid is already in the process of forming various global partnerships based on its verified AI technology in both academic and commercial markets, and will soon unveil new products and services. We are committed to creating a future for education beyond our imagination through in-depth R&D and commercialization of technology.”

Funding to help in global expansion & technology advancement

The funding will be used to advance Riiid’s proprietary deep learning technology that offers personalized test-prep solutions based on precise data diagnosis. The company will also provide a ‘‘formative learning” support solution to the education market, helping achieve learning objectives through continuous evaluation and feedback on performance in the entire learning process rather than preparing for specific tests.

Ultimately, the new financing will help accelerate the company’s global expansion across the US, South America, Middle East and, beyond. To support the effort, Riiid Labs, the global arm of Riiid, has been established in Silicon Valley to solidify its position as an AI technology company in the global education market.

“Riiid is establishing a global standard while defining valid technologies and leading research in AI EdTech,” said Intervest Director, Jay Jeon. “At a time when the need for effective remote learning solutions is expanding not only in the education market but also in various industries, the investment was made highly valuing the marketability of Riiid’s proven business model in Santa, excellent talent pool, and various global partnerships that are underway based on a scalable technology structure.”

Striving for technology leadership, Riiid continues to research AI technology trends and publish papers at top AI conferences, including Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurlPS), the International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU), and others. In early 2020, Riiid launched EdNet, the world’s largest open database for AI education, to solidify global tech and industry leadership. The company has applied for 70 domestic and international patents, 17 of which are registered.