April 25, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Korean AI-based education startup Riiid announced on April 30 that it has nabbed 11.5 billion won (US$10.77 million) in a Series B round of funding.

The firm is known for its application Santa for Toeic, famous for giving customized solutions for boosting TOEIC scores by analyzing each user’s learning behavior. The company currently owns 14 patents on its technology in countries including Korea, US, China and Japan.

Venture Capitalists including Korea Investment Partners, Company K Partners, Partners Investment, Huayi Investment, ES Investor and NP Equity Partners have invested in the education startup. According to sources, the company reached a break-even point just four months after it launched a paywall for Santa for Toeic. This helped it attain additional funding, most of which is to be used for research and development.

“Ultimately, we hope to reshape the education market to base it on technology, and not just trendy gimmicks,” said Riiid CEO Jang Young-joon.

In 2016, the firm received funds worth 2 billion won in Series A funding from investors including DSC Investment and DS Asset. It also received more than 900 million won from investors including SK Planet and Nexon’s cofounder and EOGF Partners Chairman Kim Sang-Bum.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)