Google invests in Seoul-based edtech startup Mathpresso

Mathpresso, an educational technology (edtech) startup based in Seoul, South Korea, announced raising an undisclosed amount of funding from global tech giant Google.

Soo Nahm, Mathpresso’s chief financial officer, said the investment from Google opens up exciting opportunities for the startup and enhances its ability to serve students around the world.

“Together with the recent Series C funding, this investment will help us accelerate our global market expansion as well as our technological advancement,” Soo said.

Founded in 2015 by co-CEO Ray Lee and Jake Lee, the startup operates its flagship app QANDA, an AI-powered mobile learning platform for K-12 students.

By recognizing text and mathematical formulas in a photo with optical
character recognition (OCR) technology, QANDA provides detailed solutions and personalized learning content catered to each user’s level.

Since its launch, the app has accumulated over 45 million registered users and 3 billion education data, Mathpress said. The startup launched additional features on QANDA earlier this year with the goal of becoming a global ecosystem of all educational resources.

Mathpresso and Google see synergies supporting students’ comprehensive digital learning experiences on a global scale.

Over 85% of QANDA’s users reside outside of Korea, with its strongest user bases include Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand. Every day,
approximately 10 million photos are uploaded on QANDA worldwide, according to the announcement.

The platform has a distinctive curriculum categorization system that classifies math problems into chapters, sections, and genres.

“A laser focus on education has long been considered an important pillar for Korea’s extraordinary economic development, as the nation holds one of the highest levels of educational attainment along with one of the most sophisticated learning systems in the world,” Soo added.

Since 2015, Mathpresso has raised over $105 million in total from investors including SoftBank Ventures Asia, Legend Capital, Mirae Asset Investment, GGV, and Goodwater Capital.

Headquartered in Seoul, Mathpresso has offices in Tokyo, Hanoi, Jakarta, and Bangkok.