Korean edtech firm Mathpresso raises $14.5m to expand in Asia

South Korean edtech startup Mathpresso, the creator of AI-driven education app Qanda, has raised US$14.5 million in a series B round led by Legend Capital.

Photo credit: Mathpresso

New investors InterVest and NP Investments also participated in the round, alongside existing investor Mirae Asset Venture Investment. The latest round brings the company’s total capital raised to US$21.2 million, according to a statement.

Mathpresso’s Qanda app, which is currently available in Korean, Japanese, English, Vietnamese, and Indonesian, helps students search for solutions to math problems by taking a photo.

It also enables them to ask questions directly to school tutors. The queries are then added to the app’s database so other users with the same problem can find the right solution via the app’s search engine. This eventually improves the platform’s AI capabilities over time, the company claims.

Recently, Mathpresso also introduced a mobile workbook service in Korea, where students can selectively solve practice problems based on their learning status.

“Our mission is to provide equal opportunities to education through technology,” said Mathpresso co-founder and CEO Jongheun Lee. “With the new investment, we plan to bolster our presence in the Asian market beyond Korea and Japan, which will bring us closer to achieving our mission.”

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Mathpresso has also been active in Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia since launching in Korea and Japan in July 2018. It claims to have more than one million students in South Korea who use its services to do their homework or study for exams as of this year.

“We strongly believe that Mathpresso has the technological and operational capabilities to expand overseas and grasp new opportunities emerging from the digitization of education, such as offering personalized learning for each individual student,” said Legend Capital managing director Joon Sung Park.

Legend Capital, an independent venture capital firm under Legend Holdings, focuses on early-stage and expansion-stage investments. It is also an early investor in leading Chinese mobile education companies such as Zuoyebang and Onion Math.