A London-based generative AI startup bringing generative AI to learning has raised $6.5m (£5.1m) in a round led by LocalGlobe and Cavalry Ventures.
Kinnu was founded in 2021 by Christopher Kahler and Abraham Müller, before being joined by Hanna Celina as co-founder in 2021. Its app, which has over 100,000 downloads, uses artificial intelligence to generate tailored learning content for topics such as science, history and psychology.
Kahler, the company’s CEO, told UKTN that it uses generative AI in a “three-pronged content creation approach” to create content. They are human experts, large language models and community feedback.
Human experts create the course outline, or pathway. This is fed into the startup’s “Learning Engine”, which uses large language models like those powering ChatGPT, to pick out the main ideas of a subject and turn out relevant revision questions in different formats such as multiple choice. It can also repackage that information to prevent learners from spotting patterns.
Kinnu operates in a similar fashion to Wikipedia, once pathways are published members of the community can propose amendments to them, adds Kahler. The company is currently testing a system to predict mastery of learned materials without users taking exams.
When a part of a course is deemed necessary to contain an image, Kinnu will construct a text prompt for generative AIs like Midjourney to make one. Any content created through the software can be listened to with audio made by AI.
The startup also attracted investment from Spark Capital and Jigsaw. Angel investors included Tom Hulme, Google Ventures’ head of Europe; Guy Podjarny, founder of Snyk; and Rene Rechtman, co-founder of Moonbug Entertainment.
Kahler added: “We think that most online education platforms take the worst elements of school – one-size fits all learning material and point-in-time assessment and scales them. There’s a huge opportunity for AI-powered learning that focuses on accelerating the pace of human learning itself.”
Celina brings experience from FutureLearn, Deliveroo and Google. Kahler and Müller previously co-founded real-time market research Qriously.
Want to learn more about generative AI? Check out UKTN’s guide on the topic.