SEOUL, South Korea, May 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Riiid Inc ("Riiid"), a leading AI education company and a member of Born2Global Centre, has raised $175 million investment from SoftBank Vision Fund 2*. To accelerate the pace of capturing opportunities in the global education market, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 led the round as the sole investor, which brings Riiid's total funding to $250 million. It is Riiid's largest funding round to date.
"Riiid wants to transform education with AI, and achieve a true democratization of educational opportunities," said Riiid CEO YJ Jang. "This investment is only the beginning of our journey in creating a new industry ecosystem and we will carry out this mission with global partnerships," he added.
Over the past year, Riiid Labs, the global arm of Riiid, has expanded the company's market across the U.S., South America, Middle East and Asia with partners such as Kaplan, ConnecME, Grupo INICIE, and Casa Grande, combining Riiid's AI technology and the content provided by those companies to create personalized learning services.
Riiid will use the new funding to further strengthen its AI technology and extend its global technology lead in AI for education. Riiid is establishing R&D centers and data labeling centers in the U.S., Canada, and Ghana to attract global talent and to build out its technical infrastructure.
Riiid continues to attract top global talent in education, including Marten Roorda, the former CEO of testing non-profit organization ACT, and Jim Larimore who brings two decades of education leadership experience at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Dartmouth College, Swarthmore College, NYU Abu Dhabi, and Stanford University.
"Riiiid is driving a paradigm shift in education, from a 'one size fits all' approach to personalized instruction. Powered by AI and machine learning, Riiid's platform provides education companies, schools and students with personalized plans and tools to optimize learning potential," said Greg Moon, Managing Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers. "We are delighted to partner with YJ and the Riiid team to support their ambition of democratizing quality education around the world."
For more detailed information on Riiid, visit https://riiid.co/en/main and Riiid Labs https://riiidlabs.ai.
About Riiid
Headquartered in Korea, Riiid (www.riiid.co/en/main) is a global leader in AI solutions for education, named in the 2021 CB Insights AI 100 list of the most innovative AI startups. Leveraging the power of AI, the company is driving a paradigm shift in education with technology that personalizes instruction for all students, with the aim of democratizing quality education anywhere in the world. The company provides solutions for K-12 education, postsecondary education and corporate training. As a leading force in AI technology, Riiid has published research papers at top AI conferences including NeurIPS and CSEDU. The company has applied for more than 103 patents, 27 of which are registered. In 2020, Riiid established Riiid Labs, the company's global arm based in Silicon Valley, California, to expand its business across the U.S., South America, Middle East and beyond.
About Born2Global Centre
Born2Global Centre (www.born2global.com) is a full-cycle service platform for global expansion. Since inception in 2013, Born2Global has been setting the standard for successful startup ecosystem as the main Korean government agency under the Ministry of Science and ICT. Born2Global has expanded and transformed startups to be engaged, equipped and be connected with the global market.
Media contact
Riiid: kiyoon.kay@riiid.co
Born2Global: jlee@born2global.com
*As of the date of this press release, SoftBank Group Corp. has made capital contributions to allow investments by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 ("SVF 2") in certain portfolio companies. The information included herein is made for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy limited partnership interests in any fund, including SVF 2. SVF 2 has yet to have an external close, and any potential third-party investors shall receive additional information related to any SVF 2 investments prior to closing.
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