AI-powered math learning app Photomath raises $23 million

Popular app Photomath, which helps solve math equations, has secured a $ 23 million investment in a Series B funding round led by Menlo Ventures. GSV Ventures, Learn Capital, Cherubic Ventures and Goodwater Capital also participated in the funding round. 

Photomath has reached 220 million downloads during the pandemic. The popular app was founded in 2014 by Damir Sabol, a father trying to help his sons with math homework. 

One of Sabol’s companies, who had previously founded two more companies, was PhotoPay (now called Microblink), a mobile payment app with text recognition. Together with his co-founders, Damir Sabol took advantage of the built-in technology in PhotoPay, integrated a math solving algorithm, and created a learning tool for his sons that turned into Photomath.

We were instantly impressed with Damir as a founder of another successful company and his deep expertise in machine learning and mobile technologies. When confronted with the inability to help his sons with math homework, he used his experience and expertise to create Photomath and solve the problem,” said JP Sanday, Partner at Menlo Ventures. “With Photomath’s mobile-first approach the company is well-positioned to supplant the massive online tutoring market and put high-quality learning support in the hands of students everywhere.

Using a smartphone camera, Photomath reads and solves mathematical problems, providing animated computation steps and instructions on how to approach them. The app lets you point your phone’s camera at a math problem and take a picture of the problem. It then recognizes what was written and gives you a step-by-step explanation for solving the problem.

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The app aims to provide convenience to students and help them with solutions they do not know. In addition, it allows you to write down the equations and problems on your device without having to search for troublesome symbols on the keyboard.

Many parents are unable to help their children with math and the pandemic has shone a light on the struggles students and parents are facing with remote learning. There are clear disparities between families that can afford a tutor, and those that can’t, who are being left behind,” said Damir Sabol, CEO and founder of Photomath. “Photomath is transforming the way students learn and removing the pain points and costs associated with digital learning and tutors. With this latest round of funding, Photomath will continue to provide the much-needed bridge between virtual learning and access to interactive problem solving to help all students.

Photomath also has Photomath Plus, a $ 9.99 monthly premium service that includes a range of features not available in the free version of the app. In addition to teacher-approved problem descriptions and math tips and descriptions, Photomath Plus provides specialized visual aids and word problem solving.