Study app Gizmo reaches 13 million users and raises $22 million

In short: Gizmo, a learning app that uses AI to turn class notes into study tools, says it now has over 13 million users and has raised $22 million.

What happened

Gizmo launched in 2021 and is designed for teenagers and young adults. The app takes a student’s notes and turns them into interactive study materials, like flashcards and quizzes. It uses AI (software that can spot patterns and generate text, a bit like autocomplete that has read a lot) to do this quickly.

The company says it now has more than 13 million users in over 120 countries. That is a big jump from the roughly 300,000 users it had when TechCrunch last covered the company in 2023.

Gizmo also announced it has raised $22 million in Series A funding. Series A is a common early funding round for startups, where investors put in money to help a company grow. Gizmo said it will use the money to hire more engineers and AI specialists and to expand in the United States college market, according to CEO Petros Christodoulou.

Gizmo’s approach is to make studying feel more like a game. It uses features like leaderboards, streaks (keeping a daily run going), limited “lives” for wrong answers, and challenges with friends.

Why it matters

Many students already spend a lot of time on their phones, often on apps built to keep their attention. Gizmo and similar tools are trying to redirect that habit toward studying, like turning screen time into practice time. The new funding suggests investors think there is a growing market for study apps that focus on keeping students engaged.

Source: TechCrunch AI