It’s virtually impossible today to determine when a student’s writing has been composed using ChatGPT or another generative AI tool, and it can be a nightmare to disprove incorrect accusations. An AI edtech startup called Brisk has built a tool that could at least help teachers identify some of the telltale signs, and it’s now announcing $15 million in new funding on the back of decent traction.
Alongside a writing inspector, Brisk’s platform offers around 40 tools for teachers and students to use by way of a Chrome extension. The platform uses generative AI, computer vision, and other AI features that Brisk says can help not only speed up work, but also do the work better. These include writing lesson plans, tests, and presentations; adjusting work for different abilities; grading work; and more.
“The existing edtech stack as we know it...is not ready for AI. We’re trying to build the AI-native edtech stack.”
“The existing edtech stack as we know it, which is around 140 different tools that the average teacher in the U.S. uses in a given school year, is not ready for AI,” Brisk’s CEO and founder, Arman Jaffer, said in an interview. “We’re trying to build the AI-native edtech stack.”
The funding will be used in part to build more tools, and in part to expand to more platforms. A Microsoft integration, aimed at the many schools that are Microsoft shops, is planned for autumn 2025.
Business has so far been brisk for San Francisco-based Brisk. Since it raised a seed round of $5 million in September 2024, its user base has grown fivefold, and Jaffer said the company had “40x’d” its revenue in 2024 (it’s worth noting that the company was starting from zero). Brisk says more than 2,000 schools in 100 countries use its products today, and more than 90% of its business comes from inbound interest. One in five K-12 teachers in the U.S. have installed the Brisk extension as of February 2025, Jaffer added.
Bessemer Venture Partners is leading the round, with previous backers Owl Ventures, South Park Commons, and Springbank Collective also participating.
Brisk’s funding and growth come at a time when technology and education are becoming increasingly intertwined.
Educators have spent years embracing an increasing array of technology to improve how they work as well as to offset other major changes in their tools (such as the decline of textbooks) and other areas, such as budget cuts. (The recent DoE changes in the U.S. have yet to play out, but it has raised concerns that they will spell yet more erosion of resources.)
Enter tech, where adoption is easy, in a sense. There are literally hundreds of startups and much larger technology giants rolling out edtech apps. Some outfits cater directly to students and families, like the immense Khan Academy empire, while others direct themselves at schools and educators such as the suites developed by Google and Microsoft.
And, just as enterprises have embraced consumerization in their IT departments — looking for apps that have the same usability as the most popular consumer apps — so have teachers looked for inroads to connect with students. Kahoot is a key example of how education has been “gamified,” the theory being this is one way of making learning more accessible.
