Santa Monica-based education technology platform Numerade Labs Inc. raised $26 million in Series A funding for its artificial intelligence-driven tutoring platform.

The funding round, which was announced July 20, was led by Boston-based investment firm IDG Capital, with participation from Alumni Ventures Group, Interplay Ventures and Toy Ventures. The round was also supported by existing investors General Catalyst, Mucker Capital and Kapor Capital.
 
Numerade will use the investment to grow its video lesson library as well as develop its AI tutoring technology with the goal to “eliminate the need for private tutors,” the company said.
 
“This funding will allow Numerade to reach millions more students and provide personalized asynchronous lessons and experiences that provide parity to learning,” company founder and Chief Executive Nhon Ma said in a statement. “Because Numerade can provide educators from world-class institutions, we democratize access to top-tier quality education at 1/10,000 the cost.”

Founded in 2018, Numerade says it has the largest database of video and interactive lessons by certified tutors. The company uses AI to suggest lessons and generate tests for students after they search the database.
 
Numerade’s database of more than 1.2 million tutoring videos covers science, technology engineering and math, and ranges in difficulty from middle school to college-level.
 
The company said it has helped 20 million students with lessons since its launch. According to Dot.LA, Numerade has more than 30,000 certified tutors on the platform and charges users $9.99 a month or $83 for a year to access lessons.
 
“Our platform is leveling the playing field for the younger generation as we believe the scientist who will cure cancer tomorrow is studying on Numerade today,” Ma said in a statement.
 
According to research firm Grand View Research Inc., the market for education technology in the U.S. is more than $106 billion.