San Francisco-based AI edtech startup Brisk has raised $15 million in new funding to help teachers identify AI-generated content, a growing concern in the education sector. The funding comes on the back of decent traction, with the company's user base growing five-fold since its seed round of $5 million in September 2024.

Brisk's platform offers around 40 tools for teachers and students to use via a Chrome extension, including a writing inspector that helps identify telltale signs of AI-generated content. The platform uses generative AI, computer vision, and other AI features to speed up work and improve its quality. These tools include writing lesson plans, tests, and presentations, as well as adjusting work for different abilities, grading work, and more.

According to Brisk's CEO and founder Arman Jaffer, the existing edtech stack is not ready for AI, and the company is trying to build an AI-native edtech stack. The funding will be used to build more tools and expand to more platforms, including a planned Microsoft integration aimed at schools that are Microsoft shops, set for autumn 2025.

Brisk's growth comes at a time when technology and education are becoming increasingly intertwined. Educators have been embracing an increasing array of technology to improve their work and offset other major changes, such as the decline of textbooks and budget cuts. The recent changes in the US Department of Education have raised concerns that they will spell yet more erosion of resources.

Enter tech, where adoption is easy, and there are literally hundreds of startups and larger technology giants rolling out edtech apps. Some outfits cater directly to students and families, while others direct themselves at schools and educators. AI is yet another step in edtech's natural evolution, with AI companies building learning tools that aim to make everyone's lives better.

However, not all AI moves are received with open arms. OpenAI's teachers' guide to ChatGPT was met with criticism over the bigger issues that it failed to address around accuracy and data protection. Brisk wants to muffle that with a measured approach: assistance, not replacement. The company's student writing inspector does not conclude "this was written by ChatGPT." Instead, it starts with a video of a student's work process on-screen, which it then watches in fast-motion, flagging when that student has copy/pasted information or is otherwise doing other things that are uncharacteristic of how they work.

The most popular tool in the stack, "Targeted Feedback," uses generative AI to read student essays and create comments that are tailored to age, a grading rubric, or other standards if they've been uploaded or selected. Before anything is shared with students, teachers can review and edit the comments.

According to Kent Bennett, the Bessemer partner who led this investment, the trend line is too clear to be ignored. "We're big believers at this AI moment in tracking sectors like education technology, which have a reputation for being tech-phobic. This reputation often arises because the high-value workflow in these environments involves human language, and thus wasn't as addressable with legacy software – with LLMs all of that can change."

Looking forward, Brisk will be building more immersive tools beyond its extensions. Later this year, it will be switching on a new web platform so that "educators can work cohesively and natively within the Brisk environment." It will include new resources and activities, Jaffer said. Brisk also wants to offer more "multimodal" integrations, including the ability for students to submit image-based work, in addition to text, for evaluations, and a "podcast" feature to generate audio versions to describe documents and more.

With its new funding and growing user base, Brisk is poised to make a significant impact in the edtech sector, helping teachers navigate the increasingly complex world of AI-generated content.