It is currently a significant challenge to determine if a student’s writing has been created using ChatGPT or another generative AI (GenAI) tool, and disproving false accusations can be problematic. To address this, an AI edtech startup named Brisk has developed a tool to help teachers identify potential indications of AI-generated content, and the company is now announcing a new funding round of $15 million following positive momentum.
Brisk’s platform, available as a Chrome extension, includes around 40 tools for teachers and students. The platform incorporates generative AI, computer vision, and other AI features designed to accelerate and improve work processes. These tools assist in creating lesson plans, tests, presentations, grading work, and adapting assignments for various skill levels.
Arman Jaffer, CEO and founder of Brisk, stated in an interview, “The existing edtech stack, consisting of approximately 140 different tools used by the average teacher in the U.S. annually, is not prepared for AI. Our goal is to construct an AI-native edtech stack.” The recent funding will support the development of additional tools and the expansion to more platforms, including an integration with Microsoft planned for fall 2025.
The San Francisco-based company has experienced rapid business growth. Since a $5 million seed round in September 2024, Brisk’s user base has increased five-fold, and its revenue has grown 40 times during 2024. Brisk’s products are currently utilized by over 2,000 schools across 100 countries, with more than 90% of business stemming from inbound interest. By February 2025, one in five K-12 teachers in the U.S. had installed the Brisk Extension.
Bessemer Venture Partners leads the funding round, with participation from previous investors Owl Ventures, South Park Commons, and Springbank Collective. Brisk’s progress and funding highlight the increasing intersection of technology and education.
Educators have been incorporating advancing technologies for years to enhance their work and counter challenges such as textbook declines and budget reductions. Recent Department of Education changes in the U.S. have yet to manifest fully but have sparked concerns over further resource erosion.
Many startups and major tech companies offer edtech apps, with some targeting students and families, while others focus on schools and educators. As with the consumerization seen in IT departments, teachers seek user-friendly apps to engage students effectively, with platforms like Kahoot illustrating educational gamification.
AI represents another evolution in edtech, with companies developing learning tools that advocate AI integration as beneficial. However, not all AI initiatives are welcomed. OpenAI’s guide to ChatGPT for teachers, released in November 2024, faced criticism for not fully addressing accuracy and data protection issues.
Arman Jaffer founded Brisk after more than five years at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, where he led the creation of Notebooks, a Google Docs alternative focused on student-teacher collaboration. Despite Notebooks not gaining traction, partly due to Google Docs’ dominance, Jaffer carried forward the collaborative ethos into Brisk.
Brisk emphasizes a supportive approach to AI, serving as assistance rather than replacement. The company’s student writing inspector doesn’t conclusively state “this was written by ChatGPT.” Instead, it reviews a video of the student’s work process, highlighting copy-pasting or uncharacteristic activities, which are then flagged for teacher evaluation. The most popular Brisk tool, “Targeted Feedback,” uses generative AI to analyze student essays and generate tailored comments for teachers to review and edit before sharing with students.
Whether AI’s role in education is welcomed or feared, the trend is undeniable, according to Kent Bennett of Bessemer Venture Partners. He noted that educators are actively pursuing AI technologies rather than merely tolerating them, emphasizing that teachers remain integral to the educational process.
Looking ahead, Brisk plans to develop more immersive tools beyond its current extensions, launching a new web platform later this year for educators to work cohesively within the Brisk environment. This will include additional resources and activities. Brisk also aims to offer “multimodal” integrations, allowing image-based work submissions for evaluations and a “podcast” feature for generating audio descriptions of documents and more.
