Ello is on a mission to eliminate childhood illiteracy by harnessing the power of artificial intelligence and advanced child speech recognition technology. Today, the startup announced it has secured $15 million in Series A funding, which will be used to enhance product development and broaden consumer access.
“Ello is one of those outstanding companies,” said Coddy Johnson, partner at lead investor Goodwater Capital. “We’re excited about the proprietary and groundbreaking advances made by the Ello team in AI technology, enabling personalized 1:1 tutoring for children, a method that research has shown to be the most effective for learning.”
Ello offers a subscription service for children in kindergarten through Grade 3, delivering five curated books each month for $24.99. Parents can download the Ello app, which assesses their child’s reading level via a series of questions, as well as their interests in areas such as animals, arts and crafts, sports, and science. Reading specialists then handpick books tailored to each child's specific needs. Families can add additional children to their accounts for $12.49 per month. While currently available as a tablet app, Ello is actively working to extend its platform to smartphones.
Utilizing proprietary technology, Ello listens as children read aloud and evaluates their speech to correct mispronunciations and missed words. The AI reading coach mimics a real tutor by waiting until the child finishes reading a page, then applying phonics-based strategies to teach essential reading skills. If kids require extra assistance, they can simply tap on the question mark icon for help.
“Ello serves as the patient reading companion that every parent wishes they could be, especially during those challenging moments,” said co-founder and Chief Experience Officer Dr. Elizabeth Adams, a clinical psychologist specializing in child development and behavior.
The app incorporates gamification elements, allowing children to accumulate points as they progress each month, which can be redeemed for toys and prizes.
Founded in 2019 by Dr. Elizabeth Adams and CEO Tom Sayer, a former Google Education programs leader, along with engineer Catalin Voss (a former AI PhD candidate at Stanford), Ello emerged from Y Combinator in March 2020. The founders recognized significant disruptions in children's reading experiences due to the pandemic after consulting with hundreds of parents.
According to a 2021 Stanford University study, reading fluency among second and third-graders in the U.S. fell about 30% behind typical expectations during that period.
Dr. Adams encountered similar challenges with her own daughter, who struggled to learn reading through virtual classes. "We saw this as a critical opportunity to create a better solution,” she noted.
Ello distinguishes itself from other edtech companies by not relying on assessments or progress markers. While a similar company, Amira Learning, launched an AI reading assistant in 2018 focused on educators, Ello targets at-home learning.
“Ello does not test for comprehension,” she explained. “Our primary focus is on fostering a love for reading and building children's confidence. We aim to create an engaging experience that feels joyful, not test-driven.”
The company asserts that its AI reading coach surpasses the performance of OpenAI’s Whisper and Google Cloud’s speech API. Presently, 10,000 families are using Ello, and children have read over 300,000 books via the app.
Looking ahead, Ello plans to partner with schools and develop a product specifically for classroom use. The company is currently collaborating with about 30 schools, primarily located in San Francisco and New York.
“A teacher’s needs differ significantly from a parent’s,” Sayer noted. “Teachers seek assessment data, so we’re committed to integrating that into our offerings.”
While Sayer refrained from disclosing detailed plans, he mentioned that the company is actively incorporating generative AI into its app and is also developing versions of Ello in multiple languages, with a German version currently in testing.
“One of the key advantages of self-supervised learning, which underpins our speech recognition, is its ability to counteract bias effectively. We have invested substantial resources to rigorously evaluate our models' performance across various demographics—including ethnicity, age, gender, and children with specific learning needs. When disparities arise, we can address them more easily," Sayer added.
In addition to Goodwater Capital, this funding round saw participation from notable investors like Reed Hastings, Common Sense Growth, Homebrew, and Ravensburger, complementing prior investments led by Project A, with additional support from Y Combinator, WndrCo, Reach Capital, Visible Ventures, and Khosla Ventures.
Ranking
