Helsing co-founder backs Memrise duo's AI tutor in $3.4M raise
What's the deal? MindmaxDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a London-based AI learning startup, has raised £2.5m (~$3.37m), the company announced November 5, 2026. The round was backed by Concept VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Europe's largest dedicated pre-seed fund, alongside a personal investment from a co-founder of defence-tech company Helsing.
Who's behind it? Mindmax was founded by Memrise co-founders Ed Cooke, a world memory champion who serves as chief executive officer, and Daniel Zohar, chief technology officer. Concept Ventures also backed the company's 2024 seed round, alongside Daybreak and Lerer Hippeau.
What's the endgame? Mindmax builds an AI-powered adaptive tutor app for iPhone and Android that delivers short daily lessons tailored to each user's answers. The goal: help people build their own cognitive abilities rather than outsource them to AI. The app is in private beta.
Why it matters: Helsing was valued at $18bn in its July 2026 Series E round, making its co-founder a high-profile technology investor to back a consumer learning app. That backing, more than the round's size, sets this deal apart.
The signal: The raise lands in a busy market for AI-enabled learning, where UK study app Gizmo raised $22m in April and London tutoring startup Medly AI raised $8m in August. Mindmax's pitch runs against the grain: rather than doing the thinking for users, it wants them to sharpen their own minds.
Read more: Sifted
Image credit: Burst
