"Camera calculator" for solving math problems raises $23M in Series B financing

2B solved examples per month, 220M downloads, 20 countries and 30 languages — Photomath, one of the most well-known and popular math problem-solving apps, has raised $23M in Series B financing.

Initially, the project started as a demo application to demonstrate text recognition technology, and the funders planned to distribute just this technology. However, it was Photomath that reached the top of downloads in the App Store a day after the presentation at TechCrunch Disrupt.

The functionality of the app is simple: the user points the camera at the desired example and then can see the result, a step-by-step solution or plot a graph of a function. Entering a complex equation into the smartphone is not necessary, everything works on the technology of text recognition — from a textbook or from a sheet of notebook. The app is free to download and basic use, but it is monetized with a number of paid features in a Photomath Plus subscription.

The company surveyed 2 000 parents who shared their pain: 56% of them could not help their children with math problems. With the pandemic and lockdown forcing many to take up the education of their child, Photomath was in the right place at the right time: the number of downloads increased by 3 times during every week last year.

Menlo Ventures led the round, and according to its representative, they were impressed with the level of immersion of the project’s founder in the topic of mobile technology and machine learning. Such projects provide a free opportunity for students around the world to learn and improve their knowledge, which is confirmed by the support of the service in dozens of languages. And the language of mathematics, as you know, is universal.