London-based Gizmo raises $22M Series A to gamify students' notes, it has been reported that it now has 13M users

Deal and product

London startup Gizmo, which uses AI to turn young students' notes into gamified study materials, has completed a $22 million Series A, CEO Petros Christodoulou told Axios exclusively. It has been reported that the round was led by Shine Capital. Gizmo’s core pitch is simple: feed the app your class notes and it spits back bite-sized, game-like revision tools — flashcards, quizzes, streaks — designed to keep teens studying instead of scrolling.

Why it matters

Ed‑tech has been a tricky terrain lately, with venture appetite tilting toward later-stage deals in 2026. So why does this seed-to-scale move matter? Because engagement beats raw content in learning. Gamification isn’t a gimmick when the metric you care about is whether a distracted student actually opens the app at 9 p.m. instead of doomscrolling. It has been reported that Gizmo now claims roughly 13 million users — a headline number that helps explain investor interest, even if skeptics will dig into retention and outcomes next.

Gizmo’s raise arrives amid a crowded field of study tools — think Duolingo’s habit loops or Anki’s spaced repetition, but dressed up for Gen Z. Will games rescue the midnight cram session? Maybe not entirely. But for stressed students and parents looking for a little relief, an app that turns homework into something you actually want to touch feels timely — and, for investors, potentially lucrative.

Sources: axios.com