imagi raises $4.5 million seed round to expand AI coding platform for K-12 schools
imagi raised a $4.5 million seed round led by Brighteye Ventures and Day One Capital to expand its AI coding platform for K-12 schools, July 23, 2026.
Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels
imagi, a New York-based edtech company that builds an AI coding platform for schools, closed an oversubscribed $4.5 million seed round led by Brighteye Ventures and Day One Capital, the company said on July 23, 2026, according to TechCrunch. The round brings imagi’s total funding to $5.5 million, Tech Funding News reported. imagi said its platform now reaches more than 700,000 students across 140 countries and over 100 US school districts, including Hawaii’s state education department, supporting more than 30,000 educators.
Investors include OpenAI and Lovable executives
Beyond the two lead firms, the round included participation from FemInvest and We Are Human, an investment group led by the founders of Kahoot, TechCrunch reported. Individual backers named in the round include ElevenLabs founder Mati Staniszewski, former GitHub chief executive Thomas Dohmke, Voi co-founder and chief executive Fredrik Hjelm, musician and investor will.i.am, Nasty Gal founder Sophia Amoruso and entrepreneur Simon Squibb, alongside unnamed executives from OpenAI and Spotify.
imagi was founded in 2018 in Stockholm by Dora Palfi and Beatrice Ionascu, who built imagiCharm, a wearable device designed to make coding approachable for teenage girls, before the company pivoted in 2024 toward AI literacy for US K-12 schools.
| Detail | Figure |
|---|---|
| Seed round size | $4.5 million (oversubscribed) |
| Total funding to date | $5.5 million |
| Lead investors | Brighteye Ventures, Day One Capital |
| Students reached | Over 700,000, in 140 countries |
| US school districts | Over 100, including Hawaii’s state education department |
| Educators supported | Over 30,000 |
| OpenAI platform credits | $1 million |
Source: TechCrunch, July 23, 2026, and Tech Funding News, July 23, 2026.
Partnership with Lovable and OpenAI credits
imagi has partnered with Lovable, an AI “vibe-coding” tool, since November 2025. Under the partnership, teachers build lesson plans and give students guardrailed access to Lovable so they can build software with AI assistance under supervision, TechCrunch reported. OpenAI has provided $1 million in API and platform credits so that schools can use the combined imagi-Lovable tool at no cost. imagi said the platform is compliant with COPPA, FERPA and GDPR, retains no student data by default, and that its AI partners do not train models on student data.
Dora Palfi, imagi’s co-founder and chief executive, said the company aims for “safe, tested AI education for children, with guardrails trusted by educators and parents.” Lovable co-founder and chief technology officer Fabian Hedin said “software development is transforming, not disappearing,” commenting on the shift toward AI-assisted coding in classrooms. Brighteye Ventures’ Benoit Wirz said the founding team “has built a product that schools can actually trust.”
imagi said the new capital will fund expansion of its US K-12 presence, integration of additional frontier AI tools beyond Lovable, teacher training programmes, growth of its US team, new district-level partnerships, and continued investment in compliance and research, according to TechCrunch.
imagi’s approach follows a broader pattern of institutions building structured, guardrailed AI literacy programmes for school-age students, including the OECD and EU’s joint AI literacy framework for schools, which sets out competences students should learn about artificial intelligence, and Ghana’s revised basic school curriculum, which introduces coding and AI literacy from kindergarten through junior high school.
About imagi
imagi was founded in 2018 in Stockholm, Sweden, by Dora Palfi and Beatrice Ionascu. The company’s first product, imagiCharm, was a wearable device intended to make coding accessible and engaging for teenage girls. imagi pivoted in 2024 to focus on AI literacy tools for US K-12 schools, building a platform that lets teachers create AI-assisted coding lessons under guardrails designed to keep student interactions on educational topics. The company is now based in New York and reports reaching more than 700,000 students across 140 countries, with adoption in over 100 US school districts including Hawaii’s state education department. Its $4.5 million seed round, announced July 23, 2026, is intended to fund further US expansion and deeper integration of AI tools such as Lovable into classroom coding instruction.
Sources: TechCrunch; Tech Funding News
Featured image: photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels (free Pexels license).
Become a Sponsor
Our website is the heart of the mission of WINSS – it’s where we share updates, publish research, highlight community impact, and connect with supporters around the world. To keep this essential platform running, updated, and accessible, we rely on the generosity of you, who believe in our work.
We offer the option to sponsor monthly, or just once choosing the amount of your choice. If you run a company, please contact us via info@winssolutions.org.
I specialize in sustainability education, curriculum co-creation, and early-stage project strategy. At WINSS, I craft articles on sustainability, transformative AI, and related topics. When I’m not writing, you’ll find me chasing the perfect sushi roll, exploring cities around the globe, or unwinding with my dog Puffy — the world’s most loyal sidekick.
