Mathpresso is the South Korean company behind QANDA, an AI-powered education platform best known for its instant math-solving capability. Students photograph a problem and QANDA recognizes it via optical character recognition (OCR), then returns step-by-step solutions and related learning content, positioning itself as an AI-driven education super-app for K-12 learners.
The core workflow is built around image-based search: QANDA's OCR engine reads handwritten or printed math problems from a photo, matches them against a large solution database and AI models, and surfaces explanations. Over time the platform expanded beyond a simple solver into a broader personalized learning experience with tutoring, content, and practice across multiple subjects and languages.
Mathpresso was founded in 2015 by Ray Lee and Jake Lee, initially as a one-to-one Q&A service connecting students with top university tutors. The pivot to AI-based OCR search around 2017 drove rapid adoption among K-12 students and fueled international expansion, particularly across Asia.
The company has raised roughly $130 million in total funding, with backers including Google, SoftBank Ventures Asia, GGV Capital, Goodwater Capital, Legend Capital, and Mirae Asset, plus a later strategic investment from Korean telecom operator KT. This investor base reflects both consumer-tech and strategic telecom interest in its education distribution.
QANDA's differentiation is its combination of fast OCR-based problem capture, a large solution and content base, and strong international reach — the app reports usage by millions of students monthly across more than 20 countries. It competes with other homework-help and AI-tutoring apps by emphasizing speed of capture, multilingual support, and an expanding personalized learning layer rather than only one-off answers.