Smart Sparrow takes learning software to US

Education technology provider Smart Sparrow raised $10 million from investors this month to fund its international expansion.

The company, which was founded in 2011, is the product of more than seven years’ research at UNSW by founder Dr Dror Ben-Naim.

Smart Sparrow’s Adaptive eLearning software enables academics to create online courseware that adapts to each student’s level of knowledge and favoured learning style.

More than 400 educational institutions use it worldwide including UNSW, where Smart Sparrow modules service tens of thousands of students.

“There is quite a buzz around adaptive learning,” Dr Ben-Naim says.

“UNSW is at this stage world-leading in its adoption of next-generation education technology.”

London’s Yellow Brick Capital led the latest funding round. Existing investors in Smart Sparrow include OneVentures and UniSeed.

Smart Sparrow’s roots lie in Dr Ben-Naim’s PhD project on data mining and intelligent tutoring — which was supervised by Dr Nadine Marcus and Dr Mike Bain from the School of Computer Science and Engineering — and his work with UNSW academics building custom virtual labs.

Graham Morton, general manager of UNSW's commercialisation company NewSouth Innovations (NSi), says NSi has been working with Dr Ben-Naim since his time as a student.

“As a founding partner and shareholder of Smart Sparrow, we're delighted to see the further success of the company which will open its door to many new opportunities,” Morton says.

Smart Sparrow is presently involved in collaborative research ventures with UNSW and other institutions, including the $4.5 million Biomedical Education Skills and Training (BEST) Network, a world-first repository of digital tools for healthcare education, and the Smart Science project, which teaches maths and science to high school students.

Media contact: Ry Crozier, UNSW Media Office | 02 9385 1933 | 0425 245 887 | r.crozier@unsw.edu.au