Three 22-year-olds in Germany have secured pre-seed investment for their company developing an AI-powered tool designed to assist teachers throughout the teaching cycle.

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German edtech startup paddy has secured €1M in pre-seed funding led by High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), just six months after launching its AI-powered platform for teachers.

HTGF, one of Europe’s early-stage investors with over €2B in fund volume, led the round as the sole investor. The firm has previously backed more than 780 startups and achieved nearly 200 successful exits since its inception in 2005.

Capital utilisation

Founded in 2024 by three 22-year-olds from teacher families—Matty Frommann, Lukas Portmann, and Tobias Schröder—the Bielefeld-based company has already attracted 12,000 active users and expects to reach mid-six-figure revenue by year-end.

The funding will support paddy’s expansion across the DACH region as the company scales its AI platform that automates lesson planning, creates tailored teaching materials, and analyses class performance. The platform operates through DigitalErleben GmbH, with CTO Lukas Kaufmann joining the founding team later in 2024 to lead technical development.

Addressing teacher overload

paddy targets the DACH region’s education sector, which employs approximately 2 million teachers across over 40,000 schools. According to research by Bitkom (the German Digital Association), over 70 per cent of educators cite overload and teacher shortages as primary challenges, while more than half report that growing class sizes prevent them from providing adequate individual student support.

paddy’s platform handles repetitive administrative tasks, including lesson planning, material creation in various formats, and performance analysis, enabling teachers to focus on personalised student support.

Unlike existing solutions, paddy requires no additional training and provides insights across the entire teaching cycle—from preparation through delivery to follow-up assessment.

Young founders with first-hand insight

The three co-founders developed paddy based on their childhood experiences witnessing their teacher parents struggle with overwhelming workloads. During the pandemic, they organised local teacher training sessions and observed first-hand how schools battled with digital and structural challenges, ultimately inspiring them to create a comprehensive solution.

Matty Frommann, co-founder and CEO of paddy, says, “I saw firsthand as a student how overwhelmed many teachers were – no time for individual support, even though the intention was there. That’s what sparked the idea for paddy.”

Felix Assion, Investment Manager at HTGF, adds, “paddy shows how we can reduce stress for teachers while helping students develop AI skills at an early stage. Beyond the impressive product, it’s the team that won me over: Despite their young age, the founders already demonstrate remarkable entrepreneurial intuition – and I’m excited to see where the journey takes them!”