Oboe, a learning startup from Anchor co-founders and former Spotify executives Nir Zicherman and Michael Mignano, has raised $16 million in Series A funding. The round was led by a16z, with participation from existing investors Eniac, Haystack, Offline, and Factorial. Several individuals also invested, including Adam D’Angelo, Garry Tan, Lenny Rachitsky, Mati Staniszewski, Mikey Shulman, Jared Hecht, and M.G. Siegler.
The platform officially launched in September. It allows users to define a learning goal and then uses AI to create a personalized course. This fundraise comes three months after the app’s launch and a year after the company raised a $4 million seed round.
Zicherman stated the reason for the new funding is to fuel growth at scale. He expressed a vision to reach billions of people who want to learn about new topics, noting it is a very big opportunity. To achieve this vision, he said the company needs to execute faster and reach a larger audience. He added that the team of successful consumer product builders gives Oboe an edge over other startups in the market.
Bryan Kim, a partner at a16z, said he was impressed by how quickly Oboe generates content on a topic without making users wait behind a loading indicator. He explained that the firm has a thesis around how AI-aided learning can help people explore new topics and had been looking for the right company. After trying Oboe, they loved the product and wanted to back ambitious founders who understood AI and were flexible in adopting different form factors to build a big platform.
The company is making changes to its core course-generation experience. Previously, Oboe generated different text and audio formats in various styles and capped course generation based on the payment plan. With the new version, the app first understands a user’s goal and then generates specific chapters to help them learn. Other modalities like quizzes now appear seamlessly within the course materials. For some courses, Oboe will also generate flashcards to aid memory.
Regarding audio, instead of choosing between a podcast or lecture format, the company now generates a podcast that adapts its tone based on the learning material and user signals.
Zicherman noted a high demand among users to learn about STEM topics. The startup has worked on sourcing the best material for these subjects, including programming. He said the company takes the approach of a good teacher, deciding the best way of learning for students and designing courses accordingly.
Oboe is revamping its pricing model to give all users unlimited course generation. For those who want to dive deeper into a topic, a $15 per month plan provides access to more course chapters. A $40 per month Pro plan offers unlimited chapter access and allows users to export or download courses for consumption outside the app, which is suitable for students who want printouts for offline study.
Currently, Oboe offers courses in English, but it aims to reach different parts of the world with localized courses and language support. The platform is available on the web, with mobile support planned for the future.
In recent years, multiple tools have emerged that allow users to enter a prompt to get a podcast episode on a topic. While these are typically one-off generations, Oboe’s approach is designed to let users dive deeper into a subject with structured, chapter-based learning.