The learning startup Oboe, founded by Anchor co-founder and former Spotify executive Nir Zicherman and Michael Mignano, has announced a $16 million Series A funding round. The round was led by renowned venture capital firm a16z, with participation from existing investors Eniac, Haystack, Offline, and Factorial. Several angel investors, including Adam D'Angelo, Garry Tan, and Lenny Rachitsky, also joined this round.
Quick Iteration and Rapid Growth in Just Three Months
Oboe platform was officially launched this September, with its core function allowing users to define learning goals and have AI create personalized courses. This Series A funding came just three months after the app's launch and one year after its $4 million seed round.
Founder Zicherman said that the new funding aims to drive scale growth and achieve the ambitious vision of "reaching hundreds of millions of people eager to learn new knowledge." He emphasized that the Oboe team has extensive experience in consumer product development and can execute efficiently, which is their competitive advantage in the market.
Bryan Kim, partner at a16z, was impressed by Oboe's ability to quickly generate content and stated that the company is looking for entrepreneurs who can flexibly adapt to different product forms and are skilled in using AI to build large platforms. Oboe fits these characteristics perfectly.
Core Product Upgrade: Immersive and Adaptive Learning Experience
Oboe is making significant improvements to its core course generation experience, aiming to mimic the design thinking of excellent teachers and provide the most suitable learning methods for learners.
Personalized Chapter Generation: The app first understands the user's learning goals and then generates relevant chapters to help users delve deeper into their studies.
Multidimensional Learning Methods: The app seamlessly integrates quizzes into the course materials. Some courses will also generate flashcards to help users reinforce their knowledge.
Dynamic Audio Experience: Users no longer need to choose between podcast or lecture formats. Oboe automatically generates podcasts and adjusts its tone based on the learning material and user signals.
Focus on Demand: The company observed that there is particularly strong demand for learning STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) subjects, including programming, and is committed to providing the best learning resources in these areas.
Pricing Model Reform and Future Plans
Oboe is reforming its pricing model to offer unlimited course generation services to promote broader early adoption.
For deep learners, the platform offers a paid subscription: Basic Plan: $15 per month ($144 per year), offering access to more course chapters. Pro Plan: $40 per month ($384 per year), providing unlimited chapter access and allowing users to export or download courses, ideal for students who need offline learning.
Currently, Oboe only offers English courses, but it plans to serve global users through localization and language support. The platform is currently available only via web, but it plans to release a mobile version in the future.
Different from tools like Google NotebookLM that generate content in a one-time fashion, Oboe's core philosophy is to help users gain a deeper and more systematic understanding of topics through chapter-based
