South African ed-tech startup The Invigilator has closed an $11 million funding round (about ZAR 195 million) to scale its AI-powered exam monitoring platform internationally.
Founded in 2020, The Invigilator provides remote assessment tools that enable institutions to monitor exams via students’ smartphones or computers. The platform uses AI to flag suspicious behavior, authenticate identities, and ensure assessment integrity even in low-bandwidth environments. A recent feature addition includes the detection of AI-generated assignments.
What the Funding Will Power
- Global Expansion: The raise will help The Invigilator grow beyond South Africa, targeting universities and online learning providers around the world.
- AI-Capabilities Deepening: Plans include boosting the AI models for “live monitoring” so assessment oversight is continuous rather than point-in-time.
- Accessibility Priorities: Continued support for low-data, low-infrastructure settings, making the tool usable in emerging markets and remote regions with limited connectivity.
Scale & Traction
The Invigilator is already used by 100+ institutions, with 850,000 registered students and more than 6 million results processed through its platform so far.
The funding round was led by Kaltroco, an investment firm headquartered in Jersey, UK, with backing from investors in Zurich, Cape Town, and Nashville.
Implications for EdTech & Education Quality
Remote or hybrid assessments have become more common since the pandemic. As online exams become routine, concerns over cheating, assignment outsourcing, and misuse of language or AI tools have grown. The Invigilator’s solutions are aimed squarely at these challenges.
By enabling identity verification, activity monitoring, and AI-content detection—all on basic devices—the startup is addressing both infrastructure and integrity issues. In doing so, it could reshape how higher education assesses students globally.
As The Invigilator moves into new territories, its success may depend on balancing technological rigor (to keep assessments fair and uncheatable) with accessibility (so tools work even where internet and hardware are limited). For now, this $11 million round gives it both the fuel and global mandate to try.
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