Zurich-based Sparkli Raises $5m for Generative Learning Platform

By Dipo Olowookere

A Zurich-based anti-chatbot edtech firm, Sparkli, has secured about $5 million pre-seed round for its generative learning engine designed to turn screen time into active learning expeditions that foster agency, curiosity, and future-ready skills.

The pre-seed round will allow Sparkli to scale its generative learning engine and prepare for a private beta launch in January 2026. The company is currently validating its platform through a strategic pilot with one of the world’s largest private school groups.

This partnership provides Sparkli with a powerful testing ground across a network of more than 100 schools and over 100,000 students.

Sparkli transforms the curiosities of children into multi-disciplinary, real-life journeys that foster future-ready skills, including technology, design thinking, sustainability, financial literacy, entrepreneurship, emotional intelligence, and global awareness.

The company is already positioning itself to disrupt the $7 trillion global education market, a sector widely predicted to be one of the most significant use cases for artificial intelligence.

Its approach is shaped by three shifts essential for modern childhood education, a strategy designed to solve the ‘Agency and Curiosity Gap’. First, it forces a Velocity Shift by moving away from static curriculums to real-time relevance where children explore new topics the moment they emerge.

Second, it drives an Engagement Shift by replacing the dry ‘AI chatbot wall of text’ and passive screen time (watching videos, playing video games) with a multimodal playground of visuals, voice, and playable simulations. This turns consumption into active, gamified inquiry rooted in educational value.

Finally, Sparkli prioritizes a Skills Shift that focuses on capabilities such as creativity and complex problem solving rather than memorization.

“Our goal is to build agency in the next generation. Children learn by exploring, making choices, asking questions, and discovering what inspires them. Sparkli turns screen time into a place where curiosity grows rather than fades,” the chief executive of Sparkli, Mr Lax Poojary, said.

One of the funders, Lukas Weder of Founderful, said, “Sparkli represents a step change in how children can interact with knowledge.

“The team is applying high caliber engineering and thoughtful pedagogy to a space that desperately needs innovation. Their traction with schools shows a real appetite for tools that foster curiosity and agency rather than passive consumption.”