Graide
Graide is a UK-based AI-powered assessment and feedback platform that uses proprietary non-LLM 'Replay Grading' technology to automate marking and feedback for universities, further education colleges, vocational providers, and awarding bodies. Founded in 2021 as a University of Birmingham spin-out and acquired by Inspera in 2025.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2021
- HeadquartersBirmingham, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Graide does
Graide (legal entity: 6 BIT EDUCATION LTD) is a UK-based AI-powered assessment and feedback platform targeting universities, further education colleges, vocational training providers, and awarding bodies. Founded in 2021 as a University of Birmingham spin-out by Robert Stanyon, Manjinder Kainth, and George Bartlett, the company is headquartered in Birmingham and operates with 11-50 employees. The platform is built around a proprietary 'Replay Grading' technology, an evolutionary, non-LLM AI architecture that trains question-specific models on educator feedback patterns and reuses that feedback to automate repetitive marking. Supporting capabilities include neural-network OCR for handwritten work, handwriting recognition for tablets, and modules for maths, short-text, and essay grading, with reported accuracy of up to 99% in essay grading trials (Oxbridge collaboration).
Graide monetises through quote-based multi-year subscriptions tiered by customer segment: full university licenses range £150,000-£250,000, further education and college contracts £10,000-£50,000, and vocational/professional development contracts £30,000-£50,000, with separate usage-based pricing for awarding bodies per question type. Go-to-market is enterprise field sales, with major contracts secured through competitive public tender processes; the company also distributes via an integration partnership with Aptem (UK apprenticeship management). In 2025 Graide was acquired by Inspera AS, a strategic operating acquirer in the assessment technology space. The company has raised approximately £2.4m cumulatively (£800k seed in 2022, £1.6m in 2024) and was named to TIME's World's Top EdTech Companies of 2025.
Graide firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Graide
- Legal name
- 6 BIT EDUCATION LTD
- Website
- https://graide.co.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2021
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Graide is a UK-based AI-powered assessment and feedback platform that uses proprietary non-LLM 'Replay Grading' technology to automate marking and feedback for universities, further education colleges, vocational providers, and awarding bodies. Founded in 2021 as a University of Birmingham spin-out and acquired by Inspera in 2025.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Graide industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Education Technology / AI Assessment Software
- NAICS
- Educational Support Services (611710)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Automated Scoring, Grading & Feedback (AI/ML) Systems (EDAFADAE)
Keywords
Where Graide is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Birmingham
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Graide business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Platform Subscription (Universities): Annual or multi-year platform license for universities and higher education institutions. Full university license typical cost £150,000-£250,000 with department-level pricing available.
- Platform Subscription (Further Education): Scaling per student per year fee with one-time implementation and training fee. Typical cost £10,000-£50,000 for colleges.
- Platform Subscription (Vocational): Annual platform access fee with question type (maths, short text, long form) based pricing to scale with usage. Typical cost £30,000-£50,000 per year.
- Question Type Pricing (Awarding Bodies): Scaling fee per question type (maths, short text, long form) for awarding bodies and exam boards.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Universities & Higher Education |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Further Education & Colleges |
| Subscription | Annual | Vocational & Professional Development |
| Usage-based | Multi-year contract | Awarding Bodies |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Schools |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels8 records
Graide product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Graide provides an AI-powered assessment and feedback platform for educational institutions that uses proprietary evolutionary (non-LLM) "Replay Grading" technology to learn how educators give feedback and automatically reuse that feedback for similar student responses. The platform grades mathematics, short text, and essay questions across handwritten, typed, image, and PDF submissions, and is sold as a subscription to universities, further education colleges, vocational training providers, and awarding bodies.
Product overview
Graide is a unified AI-powered assessment and feedback platform built around its proprietary 'Replay Grading' technology. The platform consists of a core grading engine with three AI-assisted grading modules (AI Mathematics Grading, AI Short Text Grading, AI Essay Grading) that use evolutionary AI rather than LLMs to learn feedback patterns and automate repetitive marking. Supporting modules cover flexible submissions (Typed Maths, OCR, Handwriting Recognition, Image/PDF Upload), assignment management (Assignment Manager, Reuse Questions & Assignments, Learning System Sync), student interaction monitoring (Student View, Log Student Interaction, Extenuating Circumstances, Exam Durations), analytics and reporting (Student Analytics, Grade Distributions, Aggregated Issues, Specific Issues), feedback management (Flexible Grading, Feedback Tagging, Organising Feedback, Easy Editing, One Time Comments), and resource/workflow management (Workload Manager, Revenue Manager, Interaction Oversight, Staff Work Timer, SLA Insight, Throughput Insight, Staff Invoicing Snapshot, Itemised Work Pricing). A notable add-on is the Graide-Aptem integration for apprenticeships. The platform is designed for vocational training, higher/further education, and awarding bodies/exam boards.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Replay Grading: A technology that uses AI to learn how educators give feedback so they do not have to grade the same method twice. The AI learns from educator inputs and automatically suggests feedback for similar responses.
Products and services
- Graide Core Platform Unified AI-powered assessment and feedback platform built around proprietary Replay Grading evolutionary AI technology. Grades mathematics, short text, and essay questions; supports handwritten, typed, image, and PDF submissions; provides explainable AI with full teacher-in-the-loop editorial control. Sold as a multi-year subscription license to universities, further education colleges, vocational training providers, and awarding bodies.
- Graide for Apprenticeships (Aptem-integrated marking aid) Strategic partnership product with Aptem (market-leading apprenticeship management system) delivering the first AI-driven integrated marking aid for apprenticeships. Embeds Graide's AI essay and short-text grading inside Aptem's apprenticeship management workflow, saving up to 50% of marking time for vocational tutors. Targeted at vocational training providers and apprenticeship organisations.
Quantifiable outcome
- 89% reduction in grading time per script (11.2 to 1.2 minutes)
- +8 more outcomes
Companies that use Graide
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Graide technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
AI capability5 records
Feature9 records
Graide partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.
- AptemcoreStrategic partnership with Aptem, the market-leading apprenticeship management system, to develop the first AI-driven marking aid specifically designed for apprenticeships. The collaboration allows tutors to save up to 50% of marking time. Integration enables seamless workflow between Aptem's apprenticeship management platform and Graide's assessment tools.
- InsperaflagshipGraide is now part of Inspera. Together, the companies are shaping the future of assessment. This acquisition represents a major strategic partnership to expand capabilities and market reach in the assessment technology space.
- OxbridgecoreCollaboration with Oxbridge for AI essay grading research and implementation. Oxbridge is a leading provider of online vocational courses that utilized Graide's AI-powered grading platform for streamlining assessment processes. Achieved up to 100% congruence with teacher marking in trials.
Scale indicators11 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Graide competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- ExamSoft: Enterprise assessment and analytics platform widely used in higher education and professional certification. Comparable to Graide in serving awarding bodies, exam boards, and universities with secure, rubric-based grading workflows.
- Turnitin: Global leader in academic assessment, plagiarism detection, and AI writing detection. Closest direct competitor to Graide in higher education assessment and feedback, with established relationships at most UK and US universities.
- Crowdmark: Collaborative online grading and assessment platform used by universities. Overlaps with Graide's flexible grading, anonymous grading, and pool-grading workflows for both handwritten and digital submissions.
- Gradescope (Turnitin): AI-assisted grading platform owned by Turnitin, used heavily for STEM assignments at universities. Direct overlap with Graide's AI Mathematics Grading and AI Short Text Grading modules, including rubric-based auto-grading and batch upload workflows.
- Talis (Quercus / Talis Elevate): UK-headquartered higher education technology provider with assessment and reading-list products. Direct peer in the UK HE market, with overlapping institutional customers and similar procurement-driven go-to-market.
Broad incumbents
- Canvas (Instructure): Major learning management system with a built-in SpeedGrader tool widely used in higher education. Customers explicitly compare Graide against Canvas SpeedGrader, and Instructure competes at the LMS layer that Graide's Learning System Sync integrates with.
- D2L Brightspace: Enterprise LMS with assignment, grading, and analytics capabilities. Comparable to Graide in serving universities and large institutions, with bundled assessment functionality that competes for the same EdTech budget lines.
- Inspera: European assessment platform that acquired Graide in 2025. Operates a broader assessment and proctoring suite across multiple international markets; as Graide's parent, it is both a distribution channel and a peer in the same product category.
- Blackboard: One of the largest LMS and assessment providers in higher education. Overlaps with Graide at the assessment, grading, and analytics layer, and competes for the same institutional procurement budgets.
Emerging players
- CoGrader: AI-assisted grading tool focused on teachers and tutors, particularly for short-answer and essay questions. Closest emerging AI-native peer to Graide in the rubric-based auto-grading space, though with a K–12 and individual-tutor emphasis.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Graide social profiles
Digital presenceGraide compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Graide financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Graide leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Graide funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors5 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Graide M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Graide
What does Graide do?
Graide provides an AI-powered assessment and feedback platform for educational institutions that uses proprietary evolutionary (non-LLM) "Replay Grading" technology to learn how educators give feedback and automatically reuse that feedback for similar student responses. The platform grades mathematics, short text, and essay questions across handwritten, typed, image, and PDF submissions, and is sold as a subscription to universities, further education colleges, vocational training providers, and awarding bodies.
Is Graide a public or private company?
Graide is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Graide founded?
Graide was founded in 2021. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Graide based?
Graide is headquartered in Birmingham, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Graide make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Platform Subscription (Universities) is the primary driver. The others are platform Subscription (Further Education), platform Subscription (Vocational) and question Type Pricing (Awarding Bodies).
Who are Graide's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are ExamSoft, Turnitin, Crowdmark, Gradescope (Turnitin) and Talis (Quercus / Talis Elevate). Broad incumbents are Canvas (Instructure), D2L Brightspace, Inspera and Blackboard. CoGrader is listed as an emerging player.
Does Graide have an API?
No public API is recorded for Graide.
What industry is Graide in?
Graide's product category is Education Technology / AI Assessment Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAFADAE, Automated Scoring, Grading & Feedback (AI/ML) Systems. Its NAICS code is 611710 and its SIC code is 7372.