- Hungarian edtech company BOOKR Kids has secured €6.1 million in a Series A transaction, led by TCEE Fund IV, advised by 3TS Capital Partners.
- The Budapest-based company serves more than 600,000 paying students across 3,000+ schools in more than 30 countries, with a focus on literacy and language learning.
- BOOKR is using the funding to expand internationally and develop AI-powered learning tools designed to strengthen students’ comprehension and independent thinking rather than replace it.
As AI increasingly changes how students search, write and consume information, Dr Dorka Horváth is betting that one of the most important skills for the AI era may be one of the oldest: the ability to read, understand and think independently.
Horváth, CEO and co-founder of Budapest-based BOOKR Kids, has built the company alongside co-founder Dani Karanyi from a literacy-focused startup into an international learning platform. The company has now completed a €6.1 million Series A transaction.
The round features a hybrid deal structure combining primary investment (new growth capital injected directly into the company), secondary share purchases (buying existing shares from early shareholders), and the conversion of existing debt/convertible financing instruments into equity.
The round was led by TCEE Fund IV, advised by 3TS Capital Partners, a prominent Vienna-based venture capital and private equity firm focusing on Central and Eastern Europe whose notable historic investments include software developer Brainware and digital adoption provider Datango. It saw participation from strategic and international investors including Kids Read Now nonprofit investor Leib Lurie, SchoolDay CEO Robert Iskander, Infinit Capital Oy and Hungarian angel investor Albert Sárospataki through the FusionWise syndicate.
AI-ready learning
BOOKR has grown from a literacy-focused startup into an international learning platform spanning more than 30 countries, with markets across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas.
Its BOOKR Class platform combines thousands of interactive, curriculum-based digital books with more than 50,000 learning activities, targeting reading comprehension, language development and literacy.
The company’s proposition is increasingly centred on what happens when AI becomes ubiquitous. Rather than using AI to outsource thinking, BOOKR argues that stronger comprehension, curiosity and judgement will become more valuable as AI systems increasingly generate and interpret information.
Its new Teacher Dashboard brings curriculum alignment, learning analytics, differentiation and teacher-support tools into one environment. BOOKR is also developing an AI-driven language placement and proficiency assessment system, supported by a €662,000 non-repayable European Union grant.
“The next generation will not compete with AI on speed. They will need to compete on depth: comprehension, curiosity, judgement and the ability to ask better questions,” said Dr Dorka Horváth, CEO and co-founder of BOOKR Kids.
A growing market
BOOKR’s funding comes as education technology faces a more complicated AI moment. Generative AI is rapidly entering classrooms, but concerns around accuracy, student privacy, over-reliance on automated tools and declining critical-thinking skills are increasing demand for technology that can demonstrate measurable educational outcomes.
BOOKR says university-led research in Hungary found a 20% improvement in reading comprehension among students using its interactive learning format compared with a control group. A 2026 pilot in Jordan also reported stronger improvement among students using BOOKR.
The company reported approximately $2.7 million in revenue in 2025 and remained EBITDA-positive, while its international customer base continues to expand.
That evidence-led positioning could become increasingly important as schools move from experimenting with AI tools towards selecting platforms that can demonstrate actual learning impact.
Scaling beyond the classroom
The new capital will support expansion across Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas, alongside several product initiatives.
BOOKR plans to develop BOOKR Next for learners aged 10–18 and BOOKR Phonics, an eight-phase early-literacy programme. It will also expand its Teacher Dashboard internationally, alongside Speaking Studio and multilingual learning products.
The company’s competition is broad rather than limited to traditional EdTech platforms. Digital reading and literacy providers such as Vooks, which has raised over $43 million in total funding and Pickatale compete directly for children’s reading engagement, while larger education platforms are increasingly adding AI-powered tutoring, assessment and teacher-support capabilities.
BOOKR’s differentiation is therefore less about simply putting books on a screen and more about combining curated content, pedagogy, assessment and teacher data in one system.
“BOOKR pairs outstanding content and rigorous pedagogy with something few companies from our region achieve: a genuinely international business,” said Barnabás Vincze, Investment Manager at 3TS Capital Partners.
With AI changing how information is created and consumed, BOOKR is betting that the education infrastructure built around understanding information, rather than simply generating it, could become just as important.
