Ello is a subscription-based AI reading coach for kindergarten through Grade 3 that uses proprietary child speech recognition to listen to kids read aloud, correct mispronunciations, and apply phonics-based strategies. The tablet app delivers five hand-selected books each month and charges $24.99 for the first child with additional kids at $12.49 per month. The coach waits until a child finishes a page before offering instruction, includes a tappable help icon, and layers gamification with points redeemable for toys and prizes. The company claims its speech models outperform OpenAI's Whisper and Google Cloud's speech API and reports 10,000 families on the platform and more than 300,000 books read. On the roadmap Ello is adding smartphone support, integrating generative AI, testing a German version, and building a classroom product while running pilot programs with about 30 schools mostly in San Francisco and New York.

Total raised

$15M

Funding rounds

1

Latest round

Series A

Latest activity

Sep 2023