Edtech group Kortext has bought StudyStash, an adaptive learning platform started by two University of Birmingham computer science students, a year after its founders graduated. Terms were not disclosed; the platform is used by tens of thousands of students across more than 160 institutions on three continents.
StudyStash was founded by Ben Ward and Jonathan Graham, who met on the University of Birmingham's computer science course while working on PwC's technology degree apprenticeship. The product started as a way to turn their own lecture notes into revision material.
It became a company through Elevate, the university's incubator programme. The University of Birmingham then signed as its first customer.
What Kortext is buying
The platform converts course content into personalised flashcards, practice tests and podcasts. It adapts as a student works, steering them towards weaker topics, and gives lecturers and student success teams data on where support is needed.
StudyStash integrates with the learning management systems most universities already run, including Canvas, Blackboard and Moodle.
It is now in use at more than 160 institutions across the UK, Europe, the US and Africa. Named customers include California State University, Minnesota State, Colorado State, the University of Oulu in Finland and RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences in Dublin.
The company also has partnerships with California's community college system and with EAB, a US consultancy that works with more than 2,800 higher education institutions. Its advisory board includes senior figures from UCL, Imperial College London and the University of Oxford.
Deal terms
Neither side disclosed the price, the split between cash and shares, or whether any earn-out applies.
Ward, the chief executive, said the company had raised equity finance since launch. The amount, the investors and their returns from the sale were not disclosed, so the outcome for the cap table cannot be established.
The timeline is short: the sale comes a year after the founders graduated.
The acquirer
Kortext was founded in 2013 and supplies digital content, analytics and AI-powered workflow tools to thousands of universities worldwide. StudyStash joins its portfolio of learning technologies.
James Gray, Kortext's founder and chief executive, said the deal accelerates the group's AI strategy and takes it further into teaching and learning workflows. He said the future of AI in education depends on tools institutions can trust.
What's next
Kortext gains a US customer base and an adaptive learning product it can sell to its existing university accounts in the UK and North America. For StudyStash, Ward said the acquirer provides the distribution to reach institutions it could not have reached alone.
The deal is also a data point for university incubators outside London. A Birmingham student company has gone from its first university customer to a trade sale with no publicly disclosed funding round.
Original source: Tech.eu — https://tech.eu/2026/10/02/ai-study-platform-studystash-acquired-by-kortext-after-rapid-global-expansion/
