Cape Town edtech startup secured major funding to scale its smartphone-based exam integrity platform across Africa, Europe, Asia, and beyond.

The Invigilator, a South African education technology startup, has raised ZAR195 million (approximately $11 million) in a funding round, reflecting the growing worldwide demand for trustworthy digital assessment tools.

Founded in 2020, the Cape Town-based company received funding from the Jersey-based private investment firm Kaltroco, with additional support from partners in Nashville, Zurich and Cape Town. The new capital is expected to support the company's efforts to develop new products and expand internationally.

Students' smartphones are used by the invigilator's exam monitoring technology to monitor evaluations. Its technology is built to identify suspicious activities on devices, suspicious motions and the use of AI-generated responses, including content created by ChatGPT and other similar tools. Also the platform is tailored for low bandwidth settings, which makes it particularly useful for institutions that operate in areas with erratic internet connectivity.

According to CEO Nicholas Riemer, the investment is a vital step in the company's expansion. In addition to supporting the integrity of digital assessments at scale and strengthening the platform's technology, he pointed out that the investment reflects growing international concern over exam fraud and AI misuse in education.

Currently, the company works with over 100 educational institutions in sub Saharan Africa and South Africa. In addition to enhancing its AI detection skills and introducing multilingual support for customers from other countries, it now intends to grow across North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

The funding comes as The Invigilator and fellow South African edtech startup Vambo AI were recently featured on CNN's Marketplace Africa, showcasing how regional businesses are using AI to tackle persistent issues in education. The recent increase strengthens South Africa's position as a developing hub for worldwide scalable innovation and improves momentum to the nation's larger technology ecosystem.

Thus, Business Fortune is of the view that this funding marks a significant step forward for South African edtech and The Invigilator’s global ambitions.