From classroom overload to insight: Teaching, redefined by AI

Developed by 22-year-olds for the classroom of the future – €1 million in funding for paddy 

• Just six months after launch: paddy secures €1 million in pre-seed funding, with High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) as lead investor. 
• The startup has developed a unique AI platform that supports teachers in preparing, conducting, and following up on their lessons. 
• Teachers can once again meet the needs of their students: Already 12,000 active users. 

The startup paddy has developed a unique AI platform that saves teachers time throughout their day, enabling them to provide personalized support students once again. The platform assists with lesson planning, creates tailored teaching materials in various formats, offers digital tools for lesson delivery, and analyzes class performance. 

Founded in Eastern Westphalia by three “teacher kids”, Matty Frommann, Lukas Portmann, and Tobias Schröder, who only recently finished school themselves. 

“paddy shows how we can reduce stress for teachers while helping students develop AI skills at an early stage. Beyond the impressive product, it’s the team that won me over: Despite their young age, the founders already demonstrate remarkable entrepreneurial intuition – and I’m excited to see where the journey takes them!” says Felix Assion, Investment Manager at HTGF. 

A massive market with urgent needs 

paddy: Born at the breakfast table, developed in the classroom 

“I saw firsthand as a student how overwhelmed many teachers were – no time for individual support, even though the intention was there. That’s what sparked the idea for paddy,” says Matty Frommann, co-founder and CEO of paddy. 

The frustrations of teaching were part of daily life for the paddy founders: conversations at the breakfast table about overcrowded classes, endless grading, and the feeling of never being able to meet every student’s needs. Teachers constantly juggle between admin work, curriculum pressure, and classroom management, often without the ability to respond to individual students. 

During the pandemic, the future paddy founders organized local teacher trainings and saw firsthand how schools struggled with digital and structural challenges. In 2024, they founded DigitalErleben GmbH and launched the paddy AI platform in January 2025 – a solution that truly simplifies daily teaching routines. 

The solution: More time for what matters most 

paddy handles the tasks that fill up teachers’ calendars with no extra workload or training required. The platform identifies topic, target group, and learning objectives. It suggests matching tasks, methods, and materials, generates differentiated content, and analyzes student progress to support next steps. Teachers quickly gain insight into where their class stands and who may need extra support. 

Instead of jumping between tools, binders, and to-do lists, teachers have time again for what really matters in the classroom: personalized support, meaningful feedback, and genuine connection with their students. 

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About paddy 
paddy is an AI platform developed by DigitalErleben GmbH, based in Bielefeld, supporting teachers across the entire teaching cycle. Founded in 2024 by Matty Frommann, Lukas Portmann, and Tobias Schröder – all children of teachers – and joined later that year by CTO Lukas Kaufmann, the company developed a solution to help teachers manage their overloaded school routines. 

paddy eases the workload in planning, conducting, and reviewing lessons and supports educators in giving personalized attention to their students. With over 12,000 active users (teachers) just six months post-launch, paddy is well on its way to transforming education in the DACH region through AI. 

More information: https://paddy.app/ 

Media Contact 
The Trailblazers GmbH 
Katarina Jörg, PR Manager 
T: +49 173 4120544 
katarina@thetrailblazers.de 

About HTGF – High-Tech Gründerfonds  
HTGF is one of the leading and most active early-stage investors in Germany and Europe, financing startups in the fields of Deep Tech, Industrial Tech, Climate Tech, Digital Tech, Life Sciences and Chemistry. With its experienced investment team, HTGF supports startups in all phases of their development into international market leaders. HTGF invests in pre-seed and seed phases and can participate significantly in later-stage financing rounds. Since its inception in 2005, HTGF has financed more than 780 startups and achieved almost 200 successful exits. HTGF has a fund volume of over 2 billion euros.  

Fund investors in the public-private partnership include the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, KfW Capital as well as 45 companies and family offices.   
For more information, please visit HTGF.de or follow us on LinkedIn.    

Media contact  
High-Tech Gründerfonds Management GmbH  
Tobias Jacob, Senior Marketing & Communications Manager   
T.: +49 228 – 82300 – 121  
t.jacob@htgf.de