Third Space Learning

Third Space Learning is a London-based edtech company providing online maths tutoring to primary school pupils, founded in 2013 by Tom Hooper and Mark Anthony. Its model pairs pupils with trained tutors for weekly one-to-one video sessions, originally using human tutors and progressively integrating AI-assisted tools to scale reach without proportionally increasing tutor headcount. The company serves state schools across the UK, with a focus on disadvantaged pupils who lack access to private tutoring. Its Skye platform is an AI maths tutor that supplements or replaces some human-led sessions at lower cost per pupil. 196,000 pupils across more than 4,200 schools use the service.

Third Space Learning raised £4.4m in April 2026 from Maven Capital Partners (deploying through the British Business Bank South West Investment Fund), Blackfinch Ventures, Foresight Group and Nesta. The round's investor profile is notably regional: the BBB South West fund, deployed via Maven, is designed to fill the capital gap in markets outside London where VCT and angel networks are thinner. A Gates Foundation research partnership validates the Skye platform's evidence base.

The company sits at the intersection of two persistent UK policy concerns: school attainment gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged pupils, and the question of whether AI can deliver consistent, evidence-based instruction at the cost structure needed for state-school deployment at scale. Skye's existing footprint of 196,000 pupils suggests the product has cleared the credibility threshold, and the £4.4m is growth capital for school partnership expansion rather than proof-of-concept funding.