UK startup Sainaptic raises £1 million for AI-assisted marking of vocational exams

Sainaptic, a UK edtech startup that builds AI tools for marking vocational and professional qualifications, raised £1 million in new funding, Tech.eu reported on October 13, 2026. Cornerstone VC and Ufi Ventures co-led the round, and Elm Venture Partners and Brighteye Ventures also took part. The report did not name the stage of the round.

The company was founded by two educators and data scientists trained at Cambridge and develops AI tools that help exam boards and training providers assess vocational and professional qualifications. Under a partnership with Skilltech Solutions, which makes assessment management software, the tool is to be offered to large UK apprenticeship assessment organisations, with a joint product expected in the first quarter of 2027 for selected apprenticeship standards. Qualified human assessors will keep the final decision. Sainaptic said marking time for some qualifications fell from 45 minutes to eight seconds and that its results differ from expert assessors by less than 1 percent, figures that are the company's own.

The funding will grow the engineering, product and sales teams and support expansion into quality assurance, analytics and personalized assessment. The report noted that marking written and spoken work can take up to 90 minutes per assessment, which can delay feedback and certification for apprentices.