Enterprise Ireland backs AI platform to help teachers create assessments and provide feedback
A team of researchers at Trinity College Dublin has received €500,000 from Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund to develop an AI-enabled platform to help teachers create assessments and provide formative feedback to learners.
Diotima began its partnership with Learnovate in February this year and is expected to spin out as a company in 2026.
The funding was granted under Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund, which supports third-level researchers to translate their research into innovative and commercially viable products, services and companies.
Diotima supports teaching practice by using responsible AI to provide learners with feedback, leading to more and better assessments and improved learning outcomes for students, and a more manageable workload for teachers.
The project was co-founded by Siobhan Ryan, a former secondary school teacher, biochemist and environmental scientist, and Jonathan Dempsey, an edtech professional with start-up and corporate experience.
Associate Professor Ann Devitt, Head of the Trinity School of Education, and Carl Vogel, Professor of Computational Linguistics and Director of the Trinity Centre for Computing and Language Studies, are serving as co-principal investigators on the project.
Since receiving funding, the project leaders have established an education advisory group formed of representatives from post-primary and professional education organisations.
Co-founder Siobhan Ryan is Diotima’s learning lead. After a 12-year career in the brewing industry with Diageo, Ryan re-trained as a secondary school teacher before leaving the profession to develop the business case for a formative assessment and feedback platform. Her experience in the classroom made her realise that she could have a greater impact by leveraging AI to create a platform to support teachers in a safe, transparent, and empowering way.
Her co-founder Jonathan Dempsey was CEO of the Enterprise Ireland-backed EdTech firm Digitary, now part of multinational Instructure Inc. He held the role of director of UK and Ireland for US education system provider Ellucian and head of education and education platforms for Europe with Indian multinational TCS.
Learnovate Centre Director Nessa McEniff said: “Diotima promises to develop into a revolutionary platform for learners in secondary schools and professional education organisations, delivering formative feedback and better outcomes overall. We look forward to supporting them further as they continue to develop the platform in the months ahead.”
Ryan said: “The investment is already having a positive effect, allowing us to hire two post-doctoral researchers in AI whose work has been vital to progressing the platform towards the first testing phase.
“We’re extremely grateful to Learnovate for helping us gain access to the funding from Enterprise Ireland, as well as their assistance in hiring and technical expertise. Our partnership with Learnovate has exceeded our expectations and we look forward to building on that relationship as we strive towards spinning out in 2026.”
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