Diotima received €500,000 under Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialization Fund last year.
AI edtech Diotima, founded by former high school teacher Siobhan Ryan, has spun off from Trinity College Dublin (TCD).
The platform enables teachers to use AI to conduct assessments and individualized feedback to improve learning outcomes and reduce the burden on teachers.
The spin-out will be led by edtech commercial expert Jonathan Dempsey as CEO, with Ryan, a biochemist and environmental scientist, taking over as chief product officer (CPO) and learning leader.
Development engineer Daniel Fernandez and AI engineer Dr. Long Mai, who both worked on the Diotima project, will join the initial team.
Dr Eoin Lane, an AI compliance expert who was previously the global head of AI and data science at the Bank of New York Mellon, is the administrative consultant on the Diotima project.
“This all started when I was working as a teacher and had an idea of how AI could improve teaching and learning even before models like ChatGPT were introduced,” said CPO Ryan.
“I then worked with Tom Pollock and Learnovate to develop this idea into a real-world project.”
Diotima began its partnership with Learnovate in February 2025 and received €500,000 in funding under Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialization Fund, which supports third-level researchers to translate their research into commercial solutions.
The idea was to create an AI-powered edtech platform to help teachers and other educators create assessments, as well as provide feedback to students, all in compliance with European and Irish law.
Specifically, the platform meets the requirements under the EU AI Act, which has strict rules regarding the use of AI in high-risk sectors, such as education.
“We aim to position Diotima as a leader in responsible AI in education,” Ryan explained. Now, Diotima will continue to engage with prospective customers and stakeholders for a go-to-market strategy, TCD said. The spin-out also seeks new investment.
“Using responsible AI, Diotima promises to evolve into a transformative platform for high school students and professional education organizations, delivering positive feedback and better overall results,” commented Pollock, Learnovate’s manager of impact, licensing and sales.
Learnovate launched its ‘AI for Learning’ program earlier this year to enable AI innovators and practitioners involved in teaching and learning to share knowledge, interpret guidelines and comply with AI regulations.
The program is made up of experts from all four fields of education, including schools, higher education, vocational education and training, and professional education, as well as representatives from the Department of Education, teachers’ unions and other sectors.
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