Diotima received €500,000 under Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund last year.

AI edtech start-up Diotima, founded by former secondary school teacher Siobhan Ryan, has spun out from Trinity College Dublin (TCD).

The platform aims to enable educators to use AI to create assessments and individualised feedback to improve learning outcomes and lighten burdens on teachers.

The spin-out will be led by edtech commercialisation specialist Jonathan Dempsey as CEO, with Ryan, also a biochemist and environmental scientist, becoming chief product officer and learning lead.

Development engineer Daniel Fernandez and AI engineer Dr Long Mai, who have both worked on the Diotima project, will also join the inaugural team.

Dr Eoin Lane, an AI regulatory compliance expert who was formerly the global head of AI and data science at the Bank of New York Mellon, is a governance consultant to the Diotima project.

“This all started when I was working as a teacher and I had a vision for how AI could enhance teaching and learning even before any of the models like ChatGPT launched,” said Ryan.

“I then worked with Tom Pollock and Learnovate to develop this vision into a real-world project.”

Diotima began its partnership with Learnovate in February 2025 and received €500,000 in funding under Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund, which supports third-level researchers in translating their research into commercially viable solutions.

The idea was to develop an AI-enabled edtech platform to help teachers and other educators create assessments, as well as provide feedback to learners, all in compliance with European and Irish legislation.

Specifically, the platform meets requirements under the EU AI Act, which has strict regulations around the usage of AI in high-risk sectors such as education.

“We aim to position Diotima as a leader in responsible AI for education,” Ryan said. Diotima will continue to engage with prospective customers and stakeholders for a go-to-market strategy while also seeking new investment.

“Using responsible AI, Diotima promises to develop into a revolutionary platform for learners in secondary schools and professional education organisations, delivering formative feedback and better outcomes overall,” said Pollock, Learnovate’s impact, licensing and commercialisation manager.

Learnovate launched its ‘Responsible AI for Learning’ initiative earlier this year to enable AI implementers and practitioners involved in teaching and learning to share knowledge, interpret guidelines and comply with AI regulations.

The initiative is made up of professionals from all four education domains – schools, higher education, vocational education and training, and professional education – as well as representatives from the Department of Education, teaching unions and other sectors.

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