Imagi raises $4.5 million to expand AI coding for K-12 students

Imagi raised $4.5 million in seed funding as it pushes an AI coding platform into K-12 classrooms, with Brighteye Ventures, Day One Capital and artist Wil.i.am among the backers. The company is betting that vibe coding, the prompt-driven style of building software with natural language, can be adapted for schools and younger learners.

Imagi describes itself as reimagining technology education for the age of AI and says it is built for K-12 with a safe Lovable x imagi platform for schools. Its LinkedIn profile says it is trying to bridge the gap between evolving technology and schools’ ability to teach AI, coding and STEAM, and a separate LinkedIn profile described its tools as gender inclusive by design. Tech & Learning said the product makes coding a game while staying aligned with curriculum.

The company’s founders have framed that mission around access. Dora Palfi, imagi’s co-founder and CEO, studied neuroscience with a minor in computer science at New York University Abu Dhabi, and another profile says she began as co-founder and CEO of imagi in July 2018 after studying at EIT Digital Academy. A Vivify STEM interview dated Oct. 25, 2024, paired Palfi with co-founder Beatrice Ionascu as they discussed making tech education more accessible.

The funding lands as investors continue to chase vibe coding. Business Insider covered another vibe-coding startup in August 2025 that raised $9 million, showing the term had already become a live venture theme before imagi’s latest round. Imagi’s financing history also stretches beyond this raise: Nordic9 reported that ImagiLabs had previously raised €250,000 from angel investors, and PitchBook says imagi has now raised $4.85 million total, with earlier backers including Further Than Capital, gener8tor, Brass Ring Ventures and Propel Capital in Sweden.

Public posts around the company have tied the round to a broader classroom push. Julia Delin wrote on LinkedIn that she was “proud of Dora Palfi, Beatrice Ionascu and the team at imagi for bringing vibe coding into schools all across the U.S.,” and linked the effort to Lovable and OpenAI. Palfi also posted about a Vibe Coding Classroom Contest beginning during CS Ed Week, with OpenAI providing $1 million in credits so schools can use Lovable through imagi for free.

The question now is whether that mix of credits, contests and AI prompts will deepen how students learn computational thinking, or simply give coding instruction a new label for the AI era.