Leeds alumni secures £260,00 funding for business proposal

Dragos Popa, who graduated from the University of Leeds with a BSc in Computer Science in 2024, has co-founded the AI study assistant project Plato.

Popa started this project in his third year of study with the help of SPARK, the Universities business start-up help service.

Plato is an embedded and governed AI study assistant that directly integrates into module materials, meaning it can answer academic questions within the module, helping with module content and personal support.

The AI also supports institutions in learning analytic usage, engagement, and learning statistics of students, allowing them to adapt modules to continue supporting students.

Dragos moved to the United Kingdom from Romania in 2012. Here, he met fellow co-founder of Plato, Nikita Dumitriuc at school.

Dragos says: “I’ve always had entrepreneurial drive, I wanted to create something for myself and always enjoyed building things, which is why I chose to do computer science here at Leeds.

“I was on the lookout for incubators and accelerators, and I started doing projects in my first couple of years here at Leeds, with SPARK. Although they weren’t successful, SPARK really helped support me and understand that failure is a part of the process.”

Whilst studying at Leeds, Dragos saw large language AI models becoming more popular, and he started to develop a prototype for the business, which he pitched to staff in the School of Computing.

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At the Digital Universities UK conference 2024 held in Exeter, Plato secured a trial run with the University of Sussex. Since they have also worked with the University of Liverpool, which produced a positive outcome.

Brian Ballie, the Head of the Business Start-Up at SPARK at the University of Leeds, comments:

“The Spark team is extremely proud of the dedication Dragos and Nikita have invested in Plato, and it’s fantastic to see their hard work beginning to pay off.

“They are outstanding entrepreneurs to have within our incubator, inspiring the earlier‑stage businesses joining our community. We’re excited to see where their journey leads next.”

Ed Stevenson, Principal at SCF Capital, also comments:

“We’re excited to back Plato as they address one of the most important challenges in higher education today: ensuring students receive timely, effective academic support at scale.

“As universities explore how to integrate AI into teaching and learning, there is a clear need for solutions that enhance the student experience while giving institutions appropriate oversight and insight. We believe this combination of improved student experience and strong institutional oversight positions Plato as an important part of the future of higher education.”

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