Is Numerade profitable in 2026?

Numerade is private and discloses no audited financials. Third-party revenue estimates range from under $5M (ZoomInfo) to over $150M (Growjo), too inconsistent to confirm profitability as of early 2026.

Could AI replace Numerade's homework help service?

Numerade's core step-by-step answer product overlaps directly with free ChatGPT, cited as the 'de facto Chegg replacement' in 2026 comparison pieces. Category peer Chegg lost 99% of stock value and cut 67% of staff in 2025 citing generative AI substitution.

Numerade Labs, Inc. is privately held and venture-backed, founded in 2018 by Nhon Ma and Alex Lee. It last raised a $26M Series A at a ~$100M post-money valuation on July 20, 2021, with no disclosed new round since.

Is Chegg Numerade's biggest competitor?

Historically yes, but by 2026 both face the same threat: free general AI chatbots like ChatGPT are named the default homework-help tool in comparison articles, with Chegg down 99% in stock value as of October 2025.

What is numerade.ai and why did Numerade launch it?

numerade.ai is Numerade's pivot to sell its 60,000+ expert educator network and video/problem dataset as training data to frontier AI labs, entering a market dominated by Scale AI (~$14B valuation) and Surge AI (>$1B revenue), with no disclosed contracts as of mid-2026.

Has Numerade raised new funding recently?

No. Numerade's last disclosed funding is a $26M Series A closed July 20, 2021 at a ~$100M post-money valuation. Caplight data as of February 2026 shows no subsequent priced round has been publicly reported.

Education companies · United States

Numerade

numerade.com ↗

Video-based STEM homework help platform pivoting toward AI training data licensing.

Little protection left

Assessed 22 July 2026 · Evidence as of 22 July 2026

Not much stands between this business and its pressures.

On the recordSince 22 July 2026 · Checkable from mid-to-late 2026 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: Six to twelve month window for a disclosed numerade.ai frontier lab contract or new priced funding round

The call

Numerade sits in the same homework help category that just watched Chegg lose 99% of its value to free AI, with no disclosed contract yet proving its data pivot works.

Numerade built a business showing students step-by-step solutions to homework problems, but ChatGPT and similar AI tools now do the same thing at no cost, making Numerade's main product obsolete. The company Chegg tried the same model and has nearly disappeared, losing 99% of its stock price after AI tools took over. Numerade is trying to switch to selling data work to AI companies instead, but much bigger companies like Scale AI already own that business, and no one knows yet if Numerade has real customers doing that.

Why

AI pressure: ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude free image-based math solving. Free chatbots now solve step-by-step homework problems instantly, gutting the paid reason to use Numerade at all. Could AI do the core job? Yes, likely.

Bigger players: Scale AI and Surge AI. Numerade's pivot to selling labeled STEM video data competes against much larger, better funded data labeling shops with existing frontier lab ties. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.

What protects it. A library of 300,000+ expert-made STEM videos that could have some licensing value if a lab actually signs a deal.

What would change this call

Numerade or numerade.ai announces a named, signed frontier-lab data-labeling contract. Would show the B2B pivot has real customers, not just aspiration.
Numerade discloses a new priced funding round within 12 months. Would show outside investors still believe in the business despite AI disruption.
Numerade publishes or leaks consumer subscriber retention numbers. Would show whether paying users are staying despite free ChatGPT alternatives.

Key numbers

Chegg stock down about 99% since 2021 peak (2025-10-31)
Chegg cut 67% of staff across 2025 layoffs (2025-10-31)
Numerade's last priced round: $26M at $100M valuation (2021-07-20)

Named risks

Core paid homework-answer product directly commoditized by free ChatGPT and similar tools. Severity: high
B2B data-labeling pivot (numerade.ai) unproven, no disclosed frontier-lab contracts. Severity: high
Subscription pricing roughly 10x Chegg's, risking subscriber attrition to cheaper or free alternatives. Severity: medium
No new disclosed funding round since July 2021, raising going-concern uncertainty. Severity: medium
BBB scrutiny of '97% better grades' marketing claim open since 2025, echoing Chegg's $7.5M FTC settlement history. Severity: low

Rivals, as read in July 2026

Rival	Direction	Evidence
Chegg	contesting	Both face same AI substitution pressure; Chegg down 99% stock by Oct 2025, Numerade priced ~10x higher
ChatGPT / general AI chatbots	losing to	Named 'de facto Chegg replacement' in 2026 comparison articles, free tier solves same problems
Scale AI	losing to	Numerade's numerade.ai B2B pivot enters market where Scale AI holds ~$14B valuation as of June 2026
Surge AI	losing to	Surge AI reports >$1B revenue bootstrapped, dwarfing Numerade's unproven B2B data entry as of June 2026
Course Hero	contesting	Both compete for STEM study-help subscribers amid shrinking paid homework-help category

Questions people ask

Is Numerade profitable in 2026?: Numerade is private and discloses no audited financials. Third-party revenue estimates range from under $5M (ZoomInfo) to over $150M (Growjo), too inconsistent to confirm profitability as of early 2026.
Could AI replace Numerade's homework help service?: Numerade's core step-by-step answer product overlaps directly with free ChatGPT, cited as the 'de facto Chegg replacement' in 2026 comparison pieces. Category peer Chegg lost 99% of stock value and cut 67% of staff in 2025 citing generative AI substitution.
Who owns Numerade?: Numerade Labs, Inc. is privately held and venture-backed, founded in 2018 by Nhon Ma and Alex Lee. It last raised a $26M Series A at a ~$100M post-money valuation on July 20, 2021, with no disclosed new round since.
Is Chegg Numerade's biggest competitor?: Historically yes, but by 2026 both face the same threat: free general AI chatbots like ChatGPT are named the default homework-help tool in comparison articles, with Chegg down 99% in stock value as of October 2025.
What is numerade.ai and why did Numerade launch it?: numerade.ai is Numerade's pivot to sell its 60,000+ expert educator network and video/problem dataset as training data to frontier AI labs, entering a market dominated by Scale AI (~$14B valuation) and Surge AI (>$1B revenue), with no disclosed contracts as of mid-2026.
Has Numerade raised new funding recently?: No. Numerade's last disclosed funding is a $26M Series A closed July 20, 2021 at a ~$100M post-money valuation. Caplight data as of February 2026 shows no subsequent priced round has been publicly reported.

Timeline

2026-06-08BBB flags Numerade's '97% better grades' marketing claim, requests substantiation
2026-06-02Chegg CEO Dan Rosensweig publicly attributes revenue collapse to generative AI substitution
2026-05-18Numerade Labs shows zero H-1B labor condition applications filed for FY2026
2026-02-13LinkedIn lists Numerade at 479 employees
2025-10-31Chegg cuts ~45% of staff citing AI tools crushing homework business
2025-05Chegg cuts 22% of staff, first of two 2025 rounds
2025-02-24Trade press describes tepid VC interest in LA-area edtech sector including Numerade
2023-11-08Numerade launches Ace Images, AI-generated visual diagrams for answers
2023-04-14Numerade launches Ace, marketed as first video-based AI Study Bot for STEM
2021-07-20Numerade closes $26M Series A at ~$100M post-money valuation

Revision history

22 July 2026

First assessed. Little protection left. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.

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