Fifty percent of 15-year old Brazilian students score poorly at basic levels of reading proficiency on the global PISA scale and merely 0.5% of 15-year olds can read complex, age-appropriate texts. Guten News aims to address the low literacy levels in Brazil by combining world class computational linguistics- based software, with highly engaging real world global and national news content.

Guten News is the first text-classifying, machine learning software in Portuguese. Lexile-based computational linguistic technology has significantly helped to increase literacy and comprehension levels in other countries around the world and Guten News is introducing this technological innovation to improve students learning outcomes on national and state tests and ultimately more broadly help address the literacy crisis.

Omidyar Network’s investment in the early stage startup will help Guten News expand its user base and consolidate its footprint in Brazil.