Breakthrough Victoria plants $600,000 in anti-plagiarism edtech Cadmus

Breakthrough Victoria, the state government’s $2 billion investment fund, has backed edtech startup Cadmus, which is helping universities detect generative AI plagiarism, chipping in $600,000 as part of an undisclosed total round for global expansion.

Cadmus emerged in 2015 out of a research project at the University of Melbourne. The software platform has sophisticated learner analytics that detect the authenticity of a student’s work, including the use of ChatGPT and other AI platforms.

Cadmus founder and CEO Herk Kailis said that rather than trying to catch academic misconduct at the point of submission, Cadmus monitors the process around student assessment construction, including metrics such as how many hours a student spent on their assessment and the sources of any third party pasted work.

The Cadmus platform

“Given the ongoing impact of digital innovation on traditional teaching and learning practices in higher education, our first-in-market assessment for learning platform plays a pivotal role in supporting institutions to address some of their biggest challenges around student experience, student success, inclusive teaching and learning practices, and academic integrity,” he said.

“We’re experiencing rapid growth domestically and in new international markets and this timely investment from Breakthrough Victoria will allow Cadmus to sustain its rapid expansion.”

As well as providing a plagiarism detection solution, the Cadmus platform also enables universities to design high-quality, authentic assessments across every academic discipline and has already been adopted by more than half of Australia;s universities as well as leading universities in the UK.

Kailis said universities using Cadmus have reported a 76% decrease in academic misconduct, a 91% positive student experience and an 8.5% increase in academic performance and pass rates.

Breakthrough Victoria CEO Grant Dooley said AI language programs like ChatGPT are creating real challenges for universities.

“Cadmus is a breakthrough innovation that can solve this problem. With the right support and investment, we believe Cadmus has the potential to help universities across Victoria and globally to maintain academic integrity and improve student outcomes and their learning experience,” he said.