Cathoven AI

Summary

• One-liner: AI tools to help English/ESL teachers create customized lessons and assessments
• Location: San Francisco, CA (founded in Hong Kong)
• Website: https://www.cathoven.com/
• Founded: 2022
• Team size: ~13 employees

Investment Thesis

1000x Opportunity?

EdTech for teachers is a tough market — school budgets are tight, sales cycles are long. Won QS silver award for AI Education (2023), has ~14K users and 20+ corporate customers. Some traction but unclear path to massive scale.

Kingmaker Fit?

Easy pass — fundamental cap table and leadership concerns.

Green Flags

• Real product with users (14K individual, 20+ corporate)
• Recognition: QS Reshaping Education Awards 2023 (Silver)
• Professors at Columbia and UC Berkeley using it
• Clear problem (teachers spend 10+ hrs/week on lesson prep)

Red Flags

• CEO (Erdi Tac) doesn't fundraise himself — major signal
• Josh (COO) doing primary fundraising with only ~16% equity — misaligned incentives
• EdTech is notoriously hard to scale and monetize
• Competing with free tools and teacher resourcefulness

Key Questions

• N/A (easy pass)

Decision

Pass — CEO not leading fundraise is a dealbreaker. When the person raising money only has 16% of the company, incentives are misaligned. Kingmaker thesis requires betting on the leader, and the leader isn't in the room.

Cathoven AI — Contacts

Team

Name	Role	LinkedIn
Erdi Tac	Co-Founder & CEO	LinkedIn
Josh Lee (Yen-hsun Li / 李彦勲)	COO	LinkedIn
Summer Long (Guanjiao Long / 龍冠嬌)	Co-Founder	LinkedIn
Ming-hei Leung (梁銘曦)	CTO	—

Background

• Erdi Tac (CEO): Former English teacher, self-taught AI, studied AI at Trinity College Dublin
• Josh Lee (COO): Former ByteDance product manager, ~16% equity, primary fundraiser

Relationship Timeline

• Contact through Josh (COO)

Last Touchpoint

• Date: Jan 2026
• Status: Passed
• Next Action: None

Cathoven AI — Notes

2026-01 — Pass Decision

• Type: Investment decision
• Summary: Easy pass. CEO Erdi Tac doesn't lead fundraising — Josh (COO) is the primary fundraiser but only holds ~16% of the company.
• Impressions: When the CEO isn't fundraising, it raises questions about commitment and leadership. When the person who IS fundraising only has 16%, the incentive alignment is off. This is a structural issue, not a product issue.
• Decision: Pass — kingmaker thesis requires backing the leader. The leader isn't in the fundraising conversation.