[3] At the Launch Festival in March 2013, CEO and co-founder Sue Khim presented the idea of Brilliant, attracting funding from venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya.

Commonly cited examples include Farrell Wu from the Philippines,[4][6] Dylan Toh of Singapore,[6][7] and Phoebe Cai of the United States.

[6][7] Brilliant regularly contributes math and science puzzles to publications such as The New York Times, The Guardian, and FiveThirtyEight.

[15] In Fall 2023, the team at Brilliant decided it needed a brand refresh to cater for its main audience of Gen Z and Millenials.

The developers also decided they needed a mascot for its brand , and they came up with Koji, a green sentient particle from the Big Bang to help learners to be continuously motivated.