Personalizing early childhood education through the power of games — Why we invested in Edurino
The pandemic has made all too clear that digital technology’s potential has fallen far short of the needs of educators and parents. The abrupt shift to distance learning and digital teaching methods has presented many teachers, parents, and students with significant challenges. It has also exposed considerable deficits in the digitalization of the education system in countries such as Germany and has had a substantial impact on student learning. According to a study from GoStudent, 57% of parents say that their children suffered learning gaps due to COVID-19. Thus, rising educational inequality resulting from COVID-19 and several months without in-school lessons has increased demand for qualified and affordable alternatives.
And here is where Edurino comes in — the company is building a digital learning experience that aims to introduce pre-school children to new, blended forms of learning by merging haptic and digital worlds of play. The product combines physical toys, such as figurines, an ergonomic input pen, and a digital learning app, with additional figurines unlocking new pieces of content. The company has just released its first series of games focused on literacy. Edurino’s long-term vision is to empower parents to personalize private tutoring based on each child’s individual needs.
We couldn’t be more excited to back Edurino and their mission to revolutionize pre-school education. Here is why we are especially excited about Edurino:
🏅 Strong team and execution capabilities: During the entire process we have been very impressed by the founders Franziska and Irene, who have demonstrated both determination and focus in the development and execution of Edurino. They have assembled a very strong team that brings in relevant expertise in the fields of game design and educational content.
🧩 Great first product that perfectly combines gamification and pedagogical impact: The fact that the Edurino team doesn’t just sound like a good idea becomes particularly clear when you experience their first product. We deem the game quality as world-class, and the development process is very well thought-through, following a modular approach, which will allow the team to speed up future development. Moreover, the team places a high priority on developing “serious games” that not only convey learning content in a situational and context-related manner but also reinforces children’s intrinsic motivation. Current research shows that serious games represent an important opportunity for improving education.
💪🏼 Power of personalized education: We view Edurino’s approach as a powerful innovation to personalize tutoring and education for preschool- and primary school-aged children. Through its games, the company is able to generate unique data of children’s digital profiles in a scalable way that is not available as of today, laying the foundation for a new level of personalized learning.
🌍 Huge addressable market ready for innovation: Given the presence of today’s toy gifting culture, there is a great willingness among parents to pay when it comes to toys, especially when these toys have an educational purpose. Looking at today’s product offering, many new digital applications do not resonate with what parents are looking for. Edurino’s hybrid model bridges the gap between the online and offline world, which results in a more attractive value proposition.
✅ First market validation and pipeline: While there has been only a silent launch in December so far, the company was already able to generate substantial pre-sales during the last weeks. Moreover, the team is already facing overwhelming inbound interest from retailers that are actively seeking for new products to be included in their portfolio. (Disclaimer: While the online shop is already live and ready to ship, Edurino will shortly be available in first retail stores in Germany — keep your eyes open 👀)
Overall, we firmly believe that Edurino has the potential to disrupt how early childhood education works. We are super excited to be part of this journey. 🚀📈 🔮
For more info about Edurino: check out their website: https://www.edurino.com/
To all fellow entrepreneurs and investors: Feel free to reach out to us (ab@btov.vc & lm@btov.vc) if you are interested to learn more about our view on the market or if you would like to get in touch with the founders.
