Edtech companies struggle to get young children’s attention as sites like YouTube take up hours of their daily screen time and gaming platforms like Roblox and Minecraft continue to gain popularity.Â
In order to address this, Polymath combines adaptive math courses with gamified mechanics derived from these well-known games to enhance the learning process.Â
Children can explore a virtual island in the educational sandbox game, where they can interact with locals, build with bricks and other materials, and create their avatars. Children must answer math-related questions in order to advance in the game, which keeps them concentrated on their learning objectives.
The firm revealed its $1 million pre-seed investment round on Monday, which would enable its platform to expand into other areas. GD1 and Blackbird Ventures co-led the round. Notably, ClassDojo’s chief technology officer and angel investor is Liam Don.
The CEO and co-founder of Polymath, Sophie Silver, attended University College London (UCL) to study developmental psychology, memory, and human learning. She discovered a gap in the mathematics skills of the kids while working as a part-time nanny for her studies, and she came to the realization that it was getting harder and harder to make the lessons engaging for them.Â
Each child’s learning is tailored by Polymath using an adaptive algorithm that takes into account their development. The organization identifies knowledge gaps, determines the ideal question to ask next based on the children’s responses, and strategically timings the introduction of new material to avoid overwhelming the youngster.
