Online kids English education platform Minischool has received 400 million won (USD $354k) in seed investment from K Cube Ventures and Plantree Partners.
Minischool is an education solution aimed at children from ages 4 to 7 and was released in June this year. Teachers connect with students remotely via their web browser or smartphone, but instead of showing their face, they control an animated character including facial expressions and emotions. Meanwhile, students can be monitored in real time through a webcam for full interaction.
Talking to students via an animated character means that kids pay more attention and naturally make them more excited about taking part in learning. Minischool has designed its content so that the difficulty level can be raised or lowered depending on progress and understanding.
Parents can view recordings of classes and are also provided with reports to help manage their child’s learning program.
“Through this funding we will work with famous character brands to help connect with children more closely and offer high quality education,” says CEO Jeong Wook. “Very soon we will also offer educational content through a Minischool app that we have developed.”
K Cube Ventures partner Shina Chung says that the team has high expertise, with Jeong having originally worked on Kakao Talk’s ‘voice talk’ function, as well as director An Jong-gu who previously worked as a business planning manager in the education industry. “Going forward, the company will continue to develop competitive content and curriculum, and we look forward to Minischool growing as a specialized edutech company for young children,” says Chung.
