99math, an Estonian EdTech startup used by math teachers worldwide, has raised $1,000,000 of investment, as reported to AIN.UA by the startup. The round was led by the Ukrainian venture capital firm Genesis Investments, with the participation of Change Ventures and five angel investors from leaders at companies including Bolt, Transferwise, and Pipedrive.
About 99math
The startup 99math is an interactive platform for kids to play math games and compete with each other. The company will spend its fresh funding to create a mobile app for children to play at home and premium plans for monetization.
Teachers use the platform for free. Monetization will be done through premium subscriptions and in-app purchases for parents.
Children engage with the platform during math lessons. The teachers generate math tasks on a given topic and run the game, and the kids play on their phones. It takes less than one minute to set up, and the whole class gets involved in the game simultaneously.
“Math is a very difficult subject for many children. They don’t always want to study long and hard and, instead, spend their free time on technology, gadgets, and online games. We combined a game, competition, and academic component and showed how fun and interesting math could be. Moreover, with interactive rewards and gamification, a positive feedback loop is created. When a kid sees that they can solve a math problem, they become more confident in their knowledge. This is important because when teachers check assignments in schools, they mostly highlight children’s mistakes. We believe that self-confidence helps children to learn better – that’s why we focus on changing the process of learning in this direction,” shares Tõnis Kusmin, CEO of 99math.
99math has leaderboards, fan communities, and progress tracking. In January 2021, the platform had 300,000 monthly active users who solved more than 170 million math problems.
“We are pleased to participate in this round and support 99math along with a group of prominent investors. We see great potential in 99math and believe in its importance in transforming educational processes. The technology in the hands of a skilled team has turned into a product with one hundred percent organic growth and excellent dynamics. We will apply our expertise in the field of subscription monetization and edtech startup support to help 99math successfully scale in the US,” comments Vitaly Laptenok, General Partner at Genesis Investments.
