Every year, a report by the National Council for the Evaluation of the School System (CNesco) deplores the low level of modern languages of French schoolchildren. Newly established Holy Owly offers to help children aged 3 to 12 learn through games. The app has just been named by Apple as one of the 5 most promising apps for 2022. The brainchild of sisters Stéphanie Bourgeois and Julie Boucon is the only French start-up to receive the award.
The principle is simple, a 5-minute lesson is offered to the user every day. He/she must memorize 3 words or phrases on a weekly topic, adapted to age and level. “This system allows children to take advantage of their good brain plasticity and have facilities afterwards. With our system, an 8-year-old child can learn to compose independent sentences in 3 monthsexplains co-founder Julie Boucon. Their teaching method has been studied since 2015. It was developed by them “language center“, a team of researchers, teachers and children.
The key to app success is gamification – learning while playing. When they complete a lesson, kids are rewarded with points. These points serve as virtual currency, allowing you to purchase clothing to dress up your avatar. Additionally, to encourage attendance, children must take care of a Tamagotchi, a small virtual creature that needs regular attention. This fun recipe allowed them to get 15,000 daily users. Subscriptions cost between €4.99 and €15.99. Of course, it is necessary to agree to entrust the tablet or smartphone to rather young children. Even if for a short time, this also implies a little parental supervision.
Expansion in Europe
Recognized by Apple as “app of the yearaccompanied by a flashlight. Holy Owly and four other award-winning services will be listed on the App Store. A hint that will allow them to reach a new audience in 32 European countries. “This visibility will allow us to determine the most promising markets for our expansion.“, analyzes the co-founder. The application already allows you to learn English from 12 languages, but the vast majority of users are French.
Another way to diversify that will allow you to learn more languages than English. Spanish and Mandarin will be added later this year. The Frenchman will arrive in early 2023, hoping to enter the Canadian market.
To fund its development, Holy Owly is preparing a fundraising round of approximately €5 million. It should be completed before the summer holidays. Nice revenge for co-founders who struggled to find their first investors, hampered by sexism. In their first attempts, the two entrepreneurs were rejected by investors because “[leurs] the couple had not yet invested“.
Source: Le Figaro
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.