We are on a mission to democratize access to high quality learning. English-speaking kids have access to a larger number of high-quality learning apps when compared to kids who don't speak English, specially children who speak less-spoken languages, such as Danish.
At Poikilingo we are developing a language learning mobile app for kids, focused on broaden the access to fun & engaging learning apps for every child, helping them developing better native and additional language skills and becoming bilinguals.
Our Product
A language learning app for kids 3-5 years old to learn Danish. Soon English, Portuguese & Spanish.
Fun mini-games & interactive activities
Kids get an avatar that looks just like them
Avatar highly-inclusive, with cultural & ethnical items, as well as disabilities (wheelchair, glasses, etc.)
Mix of accents to broaden linguistic repertoire
Our Story
Poikilingo was founded in 2020 by Leticia Maimann-Roland and Paula Jota Pedersen, two Brazilians mothers living in Denmark.
Leticia got pregnant with her first child in 2016, and was concerned about passing Portuguese, her native language, to her kid. With a long career in Education and Learning Technologies, it was natural for her to look for educational apps, and she was shocked that the big majority of good & high-quality learning apps were only available in English. She decided to start developing something herself, and the seed of Poikilingo was planted!
Paula & Leticia have been friends for almost 20 years, and they were pregnant at the same time. So it was natural to talk about the challenges of raising their kids bilinguals. Paula was the owner of an e-commerce pet shop, which she sold to join Poikilingo. Paula brought along her expertise in Marketing and Digital Sales.
Since December 2020, when the company was founded, they have been in a long fun & crazy journey. Some highlights:
October 2020: The project was selected for the InnoFounder Experienced Program. The founders received a grant from the Innovation Fund Denmark to work full-time in the project. The program ran from April 2021 to March 2022.
January 2021: Both founders were selected to the Tech Nordic Advocates (TNA) mentoring program, along with other 19 female founders.
February 2021: Poikilingo joined the Amazon Web Services (AWS) EdStart program, an incubation for EdTech startups.
May 2021: Poikilingo was the 2nd-prize winner at the Creative Business Cup Denmark 2021.
August 2021: Poikilingo was selected to the 2nd cohort of EdTechs for the mentoring program at EduHub DK.
September 2021: Poikilingo was one of the 17 startups selected among 278 applications to the prestigious IMPACT EdTech Incubation Program, receiving an equity-free EU grant.
May 2022: Poikilingo started a closed-beta testing of a language learning app for kids 2-6 yo to learn English, Portuguese & Danish.
June 2022: Paula was selected to join the Tech Nordic Advocates Accelerator Program.
July 2022: The Danish Film Institute has supported Poikilingo through The Game Scheme, by co-financing the production of Danish content.
October 2022: Poikilingo launched its first YouTube channel, reaching more than 250,000 unique viewers around the world.
May 2023: Poikilingo will start its open beta-test phase, with soft launch of the Danish content, which will start in Denmark, then to selected countries, until global reach.
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