WATERLOO, Ont. (April 13, 2016) — Google has invited edtech start-up Knowledgehook to pitch to investors at their annual Demo Day next month in Silicon Valley.
Knowledgehook, the Waterloo, Ont.-based company behind new gaming software that analyzes the academic performance of math students, is one of two Canadian companies selected to participate in the May 4 event. The team joined the Accelerator Centre in 2015 and received of $40,000 in funding and mentorship through the AC JumpStart program, which is funded by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) .
With the aim of securing additional rounds of investment, co-founders Travis Ratnam and James Francis will pitch on stage to a full room of investors, VCs and respected judges at the Google Headquarters in Mountain View, California.
“We’re thrilled to share our software with potential investors,” Ratnam says.
“We believe our products will be pivotal in connecting teachers and school boards all over the world with data that identifies what concepts students are struggling with and also provides them with immediate teaching solutions.”
Since March 2015, Knowledgehook software has been used by more than 65,000 students and teachers in math classes throughout Canada and the United States.
The team is grateful for the support they have received to date from the Accelerator Centre, Communitech, and for recent funding delivered by Ontario Centres for Excellence (OCE).
Ontario Minister of Research and Innovation Reza Moridi congratulates Knowledgehook of their accomplishments to date.
“Knowledgehook is an example of how our innovation ecosystem has assisted businesses to spur innovation and create a dynamic environment that will improve the lives Ontarians,”he says.
“Ontario’s economic strength depends on the viability of our businesses, large and small. That’s why our government is helping to support unique and cutting-edge collaborations through partners such as OCE, who give our small and medium enterprises exposure to larger tools and skills they need to rapidly scale up to meet global demand.”
Co-founder Ratnam was inspired to build a company that supports alternative learning methods after struggling in his early academic career.
“To understand why I struggled, I exhaustively analyzed my mistakes. By persevering, I found ways to problem-solve that made more sense to me. I’d like others to enjoy learning as much as I did,” he says.
Knowledgehook software analyzes the academic performance of math students in real-time play to recommend to educators alternative teaching practices.
