Key Points
- Three ex‑Google engineers founded Sparkli to deliver AI‑generated interactive lessons for kids.
- The app creates multimedia learning expeditions—including audio, video, images, quizzes, and games—in about two minutes.
- Designed for children aged 5‑12, Sparkli offers daily new topics and a choose‑as‑you‑go adventure format.
- Safety measures ban sexual content and provide emotional‑intelligence guidance for self‑harm queries.
- A teacher dashboard tracks progress, assigns homework, and lets educators craft custom expeditions.
- Gamified features such as streaks, rewards, and quest cards boost student engagement.
- Sparkli is piloting with schools serving over 100,000 students and has tested in more than 20 schools.
- The company secured $5 million in pre‑seed funding from Founderful.
Background
Former Google engineers Lax Poojary, Lucie Marchand, and Myn Kang recognized a gap in the market for engaging, AI‑enhanced educational experiences for children. Their own experiences as parents, trying to answer curious questions from their kids, highlighted the limitations of text‑only AI assistants. Determined to create a more immersive solution, they launched Sparkli, an app that uses generative AI to build interactive learning journeys on demand.
Product Features
Sparkli lets children explore predefined topics across multiple categories or ask their own questions to generate a personalized learning path. Each lesson combines audio narration, video clips, images, quizzes, and games, creating a “choose‑as‑you‑go” adventure that removes the pressure of right or wrong answers. The app highlights a new topic each day, encouraging daily discovery. Content is generated in roughly two minutes after a question is asked, and the team is working to make this process even faster.
Safety and Pedagogy
Safety is a core principle. The platform completely bans sexual content and addresses self‑harm inquiries by teaching emotional‑intelligence skills and prompting kids to talk with parents. To ensure instructional quality, Sparkli’s first hires included a PhD in educational science and a seasoned teacher, integrating proven pedagogical methods into the AI‑generated material.
Pilot Programs and Teacher Tools
Sparkli is currently piloting its app with an institute that connects to a network of schools serving over 100,000 students. Over 20 schools participated in testing last year. A dedicated teacher module lets educators monitor student progress, assign homework, and create custom expeditions that can kick off a class discussion or serve as post‑lesson reinforcement. Gamified elements such as streaks, rewards, and quest cards keep children motivated to return to the app regularly.
Funding and Outlook
The startup has raised $5 million in pre‑seed funding, led by Swiss venture firm Founderful, marking the firm’s first pure‑play edtech investment. The founders plan to expand school partnerships globally over the coming months and aim to make the consumer version of the app available to parents by mid‑2026.
Source: techcrunch.com