Odemy

In sub-saharan Africa, Over 202 million students in primary and lower secondary lack proficiency in numeracy and basic literacy skills. Over 50% of Primary Two students in Nigeria cannot perform simple addition

The lack of access to learning resources for children contributes to high dropout rates, poor academic outcomes and the increasing number of out-of-school children in Nigeria, particularly in low and middle income communities. Most edtech products in the market are not accessible to these communities due to barriers of low internet connectivity, lack of access to smartphones and a high cost of existing solutions.  

Odemy is enabling access to e-learning experience for learners in low-connectivity and resource-constrained settings using scalable and cost-effective distribution models. Our solutions will help increase access to basic education in underserved communities and improve learning outcomes in numeracy and basic literacy across these communities.

In sub-saharan Africa, Over 202 million students in primary and lower secondary lack proficiency in numeracy and basic literacy skills. Over 50% of Primary Two students in Nigeria cannot perform simple addition. Poor infrastructure, over-crowded classrooms, overloaded-curriculum and lack of access to learning resources are some of the major causes for why children are falling behind in learning outcomes.

Covid-19 has further worsened these challenges due to school closures. To prevent many of these children from being left behind in school and job market, there is a need to develop new methods of delivering teaching and learning in low income, low connectivity and disconnected communities where online classes are not accessible

Odemy is using scalable distribution channels via portable electronics and cloud-based solutions - accessible on feature phone to deliver learning resources essentials for improving outcomes in numeracy and basic literacy

Odemy offers software and hardware solutions that make e-learning usable in the context of our market segment. We built Odemy to offer e-learning resources for primary school children in both online and offline settings. Our learning contents serve as essential resources to improve  learning outcomes in Maths and Basic Literacy.

We created a lesson format that is adaptable for microlearning, and aligned to the national curriculum. Using this format, learning contents are created by our educators. Using mobile technology such as portable MP4 players, we distribute short video lessons and interactive quizzes on numeracy and basic literacy skills that the children can apply independently without internet connection.

Also cloud-based learning contents are provisioned via our web app which is accessible on a feature phone and adaptable to low speed internet.

Our target population are children (ages 5-11) in low and middle income communities. Many of these children do not have access to existing e-learning solutions available on the market due to issues related to internet connectivity, access to smartphones that can operate learning apps, electricity and digital literacy. We started prototyping our solution in the summer of 2020. Using design thinking, we gathered requirements and repeatedly took iterations of our products to target communities in order to validate our value proposition. Our solution makes e-learning usable in the context of our market segment.

Our solutions align with enabling access to quality learning experience in low-connectivity settings. A mix of software and hardware solutions are essential to enabling access to learning in low and zero connectivity settings (which is a common phenomena in Nigeria and most African countries). Our solutions also help to Increase the engagement of learners in remote, hybrid, and physical environments. During the covid crises, 80% of low-income countries used radio for distance learning. Portable electronics such as our MP4 products are scalable and cost-effective alternatives that can help increase the engagement of learners in remote, hybrid and resource constrained environments.

Since we launched our web app in April 2021, we have reached over 250 registered users on our web app. Most of our users are in the Ibadan area of Oyo state Nigeria. There are over 30 users that utilize our MP4 products for learning. We are leveraging some of the donations received as ads spending to increase customer acquisition. Our business model includes freemium, direct sales and partnership with schools, NGOs and Governments. We currently offer free access to learning contents on our web app but we are developing a personalized experience that will attract a premium of $2/month per user. 

Most existing solutions offer online learning, many of which are not accessible to low and middle income communities. Odemy offers software and hardware solutions that make e-learning usable in the context of our market segment. 

We also differentiate by leveraging AI technologies on our web app. As students learn on Odemy, every click, score, and interaction is recorded. AI algorithms identify knowledge gaps, and customize the most effective learning pathway for each student. 

Our solution is inexpensive and easy to use, so that users can focus on learning the contents.

As part of our solutions, we built a cloud-based tool called "Teacher Notes" that helps aggregate audio and illustrated learning contents from independent educators and volunteers. This tool is helping to scale our content aggregation in a cost effective way in addition to the contents created by Odemy.

Based on the scalability of our distribution models and cost-effectiveness of our solutions, we expect our offering to change the market.

We currently have about 300 users for our software and hardware products.

In the next one year, our target is to reach over 5000 users.

In the next five years, our goal is to reach over 100,000 users.

We measure progress by the number of children that have access to learning as well as the improvement in learning outcomes for our users. According to sdgs website, remote learning remains out of reach for at least 500 million students globally. Our progress will help lower this number starting from Nigeria.

Our solution can also be used by out-of-school children as well as refugees many of who suffer education loss as a result of not having access to school

Our leadership team has five members, 3 working as full time and two as part-time.

Opeyemi Ojekunle(Female)-Founder, has over 7 years experience as Teacher/Ass. Professor in Post Secondary Education. She has experience in curriculum development, data analytics and research. Opeyemi is passionate about entrepreneurship, education and technology and how all can be used as a tool to reduce poverty particularly in her home country, Nigeria. Opeyemi holds a Doctorate degree in Environmental Toxicology from Texas Southern University, Texas. 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/opeyemiojekunle/

Abayomi Sofolahan(Male)- Co-Founder/CTO, is a Software Engineer at Microsoft, previously at Intel Corporation. Abayomi has expertise and experience in software product development, educational technology  and computer science education. He has over 5 years of experience building highly-scalable software products and services and over 4 years of experience teaching computer science at primary and secondary school levels. He holds a Masters degree in Computer Science from Prairie View A&M University, Texas.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ae...

Tosin Lawal(Female)- Program Officer, has 3+ years experience as an Educator and Content Creator. She holds a Bachelor's Degree from Federal University of Technology, Akure. She has skills and experience in Information Technology and teaching. Oluwatosin is passionate about girl child education and promoting digital literacy for children. 

Emmanuel Ojekunle(Male)- Technology Manager, has 3+ years experience as IT Developer at Crystal Bot Ltd, Suave Group. He holds a Masters degree from Federal University of Technology, Akure. He is passionate about entrepreneurship, Information-Technology and Website development.

Omotayo Sanni(Female)- has a teaching certificate in Primary Education from federal College of Education, Abeokuta. She has 3+ years experience as Curriculum Developer and Teacher in Primary School.

Odemy's leadership comprises 60% women, which reflects our value for advancing economic empowerment and leadership for girls and women. 

Our team members have diverse backgrounds  and expertise in  the areas of STEM and Education. I believe we are well positioned to solve the problem of access to learning based on the levels of education, experiences as well as the diversity of expertise of the team members that has helped us build our solutions.

Personal life experiences of our team members directly relates to the problem we are solving - majority of us come from low-income families, and the opportunities to attend college has help us improve our lives and that of our families. Our personal story and life experiences help us understand the people we serve. 

I'm applying to MIT Solve to join a powerful network of impact-minded leaders as well as the resources offered by the network in order to promote Odemy and scale our impact. 

The MIT Solve award will help my team gain access to funding that can be used to grow our venture and scale our impacts. 

MIT Solve will give our work exposure to media, developmental organizations and conferences which can be useful to overcome barriers related to securing government/education stakeholder partnerships as well as to suppress  cultural barriers in order to scale our offerings. This award will also expose me to advisory resources and mentorship which is essential to grow in business as a minority founder.

Monitoring & Evaluation resources will be essential support for our venture (as we gain traction and scale our impact) to measure the impacts of our solutions, and to continue to improve on it for greater impact.

Public relations is essential for our startup to gain media exposure, which will influence the adoption of our solutions not just in Nigeria where we currently operate, but also across Africa and beyond.

We continue to seek financial support and advisory resources related to how our venture can be sustainable as well as improving on our pitch to investors. We also seek partnerships that will help to expand the client base for our solutions.

Partnership with MIT faculty will be a good resource in the areas of Monitoring and Evaluating impacts as well as in mentorship.

We are also seeking partnership with developmental organizations like the United Nations, UNICEF, World Bank in the areas of funding, government partnership and media exposure to promote the adoption of our solutions.

I believe MIT Solve partnership will help us build connections with grantors and improve our fundraising strategy

We believe our solution can be useful particularly for children in refugee camps where resources are limited to support teaching and learning. 

Our team will leverage this prize to provide access to numeracy and basic literacy for childrening living in refugee camps in Nigeria and across Africa

Our solution can help girl-child to learn, particularly in some part of Nigeria where there are cultural barriers that prevent girls from attending school.

Our team will leverage this prize to provide access to numeracy and basic literacy for girls in low income communities to reduce education inequality for girls in Nigeria and across Africa.

Yes, we would like to be considered for this prize. 

Our solution leverages AI to personalize learning experience on our web app. AI can help improve proficiencies and learning outcomes for children in resource constrained settings, and this prize will help us scale our impact in this area.

This prize will help our team scale our AI technologies and capabilities.

Our solution leverages AI to personalize learning experience on our web app. AI can help improve proficiencies and learning outcomes for children in resource constrained settings, and this prize will help us scale our impact in this area.

This prize will help our team scale our AI technologies and capabilities