hihilulu

Research indicates that kids under 8-year-old have a golden period to become bilingual and better develop their literacy skills. Since 2013, the number of individuals learning Chinese increases 50% per year globally. More and more parents and schools are willing kids to learn Chinese at early age at home or in school.

However, the pain is felt by parents, teachers and educators who want high quality Chinese contents, as well as by non-Chinese speaking educators who also would likewant their kids learn this tonal language at early age.Tapping on kids’ multilingual potentials, hihilulu offers a solution of early Chinese immersion for kids outside of China.

hihilulu blends children beloved animations with its unique 800 key words progressive learning system, develops a chain of interactions games for listening, speaking, reading and writing. A cross nations blog with early childhood development experts and teachers provide helps to parents and non-Chinese speaking native teachers. 

Chinese learners worldwide fail to connect their learning knowledge with an immersive Chinese environment, especially for those who were born and grown in non-Chinese countries: Where to find high-quality, culturally and linguistically responsive Chinese content? Which are effective methods for learning Chinese in a non-Sinophone environment? How easy to access an early Chinese learning program? How to build a safe and nurturing language environment?

With linguistic diversity skyrocketing worldwide, especially the number of Chinese learners rapidly increasing outside of the Sinophone world, early Chinese language education at home or foreign language becomes a critical challenge that concerns both Chinese immigrant parents and non-Chinese speaking parents who want their kids pick up this tonal language at an early age. hihilulu provided progressive learning system which is supported by algorithm to help learners to identify the level of theirs and to provide personalized progressive learning contents. We are constantly updating our product to optimize features and functions: interactive learning game, writing game, AI voice recognition, puzzle games and WeChat mini program, in order to create a real and authentic immersive learning environment for kids.

Our primary target is more than ten million children/families who live abroad and intend to learn Chinese everywhere. hihilulu could help kids learn Chinese progressively in an enjoyable and immersive environment. The secondary customer group is Chinese teachers/schools who work in a non-Chinese denominate environment facing difficulties in finding proper teaching materials to help them engage with children and parents.

We conducted and is continuously conducting online survey research, one-to-one interviews with our targeted beneficiaries to understand their needs, apply their needs into the product development and upgrade process for maximizing user experience. 

hihilulu extends kids-beloved animations for different ages and language levels into interactive learning experience. With our own unique Progressive Chinese Learning System for Kids®, we could provide a real personalized learning experience to each kid and cover 800 basic vocabularies at 6 levels but blended into 10 themes relevant to a kid's daily life. 

hihilulu is the first streaming concept applied to Chinese learning in early childhood. The main product can be used both on mobile app and PC website and the outspread services include Flashcards and blog. hihilulu creates a missing Chinese language environment with rich content diversity and enables a totally personalized learning experience. hihilulu has developed the first Online Chinese Progressive Learning System for children, composed of a Chinese Language Level Measuring System for young children and corresponding 1000 basic Chinese characters. With this system, hihilulu is truly able to identify children's level thus push the right content and ensure progressive personalized learning.

1.    Test

Kids first test his/her Chinese language level by finishing a serial of audio-visual interactive games. hihilulu evaluates kids’ level and tracks progress through its unique Online Progressive Chinese Learning System for Children.

2.    Recommendation Engine

After the test, intelligent system will define kid’s level and push the most appropriate content for the kid to start, focusing on learning and practicing of 800 key words at 6 levels in 10 daily themes.

3.  hihilulu main product has 6 major components:

• Flashcards: Chinese Video clip to learn and review keywords

• Animations: 2-12 mins to immerse in Chinese context

• AI-enhanced Voice recognition: Keyword’s pronunciation training powered by voice recognition technology.

• Puzzle game: Interactive game to enhance the memorization and recognization of keywords.

• Writing game: Practice writing with correct strokes of Chinese characters.

• Test: Gamified test with algorithm.

4.  Data Service System – Dashboard

hihilulu offers an intelligent data tracking system as in dashboard above, using analytics to monitor real- time learning process and monitor the progress of users, and  adopt content accordingly.

5. Additional Downloadable Materials

hihilulu offers parents and Chinese teachers a range of downloadable materials covering flashcard, working sheets, reading materials that give young learners an unbound experience and contact to Chinese language.

6. International Expert Community to Share Chinese Learning Experience

hihilulu has launched a blog and community platform to welcome ECD experts, linguists, early Chinese language educators, KOL and experienced parents to share their experience and methodologies.

hihilulu is the first streaming concept applied to Chinese learning in early childhood. It creates a missing Chinese language environment with rich content diversity and enables a totally personalized learning experience. hihilulu has developed the first Online Chinese Progressive Learning System for Kids®, composed of a Chinese Language Level Test System for young children and 800 most basic Chinese characters. With this system hihilulu is truly able to identify children's level thus push the right content and ensure a progressive personalized learning. In addition, its streaming model disrupts traditional distributions and creates a new channel for content publishing.

Starting as an immersive Chinese learning platform, we would like to introduce an 'edutainment' way for parents and teachers' to help their kids to start their Chinese learning journey. But beyond that, hihilulu could open the door of another world for kids by learning a new language and become a "globally citizen". hihiluliu community will not only be a place for parents and teachers to exchange ideas and share resources, but also a place for kids to have a better understanding of another culture.

Despite normal technologies applied to develop such conten-focused website and iOS / Android applications, we had used intensively the following existing technologies:

1. cloud-based content streaming technology. As our technical architecture is based on Microsoft .Net, we naturally use Microsoft Azure cloud service to build our streaming platform.

2. We had built an unique content management system with 800-keywords labelled databank, which is the foundation of our registering IP ‘hihilulu Progressive Chinese Leaning System for Kids®. In this system there is special algorithm built in, to exam and determine a kid’s language level upon a gamified test system. This guarantees a real level-adapted and personalized push service and data tracking service.

3. We had utilized Chinese voice recognition software to record, evaluate and feedback a kid’s voice recording to help kids learn Chinese pronunciation interactively. As currently such voice recognition software is based on an adult's voice, we are collecting kids’ voice data from our users and plan to develop own Chinese language voice recognition software only for young kids, once our user data become sufficient for this technical innovation. This would be our second patent to apply for.

4. We also had built a search engine function, which allows user search any keyword-related animations, games even downloadable easily at all core function areas.

5. We plan to utilize further location based technology,  visual recognition technology, Instant visual-audio translation technology to enhance product offer.

This year in May we start a 6-week pilot program with Rocky Hill School. Each class is about 1.5 hour per week. During this short-term project, each kid could learn approximately 20 words in total. Meanwhile, we also partnered with Deuil la barre, a public elementary school in Paris, having a 22-week pilot program. During this pilot program, we provided two quizzes to all students in the program. Via those two quizzes, over 90% of students got a grade A. Through both pilot projects, all participated students enjoyed this class, didn’t feel the pressure learning pressure and were eager to keep using the platform. In spite of our pilot program, our team is developing our own data tracking system, which will allow us to track the frequencies of users’ activities. 

From this year, we partner and pilot with several schools in Paris and Boston for the utilization of our product in class and incorporate the product into the curriculum. In the next five years, we will keep on our Teacher-as-Ambassador program. Ambassadors’ profile will extend, not limited to Chinese teachers, but also includes foreign language educators, school administrators, principles etc., whoever is interested in Chinese education and would like to provide a bilingual opportunity to children. The international Chinese learning community we are currently & constantly building can serve those people who are interested/contributing in Chinese education as well as providing them with an authoritative industrial channel and forum to communicate. 

 Currently we have 2,300 registered users, among them there are over 50 education institutions like primary schools or kindergartens, but more importantly, there are over hundreds of Chinese language teachers who are active users and our ambassadors in France and USA. We optimistically believe, with our Ambassador Program, at the end of this year we can sign at least 20 education institutions over the globe for customized digital Chinese course solution with hihilulu and reach 8,000 paying users.

 According to current business plan, we anticipate 78,000 users at the end of 2020. In 5 years, we anticipate a user base of 222,000. And these are the people that we will directly and meaningfully affect through our solution.

Within the next year, our main focus will be to roll out current product and service in key markets like North America, Europe and South East Asia. We should focus on B2B partnerships and continue Teacher-as-Ambassador Program, in order to build a regional even global sales network and partnerships. A global teacher community is a critical success factor. We should help teachers everywhere to embrace such new innovative technical solution to make their Chinese teaching easier and more effective with fun and lower the barriers of Chinese learning to millions of children.

 Within five years, we should have been able to shift people’s perception, that Chinese is no more a difficult language, at least to children, if they start early with right method and solution. From Chinese language enlightenment education, we would like to help more and more people in the world to understand Chinese culture hence to harmonize the cultural, social and political exchanges among different peoples in the world. Language is the carrier of a culture, without understanding of a language, there is no deeper understanding between peoples from different societies and countries. 

The biggest issue for the time being is lack of sufficient financing, which has big impact on our operation. First, we need a stronger sales and marketing team with new international professionals to scale up customer acquisition globally. Second, we need continuous innovation in product and technical development, which means new talents or technical partnership and constant innovative concepts for technical development.

 In five years, if we do not have disruptive innovations no matter from technology to business model angles, we would lose our unique competitiveness in the market which is currently almost a blue ocean and be forced to compete against ‘me too’ players, which is definitely not the scenario we would like to foresee.

 Another challenge always existing, is to deeply understand the ever-evolving needs of segmented target groups, so as to be able to transform them into pain-killing solutions and effective marketing operation to different targets. 

We need to raise new funding, and we are doing it actively now. With better funding we’ll be able to have new hires.

We need to team up with third innovative parties who could advise or co-develop technical innovations with us. For instance, we had found a voice recognition technology company in Massachusetts to develop our own Chinese voice recognition software for young kids.

We need to strategically focus on what and how to innovate and create a real immersive Chinese language learning tool for kids. We should be able to be fully aware of latest technical innovation hence constantly evaluating whether these new technologies can be applied to improve our product. 

On top of that, we fully acknowledge that if we want to communicate efficiently and convince our clients, we have to understand their insights and penetrate into their pain points from different perspectives. Based on researches and dynamic ongoing exchanges with our customers and targets, we shall build right product, which not only solve our customers’ issues, also penetrate into potential market and key customer base.

We also need to keep building up an international professional team. Not only just to hire people with distinctive perspectives, but also to keep improving the internal cooperation, working efficiency, and international integration. Very importantly, we have to fully utilize the advantages of our international teams, which span from China, France and the United States. 

We have in total 16 team members spreading out three offices, China, Paris and Boston. China team is mainly responsible for developing and updating our main platform, which consists of engineers, UX designer, experienced Chinese Teacher and Project Manager in the team.  Meanwhile, Paris and Boston team are mainly in charge of marketing and sales and operation. 

Founder and CEO is Jennifer HUANG, studied mechanical engineering in Beijing and obtained MBA in the United Kingdom. She had worked at Omnicom Group for international brands like VW, Henkel and Schwarzkopf, and was senior product manager at L’OREAL. She was CEO of a mobile startup in London in 2013. She speaks 4 languages and has trilingual twin girls.

Legal Partner Lillian CHEN has a Ph.D. in Law from Maurier School of Law -Indiana University in the United States. She is a practicing lawyer specializing in intellectual property and copyright.

Part-time CTO Dr. Songbo Song, PhD in Computer Science. A big data architect and technical expert in streaming technology. Owns a few patents.

Chinese Linguist Lily KANG holds master degree in Chinese language education, having 4－year Chinese teaching experience in South East Asia, familiar with current overseas Chinese teaching market and solutions.

CSO Bertrand LEJEUNE, a French expert in Internet and mobile innovations. He is a certificated strategist, advisor and mentor for startups at Cap Digital in Paris and a serial entrepreneur.

We are partnering with various organisations:

a. Incubator: Paris & Co., the innovation ecosystem supported by Paris municipality and French government. We are incubated by its digital publishing incubator Labo de l’Edition in Paris. (www.parisandco.com)

b. EdTech Accelerator LearnLaunch in Boston, who is our institutional investor and accelerator with rich resources and know-how in edtech in US.

c. Content publishers. For instance, in France we cooperate with the number one French animation producer millimages; In China with the latest popular producer LeftPocket, Tingting Peom Education etc.

d. Distributors like HMH ( we were oen of the finalists of its challenge this year), GES, a special distribution agency in certain states etc.

e. Financing or fundraising partners. In France, we are endorsed by BPI France (French government innovation funds) and Credit Agricole Banque to help us raise fund; in US we are negotiation partnership with special agency like Tyton Partners etc.

f.   We also have partnership with innovative technology companies in France and US, to work on next version’s innovation, from immersive language learning experience to voice recognition software for children. Their names  have to remain confidential.

As a content platform our business model is subscription to B2C and licensing to B2B customers.

To individual customers, they subscribe our service on monthly or annual basis (9.99 dollars per month and 99.99 dollars annually).

To institutional customers like school or kindergarten, we offer two business models. One is based on standard retail price (9.99 dollars per month and 99.99 dollars annually) with a discount based on student numbers. This one is the most straight-forward and popular way with private institutions. Second one is customized package upon demand, which contains product and support fees like training for teachers and customized curriculum upon school’s needs. A typical example is the standard offer to the first public primary school in Paris, which budgets minimum 5000 USD per class with 25 students per scholar year for a Chinese course once per week.

The last business model is to teacher-as-ambassador program. We offer free usage of hihilulu product to signed ambassadors; in addition, they benefit a sales commission and a discounted price to their students or school. 

We had raised over 600,000 USD capital to finance product development and the first proof-of-market phase. This seed funding is mostly ‘love money’, from founder and family/friends, as well as from French governmental grant BPI PIA which specially support innovations from technical startups. 

As we have generated the first revenue from subscribed users and contracted institutional customers, we will be financed through steadily growing sales revenue, new investment capital and governmental grant to R&D development. For instance, we are applying now a governmental grant called InnovUp up to 120,000 US, which will support our further R&D in classroom digital solution and technical innovations in immersive Chinese language learning and voice recognition software for young children. We are also active in fundraising activities for new funding.

All in all we expect us to be self-sustainable in mid-2020, if current operation is executed well in line with our plan. 

Introduce hihilulu to Solve's ecosystem, which will be a great way to help promote hihilulu as the innovative new way of learning Chinese for kids below 8.

Learning from Solver team, and both joining a supportive community of peers, funders and industrial experts could help hihilulu advance our recognition and knowledge in early childhood education and receive mentorship from MIT and Solve networks, which will not only help us improve our strategies of operation but also further advanced developing of our product design. 

Each step above will eventually lead us to better serve our customers and benefit kids to have a better Chinese learning experience.

We are pursuing the partnership with EdTech accelerators like LearnLaunch to help us join a bigger community to reach out opportunities.

• For market and sales type of target, we would like to expand our solution into early childhood industry and plot with preschools and Kindergarten Chain like bright horizon, kiddie academy, KinderCare Learning Center ect. 

• At the same time, we still would like to keep working on our ambassador program and target Chinese teacher and foreign language educators. Therefore, we would like to partner with immersion education center like Center for Applied Linguistic, ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) and Asia Society ect.

• Meanwhile, we would appreciate every opportunity to partner with academic institutions and higher educational association like the Early Child Center in Boston University, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, etc. Not only they can bring us the most up-to-date scientific results of research, including but not limited to psychology, pedagogy, neurocognition, etc., but also are able to introduce us to the ecosystem in early childhood development like investors, entrepreneurs, academic researchers, and other professionals especially focused on the language learning area. 

Currently we are using AI technology in our product for voice recognition. It allows users to practice pronunciation of words with our product and got correction/feedback based their pronunciation. More importantly, as a fast-growing EdTech company, we will develop our own AI voice recognition system, especially for children. There is no such system existing in the market. The reason to develop such a system  is to protect our own customers’ data, as we don’t want to reply on third parties’ system thus we would like to develop our own. Also, different from current voice recognition technology, children’s voice recognition system needs accommodations based on children’s voice and pronunciation property. By doing so, AI voice recognition function can provide users with a more accurate results and correction. And this system could also help researchers understand how children acquire a second language.

About utilizing data, our developers’ team have already started to build up the data center and metrics for our users exclusively. We will collect the data for better help our customers to personalize their learning experiences. Both for ethically and responsibly, we don’t sell our customers’ data and fully collaborate with any regulation and registered law.

As for the social impact, combined our event like environment and Africa PR event. All those kinds of events are good materials for social impact. We are helping children in the world to open their education opportunities. As a digital Chinese Immersive learning platform, children will have more opportunities to access education resources.

Currently we are using AI technology in our product for voice recognition. It allows users to practice pronunciation of words with our product and got correction/feedback based their pronunciation. The reason to develop such a system is to protect our own customers’ data, as we don’t want to reply on third parties’ system thus we would like to develop our own. Also, different from current voice recognition technology, children’s voice recognition system needs accommodations based on children’s voice and pronunciation property. By doing so, AI voice recognition function can provide users with a more accurate results and correction. And this system could also help researchers understand how children acquire a second language.

About utilizing data, our developers’ team have already started to build up the data center and metrics for our users exclusively. We will collect the data for better help our customers to personalize their learning experiences. Both for ethically and responsibly, we don’t sell our customers’ data and fully collaborate with any regulation and registered law.

As for the social impact, combined our event like environment and Africa PR event. All those kinds of events are good materials for social impact. We are helping children in the world to open their education opportunities. As a digital Chinese Immersive learning platform, children will have more opportunities to access education resources.