MindSnacks Nabs $6.5M From Sequoia To Bring Fun Educational Games To Your Mobile Device
Summary
The goal behind the apps was simple: Turn the typical study and material retention process for students, which involves rote memorization, boring flash cards and textbook glaring, into an activity that people would actually enjoy. Well, it was just so crazy that MindSnacks portfolio of games has today attracted over four million downloads, which is significant for an educational app.And now, with its new capital in tow, the startup plans to go bigger, expanding beyond language acquisition and test preparation into subjects the average high school and college student would find in their curriculum. With its series A in the bank, MindSnacks has raised its total funding to $8.5 million.Sequoia Partner Bryan Schreier, who led the firms investment, said that the big appeal for him had been in the startups potential to actually make learning fun not just for kids, but for people of all ages. While that sounds warm and fuzzy, MindSnacks believes that it differentiates itself from traditional instructional software by designing engaging games (with slugs, mind you) that drive long-term retention and better performance. In other words, these incredible, sensitive mobile tracking devices are turning bio data into something more actionable and structured, and the co-founder believes the same is happening to education.So, as the company is gathering reams of data on how people learn, what words they get stuck on, and the types of grammar skills they breeze through, Pickard sees MindSnacks eventually being able to make that information far more digestible, showing you what areas of language acquisition you struggle with and offer exercises geared towards filling those gaps, for example.