Alternative math in the classroom

Mathematics is the Achilles heel of many students and the company Innovamat wants to solve this problem with an alternative didactic proposal.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
12 March 2023 Sunday 23:39
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Alternative math in the classroom

Mathematics is the Achilles heel of many students and the company Innovamat wants to solve this problem with an alternative didactic proposal.

"Our content does not invent anything new, but it focuses on learning based on understanding and manipulating content instead of memorization exercises, which can create anxiety for students," says engineer Andreu Dotti, who founded the company together with his university classmate Isaac Sayol and Àlex Espinet, also an engineer.

The company started the year 2017 in a dozen public and private schools in Sant Cugat and Terrassa. “We started with content for preschool and primary school students, and we have been expanding the catalog up to secondary school. In 2024 we will cover training up to the fourth year of ESO”, explains the CEO of the company, which has 320 people on its staff, 260 of whom work at the Sant Cugat headquarters.

Since its birth, Innovamat has reached 2,000 schools in Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Brazil and Peru. Half are public and the other half are private. The company, which competes with traditional publishers, charges schools an annual fee that varies depending on the number of students receiving the training. In 2022, the company billed 11 million, 90% from Spanish schools.

"This year, we plan to increase turnover by 40% because we are going to expand in Italy, Latin America and the United States," explains Dotti. To achieve this, the company has 20 million euros that it obtained last year in an investment round led by the venture capital funds Reach Capital, Kibo Ventures and Bonsai Partners, as well as Axon Partners Group, 10x, Barlon Capital and Dozen Investments. . "Although we have not announced the capital increase up to now, we closed the operation in the summer, just before the slowdown in investment activity experienced by the entrepreneurial sector," says Dotti.

With this capital, the company plans to boost its internationalization and improve product development. In addition, it will promote the diversification of its activity. Last year, the company launched the Bmath website, which is aimed directly at families who want to promote the learning of mathematics outside of school.

The commitment to growth implies that the company has had to give up net profit. “We started out being profitable, but by boosting the international business, we have returned to losses. We hope to return to green numbers in 2025”, says Dotti, who retains the majority of the property along with the rest of the founders.