Educational game startup TinyTap raises $5 million to provides access to affordable education to millions of children worldwide

Educational game creation platform startup, TinyTap, has secured a $5 million funding round to enable limitless learning for children while helping teachers get paid. The latest financing round was led by Aleph venture capital fund with participation from previous investors, including Inimiti, Radiant and ReInvent.

Many parents today are worried that their kids are increasingly glued to screens. The Tel Aviv, Israel-based TinyTap helps turn that screen time into an active learning experience. TinyTap provides learning opportunities for children worldwide with over 150,000 learning games handmade by teachers. Founded in 2012 by Yogev Shelley and Oren Elbaz, TinyTap is a platform which empowers teachers to create educational games for their students. These games are later available for families worldwide to play and learn from. The company offers a premium subscription to its 150,000 games in 24 languages. Revenue is shared between the company and the teachers, providing them with an additional source of income.

In order to enhance their students’ learning experience, many teachers turn to online resources for interactive and creative content. Often, that content needs to be tailored to their students’ specific needs. With TinyTap, educators can create custom material for their classes seamlessly. They may also share their games with other TinyTap users for free or sell their content as part of the Premium subscription in the TinyTap marketplace. Thus, the games become available for learners from all around the world.

TinyTap is not just an educational tool for teachers to use in the classroom. It also provides a second source of income thanks to TinyTap’s original “Parents pay Teachers” business model. The revenue from the premium subscriptions is shared with the game creators, the payout based on user engagement. Since 2017, the company distributed over $100,000 to teachers and plans to triple this amount by the end of the year.

To date, the marketplace contains over 150,000 learning games in 24 languages. The games are curated in a structured annual learning plan, making it easy for children to meet their educational milestones by playing at least one game a day. TinyTap relieves parents from the hassle of downloading countless educational apps to their phone or tablet—it provides a one-stop shop for their kids’ learning needs for as little as the price of a cup of coffee.

“TinyTap was created out of my own personal needs. I wanted to help my Dad, who was diagnosed with Dementia, hold on to his memories by turning his family photos into interactive, personalized activities. We quickly realized that TinyTap could offer a personalized learning experience for everyone,” says Yogev Shelly, TinyTap’s CEO. “As a marketplace, we’re cutting out the dependency on a local education system. TinyTap gives parents the tools to teach their kids any subject at home.”

“The sharing economy revolution is changing everything we do today, from the way we order a taxi to our travel habits. There is no reason teachers shouldn’t benefit from this trend,” says Eden Shochat, an equal partner at Aleph. “TinyTap is Aleph’s third investment in Educational technology after JoyTunes and Frank. I strongly believe in the democratization of education, enabling everyone to learn everything, everywhere, and at a minimal cost, regardless of the school they attend or whether they can afford a tutor.”

The funding will be used to launch newly curated Learning Plans in Mandarin, Arabic, and Spanish as well as to promote the company’s partnership with Oxford University Press to start a Learning Plan for English Language Learners.

Below is a video with overview of TinyTap.