EverybodyCounts, mastering maths one country at a time
Numeracy is falling, EverybodyCounts aims to reverse the trend. Image courtesy K2MATCH
The Scottish startup was in Monaco for the K2MATCH Investor Lounge event last week, pitching their concept to potential investors, in the hope of gaining funds to fuel their growth. We caught up with CEO and founder Andy Ridgway a week later to find out more about his company and his impressions of the K2MATCH event.
EverybodyCounts : the name seems simple enough. As easy as 1, 2, 3 in fact ? Well no. Everyone should be able to count, but that’s not the case. And each person’s academic potential should count as much as the next, but that’s not the case either. Where we’re born is an educational lottery. Yet Andy and co-founder Judy Hornigold believe that maths mastery should be accessible to all.
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Global numeracy rates are declining, due in part to education not keeping up with new tech-based advancement. The OECD has stated that only 12% of the world’s adults demonstrate competency in maths, and 62% of children fail to meet minimum proficiency levels.
Image courtesy of K2MATCH
Andy and Judy’s answer is a bespoke, multilingual learning platform that can be taught anywhere in the world. Maths specialists author lesson content and teacher guides, with the content delivered to individual students through interactive learning in and outside a classroom. Machine learning, through characters, animation, interaction and gamification, brings traditional learning to life, and anonymised feedback helps drive continuous improvement. The platform has a subscription model, and a family app helps parents follow and support their children. Teachers are trained through a mix of pre-recorded, live Zoom and in-person sessions.
The core team at EverybodyCounts comprises 11 people, but in-country representatives and indeed partners of all types, whether government funding agencies, strategic partners (AMRC Wales, Skills Development Scotland, Wrexham FC), international partners or NGOs and charities including UNESCO and Save the children, are on board to grow and expand the reach of the tool.
Things look bright for EverybodyCounts. “It’s getting quite exciting,” said Andy as he listed recently-signed contracts in Thailand, certain US states, parts of the UK, Cambodia, in Ecuador / Columbia / Peru and South Africa, and the pipeline is stacked. Initial traction is primarily in Asia, and Europe will come too, but it is primarily the price point and potential of the American market that will help drive growth, with deals in two States already made. “People will be shocked at the quality for such an accessible price. 10% of the price of a textbook, with better quality, teacher’s notes and support at home included,” said the CEO and founder.
How did it all start?
“I saw a gap in the market for localised quality content at an affordable price point, if we could get the volume sales. It was quite a wild idea. As a head teacher I would go into typically failing schools and turn them around through Maths Mastery, building community, business development, and so on. And in Malaysia I was asked to do for the country what I had done for one school. Maths Mastery was the cornerstone, but existing MM companies’ pricing model was all wrong.” EverybodyCounts adapts its pricing to the standard of living of the country they are targeting and the Ed.Tech model makes localisation so much easier.
And how is localisation carried out?
“We only use local maths teachers, not machines! Maths is globally pretty uniform,” said Ridgway, but while the content is similar there are local differences (as anyone who has seen long division in France or Italy can attest), and different ways of teaching. “We use AI for good, in a ground-breaking way, to detect neurodiversity or learning difficulties, not to deliver lessons. Also, we super-charge the teachers. It’s a huge time-saver, because lesson planning and marking are done automatically.”
The tool is aimed at primary age children and adults. Again, this was perceived as a gap in the market, with most products aimed at older children, whereas the basics of maths proficiency should be acquired in primary school. The tool is not for the sole purpose of preparing for exams, however, it’s about promoting numeracy. “We prepare children for the test of life, not a life of tests,” he said.
We asked how the K2Match experience went. Andy delivered a live pitch, with Question & Answers on the fly.
He admitted he used to find live pitches daunting but this was a great experience, and he came away with 4 or 5 investors, in fact they hope to put a syndicate of investors together. “They can see how lucrative it is, the figures speak for themselves.”
Image courtesy of K2MATCH
He felt that this year the organisers had really nailed it, filling a gap that had been missing from the previous edition – follow-up after the event. “We got phenomenal support from K2MATCH. The whole event is just brilliant, there’s a really nice community in Monaco. They do their vetting on the start-up side and on the investor side. This was our second edition. Last time the pre-event and event itself were great but post-event was lacking. This year the post-event support was phenomenally good. I haven’t got enough good things to say. They are the best company I’ve ever worked with, anywhere in the world, in terms of generating interest in what we do,” he said.
Quite the accolade for the organisers of the Investor Lounge event, which featured startups from all over Europe, the USA and Australia.