As platforms like Roblox and Minecraft rise in popularity among young users, alongside extensive engagement with YouTube, edtech companies find it challenging to capture and sustain children’s attention.
Polymath seeks to overcome this challenge by integrating gamified elements inspired by these widely-loved games into adaptive math curricula, ensuring a more engaging educational experience for kids.
The educational sandbox game invites children to discover a virtual island, where they can personalize avatars, construct with bricks and various materials, and engage with characters. To advance in the game, players are required to solve math-related questions, keeping them aligned with their educational objectives.
On Monday, the startup announced it had successfully raised $1 million in a pre-seed funding round, aimed at expanding its reach into new markets. This funding effort was co-led by Blackbird Ventures and GD1, with notable participation from Liam Don, CTO at ClassDojo, as an angel investor.
Sophie Silver, co-founder and CEO of Polymath, has a background in human learning, memory, and developmental psychology from University College London (UCL). While working as a part-time nanny, she identified a noticeable gap in children’s mathematics skills and recognized the growing difficulty in making lessons entertaining.
“The kids were really disinterested in math, so I began creating games—mostly with cards or dice—to motivate them to practice their multiplication and other skills,” Sophie Silver relayed to TechCrunch. “[I discovered] that the methods these kids were using to learn did not align with how cognitive processes actually function.”
Utilizing an adaptive algorithm, Polymath customizes the learning journey for each child according to their individual progress. The platform evaluates children’s responses to determine the most appropriate subsequent questions, identifies gaps in knowledge, and carefully times the introduction of new information to prevent overwhelming students.
Besides the core math lessons, the virtual world offers additional learning experiences. For example, if players aim to construct a house in the game, they must measure dimensions and calculate the required number of wooden blocks.
“There’s a shopkeeper within the game who sells resources, but at times may provide incorrect prices. For instance, one wooden block costs 5 ‘cubos’ (the in-game currency), but if you’re asked to buy 4, and the shopkeeper charges you 30 cubos, it presents a critical thinking moment for students to realize the price is inaccurate,” explained Christian Silver, co-founder and CTO.
Polymath features both a version for home use and one for classrooms. The classroom version lets teachers observe students’ activities in real time, fostering collaborative play where all participants can respond to prompts together. If device availability is limited in the classroom, the platform encourages players to take turns answering questions to ensure everyone’s engagement.
The at-home version gives parents the capacity to oversee their child’s gaming experience and receive weekly email updates on their progress. Additionally, there’s a parent app called Polymath Relate, enabling them to review detailed answers to every question their child has tackled.
Furthermore, children can connect with friends on Polymath via a unique friend code. However, the multiplayer mode does not include a chat feature to ensure a focused learning environment.
Polymath was launched in January 2023 as part of the Startmate accelerator program in New Zealand and has attracted thousands of users across various regions including Arizona, California, Florida, Texas, Virginia, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.
Looking ahead, the game plans to expand its curriculum with advanced learning opportunities and facilitate collaborative play, allowing children to solve problems together. Plans are also in motion to offer purchasable avatar accessories as a potential revenue source.
Polymath is free to use on web, iOS, and Android devices.
Compiled by Techarena.au.
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