As our Hub continues to grow, we welcome and introduce our new XR Hub teams and update with the latest news of our existing teams. These articles have been written based on interview questions answered by the teams themselves. If you have missed the previous articles, you can find them in the Hub Team Introductions category!
Next up is Starklass!
Starklass
Starklass offers affordable education in native languages in developing countries, utilizing culturally tailored content and interactive AR/VR technologies.
What does your team do?
Our goal is to provide affordable education in students’ native languages for 2 euros/month in developing countries. By incorporating AR/VR technology later, we enhance learning through classroom experience. The learning methodology is customised by teachers with their own cultural understanding & promotes easy retention using video, infographics, regional language & personal touch. Teachers have an option to bring elements forward to students in real life by incorporating our AR tool which we are trying to build.
Our website & Android application are ready to launch in markets where there are education barriers & students want to learn in their native language, not mainstream languages.
What is the idea/mission behind your team?
We believe that education is the right for everyone. While in India Ujjwal Soni suffered a lot as he was a good student but he could not get the perfect Finnish education due to educational barriers. Educational content that would have been easily available were not available to him and he struggled a lot to get the courses in his native language.
Tell us about your team members!
Geetali Dewan is the CEO and has worked in many companies including DELL. She also has a Bachelor’s in Technology and Master’s in Business Administration in Information Technology. She overlooks the operations of the company. She has had experience in sales, market research, etc. 100% work contribution to the company, the main area of responsibility is company development and sales and marketing.
Ujjwal Soni, CTO & CGO, brings strong technical skills to the team, with experience in web development, graphic design, programming, web 3.0 & blockchain. His education includes a Master’s of Commerce in Business. He is also working closely with the marketing team as he had previously worked in Mindspace Solutions as a social media manager.
What project(s) are you currently working on?
We received tempo from Business Finland for market research and internationalisation in India and Bangladesh. In India we have already received 189 students in just a week and also onboarded 20 institutes. We are currently working on adding as many teachers and institutes as possible so that we can quickly start building the Starklass Universe.
Why did you decide to join Helsinki XR Center’s XR developer hub?
Helsinki XR Center felt like an exciting place for XR developers, offering resources, collaboration opportunities, and a supportive environment for innovation in extended reality technologies. It was perfect place for us to network and take our calls. We have a future XR project lined up where we will be using the Hub’s facility a lot.
When did you join the XR Hub, and how long had your team existed before joining?
We joined in Feb 2024 and our team has existed since March 2022.
Since the establishment of Starklass we have passed many milestones:
- We have the following article published:
https://educationhubhelsinki.fi/general/entrepreneurship-stories-building-your-edtech-startup-in-a-new-country/ - Our idea was accepted by Business Finland and we received a positive eligibility statement on 09.2021.
- We were selected and completed the incubator program at Helsinki Education Hub as part of their 2nd cohort.
- Starklass, was selected as the winner of Santa’s Christmas Pitch 2022, an event by the ArcticStartupteam.
- We received an Innovation voucher from Business Finland which was used to build our web application.
- We have also received tempo funding from Business Finland.
As a part of the XR Hub, how has your experience been so far?
Till now we have got great support and help from the XR Hub. We have always been given help even before asking. It feels like a cool place with cool people.
What is the most interesting or exciting thing about extended reality?
One of the most exciting aspects of extended reality (XR) and emergent technologies is their potential to fundamentally change how we interact with the world around us. XR, which encompasses virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR), has the power to transform various industries, from entertainment and gaming to education, healthcare, architecture, and beyond.
Starklass contact
Geetali Dewan (Founder/ CEO): geetalidewan(at)gmail.com
Ujjwal Soni (Co-Founder/ CTO & CGO): ujjwalsoni1961(at)gmail.com
This post is a part of the article series about Helsinki XR Center’s hub teams, running since 2020. This is your chance to get to know our talented XR community!
If you missed the earlier XR Hub team introductions, they are available in our website’s News section.
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