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Edsoma, a startup that developed an AI-powered reading, education and communication platform for children, raised $2.5 million in a seed round led by Shaquille O\u2019Neal. The trick? Founder and CEO Kyle Wallgren didn\u2019t ask the NBA superstar and philanthropist for money.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t ask me for money; what he asked was actually \u2018I would like you to help me get this out,’\u201d O\u2019Neal said<\/a> moments after stepping off stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n Edsoma raised the $2.5 million from more than a dozen individual investors \u2014 or family and friends as Wallgren put it \u2014 with a post-funding valuation of $14 million. This is O\u2019Neal\u2019s first edtech investment. He did not disclose the amount.<\/p>\n O\u2019Neal said that Wallgren understood his passion for helping children and his influence. But it was trying the product that had him convinced.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen he talked about it, I didn\u2019t believe it. And then when he showed me, I believed it, O\u2019Neal said.<\/p>\n Wallgren agreed, noting, \u201cI\u2019ve learned that it\u2019s better to show somebody what you can do first and then put a value on it.\u201d<\/p>\n Edsoma is an app that uses an AI reading assistant to help people learn or improve their reading and communication. The app, which is available on the Google Play store and Apple App store, has a free version that allows for one child user and up to three books. A monthly $9.99 version expands it to four users, unlimited books, group video calling and peer reading sessions. The startup also offers a $99.99 yearly membership that offers the same features as the monthly subscription.<\/p>\n Edsoma started with just 300 paid users, grew to 1,000 and by the second month had grown to 9,000 users by the second month, Wallgren said.<\/p>\n And he\u2019s is already looking to scale, raise a Series A and someday even expand into other languages. Wallgren said he intends to kick off a Series A round in a couple of months and is eyeing between $10 million and $15 million.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat he (O\u2019Neal) said at the end of the meeting was, \u2018Do you think this can help us learn Spanish? And the data showed that we had been downloaded in 11 countries,\u201d Wallgren said. \u201cSo when we started looking into it, we\u2019re like, yeah, this can be used as an ESL tool.\u201d<\/p>\n Wallgren added that Edsoma may eventually expand to teaching reading in other languages such as Spanish. For now, the company is targeting users in grades kindergarten to fourth grade based on the content that it has today. Wallgren noted that the Edsoma\u2019s technology will work right through into university and he has ambitions to become the No. 1 literacy resource in the United States.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that I think we can catch up our competitors this year \u2014 I really do believe that,\u201d Wallgren said. \u201cAnd I think by next year, we can be leading that space.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n