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IFE Explora is recognized as the first EdTech (educational technology) incubator in Latin America. The Tecnológico de Monterrey initiative, led by the Institute for the Future of Education, focuses on guiding individuals and teams passionate about transforming the education sector. Through the program, participants develop innovative solutions with a high potential to reinvent learning through exponential technology.
In this edition, IFE Explora ended the first incubation stage with a Demoday. Each venture presented a four-minute pitch in an audiovisual format and received feedback from experienced entrepreneurs. The evaluation committee was comprised of four participants from the previous generation of the acceleration program, IFE Launch: Mónica Ramos, founder of Musa; Guillermo Garza, CEO of Ŏzaru; Juan Pablo Courbis, CEO of Nimbi; and Ricardo Chávez, co-founder of Scintia.
Thanks to the experts’ recommendations, the startups will continue growing and improving. Also, each venture will receive a digital badge to place on their LinkedIn profile to prove they were part of the IFE Explora program and the Institute for the Future of Education community.
After the Demoday, the 15 winning startups selected will receive support for three months from a mentor to help with validation.
The winning startups are:
- Avantssa
- Inspira
- Luga Up
- Madada
- Sarmientech
- Get a Teacher
- YOED
- Edutory
- TeraSity
- IncubX
- Syllaboard
- Be safe
- Gestually
- mia
- StarOK
Avantssa
Martha Yolanda Mendiola Sotomayor, Peru
The program offers a global entrepreneurial education, reducing the time and money required for entrepreneurs to undertake training independently. Through different educational paths of strong local industries (such as textiles, tourism, export services, and cosmetics) the participants may develop adaptable and innovative business startups.
The educational platform supports women between 18 and 44 years old looking to run their own businesses to balance their work and family life. This program makes it possible to consolidate an enterprise on a global scale.
Inspira
Gabriel Evangelista, Mexico
This environmental education program for Mexican children features low-cost air quality sensors. This sensor is the program’s main character who leads students on different missions to transform their public elementary schools into climate-conscious communities. Its axes include urban nature, ecological civics, socio-emotional intelligence, and environmental sciences.
This venture proposes that local governments offer quality comprehensive education at a low cost and for short periods of time each week.
Luga Up
Roxana Martínez, Austria
Luga Up is a gamified learning platform for all ages, where the student can access a virtual campus and enroll in training courses. Its hybrid learning method combines recorded live classes and a consultation forum where teachers resolve their concerns and use resources such as simulation, gamification, and the flipped classroom.
Students can interact in virtual coworking teams, and upon graduation, they can enter the virtual offices and the job market. The purpose is to ensure that six out of ten students learn 90% of the content taught with the Luga Up methodology.
Madada
Fredy Jheyson Ramos Bendezú, Peru
The flexible online Tech-start program, for financially constrained young people, lasts 4 to 12 months. Students must complete 14 levels, solving challenges while relying on theory and group and individual mentoring. Upon completion, the student will have developed the fundamental technical and soft skills to acquire a job and launch their trajectory in the technology industry.
The model works because students subscribe to the program for free until they get a job, as financial support comes from the Tech-Hero subscription. This voluntary monthly contribution finances the program while giving access to specialization courses, mentoring, and seminars (in philosophy, entrepreneurship, economics, personal development, and employability).
Sarmientech
Pedro Carlos Casanella Mozzi, Argentina
Sarmientech is a pedagogically neutral learning management system (LMS) designed by educators to provide an education adapted to each student. This tool allows a higher ratio of teachers per student using machine learning techniques to teach literacy at scale. Teachers can direct personalized educational activities to each student.
Sarmientech’s interface is simple and contains pedagogical templates with pre-assembled sequences of actions to indicate to the teacher how to carry out the tasks efficiently. In addition, it includes quick and easy access to instruments to manage the class and tools to create classes.
Get a teacher
Roberto Carlos Coronel López, Mexico
This platform standardizes teachers’ profiling and simplifies their search and hiring. Its objective is to assign the right teacher to the right subject considering the degrees and experiences of the teaching staff and the opinion of previous students. The program increases the visibility of specialized profiles and reduces the time institutions invest in searching and selecting professionals. It can also guide the creation of a national directory of teachers.
Universities must ensure that the teacher has the required profile before regulatory bodies. Therefore, the Get a Teacher algorithm creates a single standard language for educational institutions with a publication and an interactive digital environment for teachers through an online platform for educational entities.
YOED
Verónica Amellali Silva Saldierna, Mexico
YOED provides intelligent collaboration scenarios for personalized learning so students can query guides for improving the lesson plan’s implementation in the classroom and trigger the taste to study at home. Everyone encourages the creative occupation of students and the expression of their talents during academic activities.
The method focuses on following the evolving students’ interests and thematic preferences to guide them toward the areas of knowledge that define their vocations. It motivates participation and improves communication while meeting the varied needs of students.
Edutory
Arturo Garcés Ayala, Mexico
Edutory is an educational platform to facilitate the selection of a private school at the K12 or preK12 level for their children. It aims to be the number one directory of private schools in Mexico, listing educational institutions with detailed and updated information.
Also, through an annuity, schools can increase enrollment by continuously replenishing potential clients from the traffic of parents who enter the platform. Currently, version one is already available.
TeraSity
Luis Fernando García Ulibarri, Mexico
This continuing technology education comprises integrated programs transferable to university master’s degrees. It intends to build bridges in the educational world by redefining how lifelong learning is conceived and transmitted. The online learning platform offers a wide range of high-quality certification courses taught by experts and facilitates the transfer of credits from the courses to master’s programs at various partner universities.
Traditional continuing and graduate education models have a completion rate above 90%. However, they face the challenge of attracting students with distance and cost constraints. TeraSity ensures that individual learners and companies have a recognized approach to continuing education for a higher degree.
IncubX
Fernando Francisco González González, Mexico
IncubX is a digital and self-taught entrepreneurial platform to validate and turn an idea into a sustainable business model. Its mission is to democratize entrepreneurship in Mexico. Its methodology uses 10 modules based on the 3 pillars of entrepreneurship: capital, knowledge of business tools, and contacts. Each section comprises videos of experts, a series of downloadable files and reference texts, and access to a tool developed by artificial intelligence that supports the construction of the idea.
Users can access mentors and a database to hire services to promote entrepreneurship. At the end of the modules is the opportunity to consult and apply for financing developed by strategic alliances with the region’s banks and financial technology companies.
Syllaboard
Ricardo González Millán, Chile
Syllaboard is a marketplace of corporate education. The network of corporate teachers connects with companies and institutions. Companies conduct long searches for professionals who bring capabilities and create impact within the business, and Syllaboard seeks to consolidate the world of training in one place.
Users can view their profiles within the platform and connect with companies that apply for their projects. Teachers can then bid and deliver corporate programs.
Be Safe
Irma Cecilia Sánchez Sandoval, Mexico
This social project provides courses and workshops so that people can identify if they suffer from gender violence or if they have ever violated another person. The comprehensive program includes audiovisual tools offering legal, psychological, financial, and self-defense advice.
The online platform has functioned for four years and is also available in a mobile version. So far, Be Safe has worked with the Women’s Government, the Government of the City of Cuernavaca, private companies, cultural centers, and some women’s groups to bring the project closer to girls.
Gestually
Damián Valgiusti, Argentina
Gestually is an application to help people lose the fear of public speaking. The AI-based solution provides feedback on intonation in speeches and gestures for training as often as necessary. It includes hybrid courses with communication professionals. It focuses on establishing strategic alliances with educational institutions, companies, and organizations.
This startup suggests that the success of a speech is 10% talent and 90% training and not just based on what to say but how to express it. The application is available for students and teachers, professionals, entrepreneurs, job seekers, and executives from Latin America.
mia
José Ángel Valdés González, Mexico
This startup provides means to build personalized avatars created with artificial intelligence to eliminate geographical, temporal, and linguistic barriers. It makes it possible for teachers of people who speak Otomi to learn English without needing to go through Spanish.
With mia, the teacher can instruct, answer questions and converse, accommodating the needs of his community. The tool is for students of any academic degree and people who wish to learn in an autonomous and specialized way throughout life.
StarOK
Ivonne Mancilla, Australia
StarOK complements the support system of vocational education institutions to provide better emotional well-being to students. Thus, students can express their emotions regarding their academic process, while the solution provides support according to the student’s emotional state.
Subsequently, the application will offer information related to the need a student has and provide follow-up on their academic process and training in micro-skills to acquire resilience. Thus, the educational institution can generate reports before the regulatory body, tangible evidence of their support.
If you want to be part of the new generation of the IFE Explora program, enter its webpage and participate in the next call, you have until September 14, 2023 to register your innovative solution. Turn your idea into the next EdTech startup that transforms the educational landscape!
Translation by Daniel Wetta
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This article from Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education may be shared under the terms of the license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 
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