Akdemia is an online service based in Venezuela that seeks to improve school management and the modernization of information and communication in schools.
It offers practical tools for the management of assessments and notes, communications to teachers, parents and students, scheduling activities, automated billing, and much more. It is a one stop shop for all those involved in children’s academic lives.
Company Overview:
Founded in Venezuela in 2012, Akdemia is led by a heavily female team, including CEO Valentina Delfino. This is a rare occurrence in Latin America overall where the Organizacion de Trabajo Internacional reports that just 4.2% of CEOs are women. In addition to their female company head, Akdemia also has female developers and administrators on the team.
In addition to their company demographics, Akdemia has some pretty powerful backers. They were incubated by the Telefonica-backed Wayra Venezuela and have received investment from TechStars and Agora Partnerships, among others, totaling nearly $323,000. They’ve also partnered with corporate giants like Intel, IBM, HP, and Microsoft.
Founder’s Story:
Valentina Delfino is a mother of two with a background in web design, management and sales.
Market Opportunity:
Classroom management apps are a crowded space and challenges remain for mass adoption of technology in education around the globe. The NMC Horizon Report: 2016 Higher Education Edition reported on barriers affecting technology adoption in education, citing more difficult challenges like keeping education relevant and more solvable problems like increasing digital literacy.
The need for an all-in-one solution to bring parents, teachers, students and administrators together on one platform is, however, appealing, as currently, there is a mishmash of different education management tools that could hinder mass adoption and simplification.
