Croatian education technology startup STEMI has, in less than an hour, raised over one million kuna in capital (154,000 euros) to expand its operations in the US and Germany.
The group investment campaign at Funderbeam SEE for the Rijeka-based startup, the first Croatian educational robot Hexapod, has now set a new investment record in Croatia with its incredible achievement. It is said that so far nobody on the entire platform, which is jointly run by the Estonian Funderbeam and the Zagreb Stock Exchange, has managed to reach their first million so quickly.
STEMI enables schools around the world to transform their classrooms into innovative labs by offering industry 4.0 related STEAM programs. It aims to eliminate the pain for teachers and educators around the world by offering to educational institutions STEAM Education as a Service with seamless classroom integration. The company has developed its educational platform for teachers and students to offer seamless and simple ways to connect with its interesting programs.
STEMI’s programs enable teachers to facilitate project-based and personalized learning for their students. They enable students to gain a strong baseline in advanced STEAM knowledge while developing not only hands-on technical skills but soft skills like leadership, teamwork and life-long learning. The backbone of STEMI’s product is its online learning platform, which enables efficient program delivery and helps the company to improve the product almost instantly – in real time, using data analytics.
In addition to raising over one million kuna, STEMI has set a modest monthly target of 2.25 million kuna (300,000 euros) and has exceeded half of the minimum capital required to successfully complete the funding round. Marin Trošelj, Co-founder and CEO of STEMI, reportedly says that in case of higher demand, the campaign will increase. “We offer 6.25 to 10 percent shares in STEMI for a stake of 300-500 thousand euros,” Trošelj stated.
With plans to expand its new key product, STEM education as a Service, which has already been successfully tested over in the United States, the startup’s co-founder stated that its market in the US and EU is as high as 360,000 schools. He said that the startup already has a partner in a new niche in the US and is about to sign a contract with another partner closer to home in Germany.
STEMI aims to transform people from consumers of technology into creators and innovators. One of its long-term goals is to help kids to think creatively, work collaboratively and reason systematically – from the youngest age. The company said that its goal is to increase the pilot schools and continue offering more opportunity for children of all backgrounds to explore the STEAM fields.
Needless to mention, in 2015, STEMI raised over $36,000 in its Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, with 280 backers from more than 30 countries around the world. The startup could reach its goal and raised $18,000 in only three days.
