Tuesday, December 28, 2010

The Pitch

iCreate to Educate connects learning and tech

By Lynette F. Cornell

iCreate to Educate LLC
Headquarters: Boston
Phone: 617-784-8792
Email: mpickering@icreatetoeducate.com
URL: www.icreatetoeducate.com
Founded: 2010
Employees: 3


In the company’s own words:
“iCreate to Educate connects K-12 teachers with innovative technologies to excite students in math and science. Once iCreate has an established nation-wide network of teachers as both trainers and mainstream adopters, iCreate’s portfolio will broaden to other hands-on tools developed in the academic space to engage students in learning. iCreate connects the teachers with these innovative tools through training, curricula mapping and support.”

The technology:
The first product iCreate is offering to classrooms is SAM Animation, stop motion animation software developed at Tufts by iCreate cofounders Brian Gravel and Chris Rogers and targeted at K-12 students. The software is geared toward helping students develop a practical understanding of scientific concepts in the areas of math, science, language, literature and music. For example, students can use concrete representations, such as clay or strings, to visualize abstract concepts, such as the effects of variable coefficients on a plotted graph.

People behind the company:
Melissa Pickering, manager and co-founder, was previously the assistant director at Tufts University Center for Engineering Education and Outreach and has a background in mechanical engineering. Brian Gravel, co-founder, is a Tufts University Ph.D. candidate in the field of science education who has worked in education for over 10 years. Bill Church, co-founder, is a high school physics teacher in Littleton, N.H., with 14 years of teaching experience. Chris Rogers, a Tufts mechanical engineering professor and director of the Tufts Center for Engineering Education and Outreach is currently on the iCreate board of advisers.

The pitch:
iCreate has already raised $70,000 from friends, family and the Kauffman Foundation and is seeking $230,000 to support operations and hire two people for business and curriculum development to grow its adoption of the SAM products in schools. iCreate is also seeking partnerships with other student-centered educational technology companies including developers of new hardware such as interactive whiteboards and HD web cameras. Additionally, the company is looking to partner with corporations interested in supporting science and math initiatives in their local districts.

The market:
The company is targeting the K-12 education providers market, which Pickering estimated could yield $1.65 million in sales based upon the number of K-12 teachers at public schools as reported by the National Center for Education Statistics. The company also expects additional sales from private educational institutions.

Partnerships and awards:
iCreate has partnered with KidWind, a wind energy education company based in Minnesota, and the Singapore Science Center in Singapore. Both partnerships involve the co-development of classroom solutions using SAM Animation. iCreate was recently accepted into the Kauffman Foundation incubator program for education ventures. The company is generating revenue but is not yet profitable.

The competition:
According to Pickering, iCreate’s competitors are other educational technology companies that promote student-centered learning and provide whole classroom solutions, which include both training and relevant curriculum for the technology. These companies include FableVision Inc., Tom Snyder Productions, Robomatter Inc. and Vernier Software & Technology LLC. Two other competitors, KidWind and the Museum of Science, are also business partners.