A $256,000 federal grant will go a long way in helping Smart Girls HQ build and launch the next phase in its programming, a STEM-focused digital platform, founder Abi Olukeye said.
The Charlotte-based startup, founded in 2018 to help bridge the gender and resource gap for young girls in science, technology, engineering and math fields, was awarded the grant through the National Science Foundation's Small Business Innovation Research program.
"We proposed a typical solution for what's basically the most common question we get, which is, 'What are your recommendations for what's next?'" Olukeye said.
Smart Girls HQ's flagship product, the Raising Smart Girls online community, offers insights, editorial content and a newsletter for parents, teachers and other adults looking to foster an early love of STEM.
In October, the company launched phase 2, a product called the Dear Smart Girl STEM kit. Its first offering was an electrical engineering-themed kit designed to be an independent activity for girls ages 8 to 12. Olukeye said a portion of the grant is being used to finish the next batch of kits, which will be focused on chemistry and robotics. They will be ready for student testing next month.
The majority of the funding, however, will be used to build and launch what Olukeye considers Smart Girls HQ phase 3 — a digital platform that supports the STEM kits. The artificial intelligence-driven platform, she said, will be a "playlist" of programming that matches an individual's interests, skill level and age. Smart Girls HQ is working in partnership with UNC Charlotte on the development and algorithmic model.
"When we set out to build this learning framework, we always thought sequencing would be a big part of it," she said. "We decided to introduce girls to STEM in a fun way first, through Raising Smart Girls and Dear Smart Girls, to get them hooked, and what comes now is this technical solution."
Olukeye said the platform will use artificial intelligence to predict what types of topics a user may be interested in based on previous behavior on the platform.
"What it's doing is guessing at how curiosity is piqued by introducing a user to something she may not think of otherwise," Olukeye said. "It understands and is a balance of what we know you like and what we think you might like.
"The AI takes a look at the building blocks of things they enjoy, so they can start to explore outside their comfort zone," she added.
She said Smart Girls HQ will have a working prototype by the end of the year, as determined by the terms of the grant, and will be able to apply for the next phase of the grant beginning in August. That involves $1 million that will help the startup commercialize the platform.
