Cincinnati's own Zid Zid, a "play-based language learning platform," has announced it is one of five startups participating in the third annual LaunchPad competition.
The event, which is cosponsored by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Language Flagship Technology Innovation Center, was inspired by the popular ABC pitch show "Shark Tank." On November 23, the five particiapnts (who are outlined below), take to the stage at the 2019 ACTFL World Languages Expo in Washington,D.C. A collection of an audience comprised of world language educators will give the finalists feedback on their pitches.
Zid Zid joins a group of international startups, such as the U.K.-based FilmDoo, New York-based Spywatch Lex, Storylabs of California and New Zealand and Taiwan-based Woodpecker Learning.
“The products they are developing are incredibly creative and intuitive, and have the potential to innovate language education," said UH Mānoa Tech Center Director Julio Rodriguez. "We hope the companies will use this opportunity to take advantage of the amazing expertise available at the ACTFLConvention, and to further align their products with the needs of world language professionals."
As for Zid Zid, the three-year-old company was founded by husband and wife team Julie Klear and Moulay Essakalli, who brought their company through startup accelerator The Brandery and later, UpTech in Covington.
“Communication is paramount to everything we do as a society. Being able to talk to someone in their own language or in a common language is probably one of the most exciting things we can do as humans,” Essakalli said in a previous interview with Cincy Inno. “Research shows there are unlimited benefits from cognitive, social and emotional standpoints that come with learning other languages. It makes you smarter, more empathic, and opens up worldviews. It enriches one’s world and experiences.”
The Zid Zid program utilizes stories, activities and other bilingual elements to teach users new languages. Its colorful, playful approach stems from Krear's past as an art educator, product designer and children’s book illustrator.As for their participation in LaunchPad, the Zid Zid team tweeted the following:
Honored to be a 2019 LaunchPad finalist! We were chosen as 1 of 5 companies to compete in their language education technology competition, sponsored by the @FlagTechCenter and @actfl. Congrats to all 5 finalists! #languagelearning pic.twitter.com/2tHmvhLIKQ
— Zid Zid (@zidzidkids) July 10, 2019
