Dieumerci Christel had specific ideas of what the American education system was like, largely influenced by images from movies he saw as a child.
He grew up in a refugee camp in Tanzania before moving to North Dakota with his family in 2010, expecting "crazy innovative curricula."
"I saw so much potential with the kids living in the camp with me, but a lot of it was lost because society doesn’t have the chance to bring that out," Christel said. "Coming to America, I thought, 'If I go, there's no way the potential would be lost.'"
However, he soon realized the American education system had its own pitfalls, with some students falling through the cracks.
"Our education system loses so much potential because we don't ask the customer themselves — which is the student – 'Who are you and what are your passions?'" he said.
Christel soon began to work on that technology, eventually moving to Austin, Texas, and launching Enlightapp in 2020. Shortly after, he was tapped for the prestigious Techstars Austin program.
But as his company grew, he found even with the Austin connections, most of his customers came from the Sunshine State.
"I like being closer to customers, in a way, so we wanted to come here and get a bit closer," Christel said. "Especially in the pilot phase, it's really important to be very close to our customers as we’re testing things out and learning."
With his Florida-based customers, new local hires and the fact his parents also moved to Pasco County, Christel figured he would take the leap to Tampa Bay.
"Yes, there’s money in Austin, but you have so much more freedom because a lot of funds aren’t investing in geography; they're investing in whatever deal flow comes their way," Christel said. "And traveling back and forth to a conference or meetup, that's fairly easy to do now."
Enlightapp is in beta mode with five pilot customers and expects to launch this spring. The company has students build profiles stating their passions and aspirations, which teachers can then review. The school, which licenses Enlightapp's technology, has access to the profiles and can connect students with similar interests. It can also connect teachers with skill sets, such as woodworking, to students who are interested in learning that skill.
The data can be used beyond that. One school, Christel said, is using it to learn what field trips its classes should take, while another is learning the type of high school that middle school magnet students would best fit into.
"Having the schools understand their student and teacher population and what skill and assets to bring allows the schools to create meaningful connections and build better environments for learning," he said. "The goal is to help accelerate teaching in the classroom; this helps you understand where students are coming from."
The company previously raised roughly $350,000 in a friends and family round. Christel is actively raising a pre-seed round for an undisclosed amount, expected to close at the end of Q1 to kick off the fully launched company.
Christel has spent the last few months settling into the region. He had a bit of a head start — when he was in Austin, he was accepted into the Tampa Bay Wave's TechDiversity cohort.
"The cohort, in a way, made it easier since I had a network here," he said. "I thought it was perfect timing because even if I thought about making the leap, I didn't know anyone there. So, it was perfect timing being able to have people who are working here and have a network of really legitimate support."
