In the rapidly evolving landscape of education technology (EdTech), one platform, in particular, has emerged as a game-changer in leveraging the potential of Web3 technology. TinyTap, a pioneering Web3 platform, has been making waves with its innovative approach to interactive learning experiences for children.
In an exclusive interview with Finbold, we had the opportunity to sit down with Yogev Shelly, the CEO of TinyTap, to delve into the future of EdTech and explore how their Web3 platform is transforming the way children learn and interact with educational content.
Shelly shared insight insights into the latest developments at TinyTap, the strategies they have employed to adapt to the ever-changing educational landscape, and the ways in which their platform has fostered a more immersive and engaging learning environment.
Thank you for joining us today, Yogev. Could you give us a brief history of TinyTap and what drove you and your team to launch the platform?
“I initially built the tool for my father, who was suffering from dementia, as an exercise where we could show a picture of a family member with audio indicating their relationship to my father. “This is your son, your daughter,” and there was an activity for him to select that person from the photo.
The fact that it was found by educators to be used as in-class teaching material is completely organic, but with it came a revelation that personalized learning is something people are looking for. Then we took it a step further by establishing a subscription service where creators can now earn from the educational content they make, and families can get access to teacher-made content.”
TinyTap was one of the partners at the ISTE Live 23 Conference held in Philadelphia a few weeks ago, strategizing on the role of technology in future learning. How does TinyTap fit in this future of EdTech, and what lessons did you pick up during the conference?
“We’re established for early-childhood education, and I believe we’ll maintain that as our demographic grows, we aim to age with them and provide them with relevant content for all ages. Our platform is only getting better with a foundation in interactive educational games and a constantly expanding library, I don’t see it ever going away.
With the adoption of the Open Campus protocol, we are now partnering with companies such as Gitcoin, GOQii, Pixelynx, and others to provide high-level courses for subjects such as Financial Literacy, Mental Health, and Music.
TinyTap is a free creation platform for teachers; we intend to keep that our mission forever. So attending ISTE was interesting to see ourselves positioned as one of the only booths with something to offer educators immediately, with no ask.“
How does TinyTap compete with bigger competitors such as Google and Microsoft, and others that are investing billions of dollars in EdTech?
“We think it’s fantastic. We all have the same goal. EdTech brings a huge opportunity to change education worldwide (who definitely scream for help). The more companies that invest and provide tools and resources to creators, educators, and families, the better the education system will change.”
As records show, TinyTap was acquired by Animoca Brands in May last year. Could you explain briefly the details behind the acquisition and how the acquisition changed your business strategies?
“Yat (CEO and founder of Animoca Brands) expressed interest in TinyTap already in 2016, and while it took some time to resolve, Animoca Brands acquired TinyTap back in June 2022 at around 80%. They were intent on leveraging blockchain technology to offer new opportunities to educators worldwide, allowing them to generate equity from the educational content they create.
Since then, we have been building our product and partnering with others to truly turn TinyTap into a decentralized place for educators. Animoca is a major leader in blockchain, so naturally, they brought an edge to TinyTap and opened doors to utilizing blockchain technology to explore co-publishing rights for games and courses made on our platform.
We realized while educators may be fit to develop learning material, they may not be equipped to market their content. With digital co-publishing rights, we can pair them with dedicated marketers who can expand the range of audiences for the content. It actually came to a head on November 2022 when we released 12 courses from TinyTap as Publisher NFTs garnering over $351,000 to be shared with the creators and platform.”
In a previous interview, you said the move to crypto aims to enhance ‘revenue generation’ on the platform, giving creators an opportunity to earn and own their content. Can you briefly explain how TinyTap creates revenue for the parents, educators, and creators on the platform?
“As explained with the Publisher NFT, but possibly to go a bit further, creators now have the opportunity to find partners in promoting their content, and will receive an upfront payment from the co-publishing to purchase the rights to do so.
Parents can own a piece of the content their child is learning from and then sell it, almost like a secondhand book, once their kid has completed the course or is no longer using it.“
It’s impressive that over 10 years TinyTap has grown its userbase to over 9 million parents and over 100,000 creators. How has this large community reacted to crypto and Web3 developments on the platform? Do you see the potential for massive growth in Web3 services on TinyTap?
“We’ve seen the most support coming from the creators on the platform. With the new Co-Publishing model, they can really focus on what they love most, educational content creation.
There is an even bigger excitement brewing since Open Campus announced its $10mm Global Educators Fund, specifically designed to provide teachers with upfront liquidity to create additional educational content that they can then sell as Publisher NFTs in future releases. With the genesis of Open Campus, TinyTap has found its community of decentralized education supporters with Web3 users, and we will continue to build toward the future of learning.“
TinyTaps also launched Open Campus with other Web 3 EdTech partners, including Animoca Brands. Can you explain the relationship between Open Campus and TinyTap? Are they the same company?
“Open Campus is a mission and a protocol, or social layer, on top of education. The mission is to make it more accessible and return the power back to the hands of educators, learners, and parents. A protocol, because of the native educational token with a goal of allowing it to unlock learning material globally.
And finally, the social layer is a means of connecting the community from educator to co-publisher, to student. TinyTap has adopted this with our Publisher NFTs and will continue to uphold the mission of decentralizing education and bringing a trillion-dollar industry into those that utilize it the most.“
Finally, are there any important upcoming initiatives this year that TinyTap users should be particularly aware of?
“We are releasing our next round of Publisher NFTs soon, at a lower price range, to bring on a new community of co-publishers. We saw a lot of success in November, releasing just 12 PNFTs at auction, garnering over $350,000 at the time of the sale. The new Co-Publishers have enjoyed earnings consistently since they began acting as an additional marketer of the content they now own publishing rights for.“
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