Ignite Copilot's AI tools for generating teaching resources for teachers double down on internationalization. The edtech, which generates content and teaching plans in various formats for primary, secondary, and vocational training, aims to reach 5,000 paying users this year, and wants to do so by consolidating in Spain but also by landing in Latin America.
To boost this process of both national market expansion and internationalization, the startup has launched a funding round with which it wants to raise half a million euros, as highlighted by its founder, Ignacio Aso: "Until now, operations have been managed with capital contributions from the founding partners, but to achieve the set goals, we need to strengthen our financial muscle."
The initiative emerged from Aso's previous experience in the launch a decade ago of the technology-linked extracurricular company Ignite Serious Play, of which he has been general director ever since. "We already had experience in teaching and technology, which led us to be aware of the difficulty teachers faced when programming classes, and even more so in a more complex classroom typology than before."
Combining this technological facet with the needs detected in the educational field, they decided to create Ignite Copilot two years ago, as "an aid to the teacher, a copilot." The project was incorporated as a company a year and a half ago, when three developers who were part of the extracurricular company made the leap to the new project. "During 2024 we were locked down to develop an impeccable tool in accordance with regulations and tested with a thousand teachers from 150 centers," says Aso.
This year, Ignite Copilot has dared to enter the market, in a context of growth in the edtech sector in Catalonia. The company, based in Sant Cugat del Vallès, has nearly 14,200 users —with 2,000 in freemium format and 300 paying— and is present in several large schools. Now, it plans to accelerate its expansion to new centers and professionals between May and June, a period in which the next school year begins to be planned.
"The goal is to end 2025 with 5,000 paying users," Aso remarks. To reach this figure, the web platform can add teachers individually, or educational centers, which put Ignite Copilot's tools at the service of their teachers. For centers, the price is equivalent to about 100 euros per teacher per year, while the individual paid version is about 12 euros per month.
Access to Ignite Copilot translates into a time gain. "It is a productivity tool for teachers, which frees them from hours of documentation and didactic planning so that they can dedicate them to their students," Aso highlights. In fact, according to him, a standard teacher dedicates about 15 hours a week to preparing their sessions and documenting themselves, and the platform reduces this time by 70%: "We free up about ten hours on average per week so that the teacher can be better where they shine most: with the students."
Ignite Copilot has Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and Peru in its sightsAnd how does it work? "Like a Thermomix," Aso illustrates. The platform has all the necessary ingredients to develop a didactic plan on any topic, "it mixes them, and creates an adapted didactic plan aligned with curricular standards." Additionally, the teacher gives instructions for the recipe:specify how many sessions it should be structured into, detail the special needs present in the classroom, or indicate whether it should have an interdisciplinary approach, among other elements. In fact, thesoftwaremaximizes this multidisciplinary facet when it comes to users from the same school, as it allows generating shared plans among several teachers.
With its possibilities and the time savings it represents for teachers, Ignite Copilot seeks to grow in users and centers nationwide, but also in Latin America, and that is because it focuses on Spanish-speaking markets. In the spotlight, as Aso highlights, they place Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and Peru, while also aspiring to prepare versions in Catalan, Galician, and Basque with the resources they obtain from the ongoing financing round.