Innovamat: Revolution in the Classroom

Mathematics is ---and always has been--- the bane of many students. It is often considered a subject that can become a headache for some students and that the ability to master the subject is usually closely related to the student's natural ability. However, the challenge is not only in the capacity for learning, but also in the way of teaching. This is something that Laura Morera, educational manager at Innovamat, a startup recognized by ACCIÓ, the agency for business competitiveness of the Generalitat de Catalunya, through the Catalonia Exponential Leaders distinction, knows very well. This recognition is granted to the most disruptive Catalan companies with business models based on exponential technologies.

"The learning of mathematics has been evolving for some time. Reference centers in the field of mathematical didactics, such as the NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) in the United States, the Freudenthal Institute, of the University of Mathematics of Utrecht, or NRICH, of the University of Cambridge, agree that learning mathematics goes beyond assimilating concepts and procedures. Its learning is also closely linked to the mental processes that structure thought," shares Morera, who also holds a degree in mathematics from the UPC, a doctorate in mathematics didactics from the UAB, and has more than 17 years of teaching experience in primary, secondary, and university education.

Following this line, Innovamat has developed an educational proposal to foster competency-based, personalized, and practical learning of mathematics. The objective is to provide teachers with the tools to help students develop skills that allow them to solve problems, establish connections, and develop critical thinking.

"A curricular educational proposal"

Innovamat is not a platform, but a curricular educational proposal, aimed at children in early childhood, primary and secondary education. "We promote competency-based and personalized learning. We encourage teachers to create classroom environments where students can deduce and discover the strategies that work best for them to arrive at the result of mathematical operations and challenges. Only when knowledge is internalized can one move on to practice and systematization. In this way, we ensure that children enjoy mathematics and do not experience it with anguish," says Morera.

With this proposal, the company has managed to attract the attention of venture capital. Innovamat closed a 20 million euro financing round in March of this year led by Reach Capital, Kibo Ventures, and Bonsai Partners. With these funds, the company will strengthen its research tasks to continue studying the most determining factors in mathematics learning and overcome problems such as managing the diversity of levels in the classroom.

Innovamat was founded in 2017 in Barcelona. Currently, more than 2,100 educational centers and 18,000 teachers spread across Spain, Italy, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Brazil, Peru, and the United States have joined the project and teach mathematics in a competency-based manner to more than 430,000 students.

Doing mathematics with Innovamat

The startup aims to promote competency-based, personalized, and practical learning of mathematics through a well-defined system for students and teachers:

• Sequenced learning paths through a proprietary classroom management platform. This includes the necessary resources to prepare and teach mathematics classes.
• Continuous training and support for teachers in mathematics didactics throughout the course.
• Self-adaptive App to practice and systematize the content learned in class through manipulation and experimentation in the classroom. Depending on the results obtained by the student from the different activities, the algorithm selects certain exercises, automatically adapting the level to each child's evolution. Thus, students can work on concepts they need to reinforce and deepen those they already master.
• Personalized reports for each student for teachers generated from the data collected by the app. This allows the teacher to see each young person's progress and detect where each one can be helped.

The most disruptive Catalan companies

Innovamat was recognized in 2022 by ACCIÓ as one of the 10 most disruptive companies in Catalonia, obtaining the distinctive seal of Catalonia Exponential Leaders. This distinction recognizes these companies as inspiring references in the field of disruptive innovation. They are startups and consolidated companies mainly dedicated to health, food, education, new space or digitalization, and base their innovation on new business models and the application of exponential technologies such as big data, robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence or advanced biotechnology, among others.

According to ACCIÓ, this initiative aims to demonstrate that there are also companies here that are examples of adaptation and transformation and a source of inspiration for the entire Catalan business fabric: companies that generate new business models from disruptive ideas, that have a positive impact or that dare to develop solutions to create a better future. Among the companies that have received this qualification are also AldoraTech, Aortyx, Avinent, Jolt, Busup, Mitiga, Roka Furadada, BMAT Music, Kave Home, Flax & Kale, Uriach, Heura, Vottun, Zyrcular Foods, Peptomyc, Sateliot, and Qilimanjaro Quatum Tech.