Learning platform Simpleclub: "We were flooded with news"

Simpleclub learning platform
"We were flooded with news"

In times of homeschooling, digital offers such as the Simpleclub online learning platform are booming. In the "Zero Hour", co-founder Alexander Giesecke speaks about opportunities, challenges and the "democratization of education".

For several weeks now, millions of children have been home schooled again. While schools still have some catching up to do on the subject of digital learning, private providers are developing intelligent solutions to support students, parents and teachers with homeschooling.

"In the first lockdown it was heavy. We suddenly had three times the number of users in a month," said Alexander Giesecke, co-founder of the learning platform Simpleclub, in the podcast "Die Stunden Null". "We then reacted fairly quickly to give out free access to our app." Now growth is slower, but still steady.

A YouTube channel with self-produced math tutoring videos has meanwhile become a company with 70 employees and seven-digit sales, which reaches over a million users per month with its app and learning platform. At the end of last year, Holtzbrinck Ventures joined the startup as an investor, which it claims has been profitable since 2018. The trained specialist staff currently creates extensive learning material for eleven subjects: explanations by tutors at eye level, individually adapted to the level of learning and continuously improved through feedback and user data. In total, Simpleclub offers 3000 learning videos and 10,000 exercises.

Alexander Giesecke sees a big gap in politics: "There are so many private providers who do nothing but build good solutions all day. And yet we have the feeling that we are going our separate ways. Politicians are somehow trying to do it To cook your own soup. There is not really a clear line where you come together and pull together. "

The self-declared goal: "We want to democratize education with Simpelclub." Therefore, at the beginning of the Corona crisis, the company made free licenses for their platform available to schools: "We thought that a few hundred schools would contact us. We were then flooded with news and within two weeks we have 1.9 million licenses published. " Many teachers, who were overwhelmed with the sudden distance lessons and felt left alone by politics, were grateful for the help.

In the new episode of "Die Stunden Null" you can hear how Simpleclub wants to expand into other countries, what the founders' teachers say about the offer and what ideas there are for better integration with schools and politicians.

You can find all the episodes of "The Zero Hour" directly at Audio Now, Apple or Spotify or via Google.

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