PowerZ Raises $8.3 Million For Its Educational Video Game
PowerZ raises $8.3 million for its educational video game
PowerZ, a French startup, has raised an additional $8.3 million (€7 million at today's exchange rate), including $1.2 million (€1 million) in debt. The remainder is in the form of traditional equity. The company is both an educational technology startup and a video game studio with an ambitious goal: to create a game as engaging as Minecraft or Fortnite, but with an educational focus.
PowerZ released the first version of its game for computers in February. It is sparsely contented, but the company desired to begin iterating as soon as possible. Aimed at children aged six and up, PowerZ transports the player to a fantasy world filled with adorable dragons and magical spells.
“The goal is to create something akin to Harry Potter,” co-founder and CEO Emmanuel Freund explained. “You have this wonderful and fascinating world. As with Hogwarts, you'll want to return frequently, as the story will unfold over an extended period of time.”
The first chapter was trialed by 15,000 children. They spent an average of four hours in the game. I inquired as to whether Freund was content with those metrics. He stated that he believed his company's vision had been "completely validated."
Today's round is led by Bpifrance Digital Ventures, RAISE Ventures, and Bayard. Educapital, Hachette Livres, Pierre Kosciusko-Morizet, and Michal Benabou, among others, are returning as investors.
Expansion
Now is the time to grow the business by adding content, expanding to new platforms, and launching new languages. Concerning content, the company wishes to collaborate with other game studios. They're going to create new islands and develop games that require you to acquire new knowledge. The first third-party studios to contribute to PowerZ are Zero Games, Opal Games, and ArkRep.
When those new chapters are available, children will be able to practice mental math, geometry, vocabulary, foreign languages, and sign language, as well as astronomy, photography, architecture, sculpture, cooking, wildlife, and yoga.
“In essence, we want to establish ourselves as a publisher,” Freund explained. “The main storyline is the only thing we want to keep in-house.”
In terms of new platforms, PowerZ is launching its game this week on the iPad. The company quickly realized its decision to launch on computers was a mistake. Adults are already computer users or do not wish to leave their child alone with a computer. That is why PowerZ will begin with the iPad and will expand to the iPhone. The company anticipates releasing the game on the Nintendo Switch and possibly other game consoles in 2022.
While the game is currently only available in French, the startup is considering launching an English version in the near future.
“At the moment, the game is completely free. We've come up with a way to monetize it. We're going to replicate every other game's in-app purchases for visual items," Freund explained.
When you look further down the roadmap, you'll notice that PowerZ has some truly audacious goals. Freund believes that educational games will rapidly gain popularity. Many companies are hesitant to develop this type of product because screens are harmful to children.
“If we simply assert that screens are bad, we will end up with an Amazon product for math instruction. I feel a sense of urgency to create a scalable educational platform for screens,” Freund explained.
PowerZ wishes to reach as many children as possible. And, like Fortnite or Minecraft, the company believes its game can serve as a platform for future content.
