GoStudent first European unicorn edtech startup arrives Spain: it is already the company's third most successful market - It seems that the coronavirus has been the only turning point for online models to gain strength, but, far from being so, there were already platforms and work models based on this format that advocates comfort from home.

In the case of support classes for students is GoStudent, a company that was founded in 2016 by Felix Ohswald and Gregor Müller, in Austria.

It started as a project where a free chat was offered to help students do their homework. It is now a platform that has a presence in 15 countries, has more than 500 employees, 5,000 tutors to teach the classes and invoices 8 million euros per month globally.

Now, after its last round of investment, it has achieved 205 million euros in Series C, accumulating a total of 291 million. This gives the company a value of 1,400 million euros, making it the new European unicorn.

GoStudent makes its way as it talked with Leyre Nieto, head of the company in Spain, about the business model, how the reception is being and what the future (without pandemic) holds for online classes.

GoStudent first European unicorn edtech startup arrives Spain

On an idyllic rooftop terrace in the center of Madrid, "the favorite part of the office for employees", according to Leyre, is where the board remembers the long-distance career she has been doing since she was in Vienna and was proposed to open a market in Spain.

"I was alone, I didn't have a team, a place to work, I didn't have anything." Leyre says that the reception has been spectacular, and that although they are currently a team of 50 people, the forecast is to be more than 100 by the end of this year.

He appreciates the support and confidence that investors have placed in the project, since they have more than 291 million euros from companies such as Speedinvest, Leftlane Capital, DN Capital or Coatue, although in the last round it was DST Global who led the investment.

GoStudent first European unicorn edtech startup arrives Spain: And the company responds. Currently, of the 500,000 classes offered, 40,000 are taught on the Spanish platform, which has already positioned itself as the company's third largest market.

If the platform has focused on something, it is to understand that each student has different needs and that, therefore, not all teachers are valid for all children.

"The children are tired of the teacher boring and distant for them. There are new ways of teaching, this is what we propose in GoStudent. There are ways to understand why your child is not doing well and what he needs to change that," says Leyre.

To do this, they use artificial intelligence in their virtual classrooms. This way they can measure the performance of students and teachers by recognizing emotions, as they create optimal learning environments.GoStudent first European unicorn edtech startup arrives Spain

GoStudent first European unicorn edtech startup arrives Spain

A pilot study conducted by the company itself shows the importance of teachers ' emotional intelligence to achieve this goal.

” We want to continue conducting studies to corroborate the extent to which a teacher's frustration correlates with specific aspects of learning, " says Felix Ohswald on his page.

Leyre is clear. The online model works for several reasons and one of them is flexibility for parents.

GoStudent first European unicorn edtech startup arrives Spain: They no longer have to travel to leave their children in an academy, nor do they have to let an unknown person into their home: “That tranquility is what makes people move and stay with the online options”.

In addition, technology allows the student to explore new forms of learning that in the past seemed totally incompatible. For example: learn math while playing Minecraft.

GoStudent seeks to adapt learning to the contemporary era, providing sensitivity and empathy in dealing with the student, and constantly renewing and adapting their study techniques so that each child finds his or her place in the environment of private lessons.

GoStudent first European unicorn edtech startup arrives Spain

More news:

This is what you can save with each appliance in each hourly section after the VAT drop to 10%

Next Thursday, the Council of Ministers of the Government of Spain will approve a reduction in the VAT on electricity from the current 21% to 10%. The measure comes after the price of the energy bill has become very expensive in recent weeks, especially as a result of the entry into force of the new hourly rate.

In Selectra they offer each day a table with the cost of one hour of operation of each appliance, depending on the period (peak, flat or valley hours) in which you are. In the report of this June 22, 2021, they include a comparison of the cost of light before and after the VAT drop. In heating or in the oven, the savings will reach 0.5 cents per hour.

The reduction in electricity VAT will apply, at least until the end of the year, to all individual consumers with a contracted power of up to 10 kW, provided that the average monthly price of the wholesale electricity market is above 45 euros per MWh. The average price of electricity today, June 22, 2021, is €89.88/MWh.

In the case of “severe vulnerable consumers”, this reduction will apply regardless of the contracted power. In addition, the Government of Spain has also announced that 7% of the tax on electricity production will be suspended during the third quarter of the year.

Speaking to 24 horas de Radio Nacional de España, the fourth vice president of the Government and minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, said that the reduction of the VAT on electricity "will have an important impact on families. It is important to change the structure of the electricity market, monitor taxation and, in the meantime, alleviate the cost for families." In his words, “the price of light is very high as a result of the weight of fossil fuels. Virtually all households and part of SMEs will benefit and, whatever the price of electricity, the most vulnerable will benefit."

There are so satisfied in FACUA-Consumers in Action, where you claim the VAT of the light down permanently for domestic consumers and the Government to use “a reform of the personal income TAX, the estate tax and the companies, so that they are the highest incomes and the companies with the highest profits which assume the payment of amounts that would no longer be collected through the electricity bill”.