Sunderland educational game start-up backed by £245K cash boost

A Sunderland start-up that develops educational game applications has secured a £245,000 investment to help launch its platform.

WordPlay was founded by Jonathan Karlsen, who identified a gap in the market to provide language programmes that helped children learn English in a fun and engaging way, with the company’s product geared towards primary-aged children who may struggle with traditional teaching methods.

WordPlay is already being trialled in schools in Harbin, China and the company is working with the Foreign Affairs Department and Department of Education to test its platform.

Of the £245,000, the Finance for Business North East Proof of Concept Fund, managed by Northstar Ventures, has provided £100,000.

“WordPlay’s goal is to help non-English speaking kids learn English,” said Karlsen.

“We’re setting out to demonstrate that when children are entertained and interested, learning can happen much more quickly than would be typical in a normal classroom approach.

“Northstar’s investment is allowing us to deliver a series of fun and entertaining bilingual animated films and Candy Crush type gaming apps, which kids will want to engage with. These aren’t lessons disguised as games, they’re games embedded with great educational content.”

Sean Kelly, investment manager at Northstar Ventures, added: “When I first met Jonathan he showed me one of the games WordPlay had developed and even as an adult I was hooked.

“The early trials in China are an exciting development and with the number of online English learners predicted to rise to 120 million by the end of this year in that country alone, there are huge opportunities for WordPlay to grow.”