Otsimo

Solution Pitch

The Problem

In the United States alone, the CDC identifies 1 in 54 children as diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and in 2010, the U.S. Department of Education found that as many as 20 percent of Americans are affected by other learning disabilities or disorders. Unfortunately, solutions addressing the educational aspect of these neurodevelopmental disorders are not increasing in number in parallel to the increasing prevalence. The most effective method is early and intensive education. However, the cost of treatment for early age intervention and development can be as high as $60,000 per year to support someone diagnosed with ASD.

The Solution

Otsimo is a special education platform for children with special needs and has two apps: one for special education to grow cognitive and behavioral development, and one for speech therapy to teach early speech skills. Otsimo merges well-proven traditional methods with advanced technologies in one platform to provide children with special needs tailor-made educational solutions. The ultimate goal of Otsimo is to reach out to every child across the globe and offer accessible, easy-to-use educational solutions that fit their unique special needs and close the gap in the education system. Otsimo is leveraging technologies that already work and merging them with advanced technologies to fit education to the needs of neurodiverse children.

Stats 

• More than 400,000 students have downloaded the Otsimo app.

Market Opportunity

The National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) states that there are over six million children who need special education, and around 7.4 million kids have a speech delay in one period of their life. Families with special needs also spend three times more on education, which is an average of $8,600 extra per child per year, and annually pay $52 billion for special education. Nearly the same amount goes to speech therapy. In addition, the cost of caring for Americans with autism had reached $268 billion per state in 2015. Otsimo believes early and intensive education is the best available solution to reduce this cost to families, states, and governments.

Organization Highlights

• Selected as an Ashoka Fellow in 2018.

• Otsimo has partnered with the Ministry of Education in Turkey and Turkcell, Turkey’s leading mobile phone operator to offer Otsimo for free to students in Turkey.

Partnership Goals

Otsimo seeks:

• Connections to foreign ministries of education, telecom companies, and healthcare companies to build strategic partnerships and reach more students in need.

• Technical expertise and advice, particularly to conduct in-depth UX/UI research in partnership with parents.