Startup Spotlight #68 Tolkido

June 17, 2021

Tolkido is an intelligent playmate who helps enhance children's speech & communication, abstract thinking, and fine motor skills with unique methods based on scientific background. Thanks to its artificial intelligence, TolkidoMio can be personalized to adapt to the cognitive level of each child. It accelerates the language-speech and mental development of children by providing individualized education at home. Can Yıldız, the Co-Founder of Tolkido, shared their journey from the beginning.

When and why did you found your startup?

In 2015, my cousin Umut was diagnosed with autism. Umut showed similar characteristics to children with typical development until the age of 2.5, lost eye contact, speech, and communication skills after 2.5. I witnessed the inadequate education process and the problems experienced by his family. I desperately tried to help him continue this education process at home with my uncle by going from school to school, scanning the resources on the internet and the educational materials he received. To reverse this desperate situation in families' homes, we implemented the idea of Tolkido in 2016.

Tell us about your team.

Tolkido has a core team of 8 people. The team works in developing and designing Software and Hardware systems along with designing, developing, and producing educational sets in Tolkido's game ecosystem. Business development, manufacturing supply chain management, and marketing are also done within the team. We have three advisors who are experts in bilingualism, cognition, special education, and child psychiatry.

What are your key and unique features?

#Individualiazble #Adaptable #PermanentLearning #RealLife #Interactive

Although Tolkido is a screenless educational material, it is in the "most individualizable" position in its field. Its algorithm that recognizes and adapts to the child makes every object in the child's living space audible with the mother's voice. By adjusting to 60% of the child's developmental areas from 1 to 6 years old, Tolkido makes the learning process permanent with real-life interaction instead of sitting children in front of the screen.

Tell us about numbers that matter to you.‍

Tolkido has become an intelligent playmate for more than 15,000 children in daily usage. It is used in over 200 special education centers, and its benefits have been academically proven. Today Tolkido speaks an average of 185 minutes per week for a child. It increases the speed of learning new words by 50% and increases the attention span up to 2 times.

What are your plans for the next year and the next five years?

We are on the way to be the intelligent friend of all children, not just children with special needs. We put our artificial intelligence algorithm at the center of our product. We are turning it into a friend who listens, understands, and grows with the child. In this context, Tolkido will be a real "smart playmate" in the next five years and will appeal to all children.