Meet Maxim Azarov, CEO and Co-Founder at Linguistic Ed-Tech Start-Up: Novakid

As a father of three kids, I understand that there is a huge necessity for them to become fluent in the English language to broaden their communications and lifelong opportunities in our globalized world.

With this important need in mind, I decided to use my extensive knowledge and experience in IT to create Novakid, a unique online learning platform designed to help English as a Second Language (ESL) children around the world master the English language through interactive gamification and AI technology that makes learning English fun and engaging.
 
 

 

How did you come up with the idea for the company?

 
So in 2017, my partner Dmitry Malin, my son’s English teacher Amy Krolevetskaya, and I created a way to deliver English language lessons to children, providing them with full immersion into lessons, provided by certified English teachers around the world.

Today, we are proud to have delivered 2.3 million lessons to more than 380K students around the globe, and Novakid is now Europe’s leading ESL platform for kids.
 

 

How has your company evolved during the pandemic?

 
The pandemic has led to an exponential growth in demand for online learning, and it has had many positive, long-lasting effects. The total global online ESL learning market is projected to grow to $10 billion this year, and its segment for children of all ages to $3 billion. Novakid has grown tenfold since the end of 2019.

Prior to 2020, Novakid’s message was to tout the benefits of learning English online, without unnecessary commuting, schedule adjustments, and so on. The pandemic changed it all, as the whole world was forced to switch to remote work, video conferencing and self-isolation. Now we are communicating how easy and effective it is to start learning English and the benefits of achieving fluency in this universal language. For example, we recently ran our #KidsTalkFuture digital campaign where kids from around the world share their ideas about a happy future for our planet.
 

You run a very targeted business, is there a significant limitation to Novakid’s growth in the future?

 
Indeed, Novakid is currently focused on serving children ages 4-12. Our mission is to reinvent learning ESL for kids around the globe. Our platform delivers a unique format that combines a highly interactive digital curriculum with individual live tutor sessions where students and teachers only speak English for a 100% language immersion.

Novakid’s unique innovations include a digital-only curriculum, virtual 360-degrees tours, in-lesson games, creative homework assignments, and other features that drive young student engagement. It emphasizes personalization and AI-assisted data extraction and analysis to provide the best learning experience.

However, our current niche is really quite broad, as studies show that approximately a half of parents in European countries are not satisfied with the level of English language teaching their children receive in kindergarten or school. In other parts of the world, the education environment is even more difficult. And we are planning to expand our niche by gradually adding lessons designed for teenage students in the future.