Our story

I have two kids, ages 11 and 8, and I've been excited to work with them on math over the past few years. As an engineer working on AI hardware, it was important to me that both kids loved math -- and over my dead body would my daughter give up on math. Together, we tried every math app that we could find, and I was surprised by the limitations in the apps:

Problem recommendations based only on diagnostic tests
Lack of adaptability leading to kids either being bored or without a solid foundation
Lack of review of prior concepts that were forgotten
Patterns of problems so that kids learn patterns vs understand the math
Long and tedious calculations over in-depth understanding

Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter all use machine learning to maximize engagement; it's time we bring the same rigor to making education fun and engaging.

We will leverage user data and machine learning to improve education personalization, ensuring that kids are appropriately challenged but not overwhelmed.

Math scores for US students are at all-time lows, with the pandemic exacerbating the trend. Math will be critical in a world where AI is changing the job landscape.

We can build a profitable business with consistent revenue streams while also making a difference in the world.

Who we are

Hi, I'm Alyssa. I am a middle-aged mom, and also an engineer. I live in the Washington DC area with my kids (11 and 8 years old), husband, psycho dog and crazy cat. A long time ago, I went to Carnegie Mellon University and got a PhD in electrical and computer engineering. I spent almost 20 years working in corporate America doing AI and machine learning for semiconductors, where my job was very similar to Dilbert (if you're a kid, that's a cartoon that old people like me used to read). I left corporate America in February 2023 because I saw a need for a product to do a better job helping kids practice math, and I had ideas of how to build it. Creating this game is my way of sharing my love of math while also being an introvert who wants to spend all day by myself.

Right now our team is just me, but I'm getting advice from many people who I plan to bring onto the team (as soon as I can pay them), including:

A math teacher with 20 years experience teaching middle school math who previously work at Prodigy
A machine learning expert with a PhD from MIT who previously worked at Goldman Sachs
An educational game designer who taught a class at CMU about designing educational video games
A head of sales sales with 20 years experience with experience who has developed go-to-market strategies and profitably grown revenue for a range of startups, including in the education space

How does Hopper Ed fit into math education?

How does Hopper Ed work?

Where are the video games?

Goals

Right now, this is only available as a website that doesn't work very well and is free! Our plan is to work on the website to the point where it offers real advantages over other math apps, and then build up a user base. Long term, we will create an app where the math problems are integrated with gaming elements and the math progression is guided by both machine learning and an understanding of curriculum, and charge a small monthly fee.

Short term goals (AKA, I know, I know, I'm working on it)

Grade 7 and 8 problems written
Explanations of how to do problems
Tracking of splat streak and seeds gathered
Ability to play games with a list of friends designated by parents
More games

What people are saying

Our story

Who we are

Goals