Proving education is a sector to watch, Sydney educational startup Shiny Things has just surpassed the one million download mark for its children’s educational apps.
Combining education with tech seems to have been the magic mix for Shiny Things, with apps like Quick Math+, Quick Clock, Shiny Bakery and Sudoku Touch being downloaded all over the world, including Saudi Arabia, Mexico and France.
Founder and entrepreneur Mat Peterson launched the business two years ago from his Sydney living room, growing to now boast a team of 12 designers, developers and educators.
“Producing an app people want to download is difficult, let alone an app they would be willing to pay for,” Peterson reflects.
“Last October, Apple announced it had hit over 60 billion cumulative downloads. When you divide this by the over one million apps available in the App Store, it becomes clear that Shiny Things is ahead of the market.”
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“By hitting such a massive milestone today, it shows that parents and teachers are turning screen time into learning time.”
And with over half of Aussie kids now using tablets, Peterson’s apps were certainly ahead of the trend.
“At Shiny Things, we’re big believers that game-enhances learning complements traditional teaching methods, and while school booklists are now including digital books and apps, they often consist of tools adapted to the classroom, seldom developed for it.”
“Our team does the reverse. We research, develop, test and make apps that are specifically aligned to the classroom curriculum.”
Gallery: There Shouldn't Be An App For That But it’s not just Aussie kids embracing these educational apps. The USA is Shiny Things’ most successful market with 330,000 downloads, followed by China (140,000) and Australia (120,000).
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