• Czech edtech startup Readmio secured EUR 500K in Seed funding from Simpact Ventures
• Readmio’s app enhances storytelling with AI-powered real-time sound effects during read-aloud sessions
• The investment follows Readmio’s successful expansion into Latin American markets
• The company plans to expand into Asian countries as its next growth initiative

This January, Readmio—the Prague-based digital publisher of children’s literature in enhanced audio format—raised EUR 500K of Seed investment from Simpact Ventures. Following the startup’s successful expansion to Latin American markets, Readmio now looks toward Asian countries as its next challenge.

Readmio in a Nutshell

Founded in 2020 by a team of parents, Readmio is an innovative edtech/edutainment startup that enhances the storytelling experience for parents and children through its AI-powered mobile app. The app uses speech recognition technology to detect when a parent is reading a story aloud and automatically adds real-time sound effects to make the narration more immersive and engaging. This interactive storytelling approach not only captivates young listeners but also stimulates their imagination, improves comprehension, and strengthens the emotional bond between parents and children.

A key feature of Readmio is its carefully curated library of over 500 stories available in multiple languages, including English, Polish, Czech, Spanish, and Portuguese. Each story includes moral lessons, discussion prompts, and an option for parents to pre-record their readings, ensuring consistency in bedtime routines even when they are unavailable. The app operates on a subscription-based model, allowing access to a growing collection of stories designed to educate and entertain.

Readmio’s seamless integration of technology and traditional storytelling, transforming a simple reading session into an interactive and magical experience. Unlike conventional audiobooks or e-books, Readmio preserves the human element of storytelling while enhancing it with dynamic soundscapes. This innovative approach has fueled the company’s rapid growth, attracting over 1 million families who have collectively read more than 6 million stories, reflecting its growing global presence.

The Progress in Latin America

In November 2023, Readmio announced ambitious plans of expanding to Latin American markets. The expansion followed roughly 6 months of thorough localization of all the content, including the library, the website and the app, and the team is quite happy with how it turned out.

‘We are fascinated with countries like Chile and Brazil and their cultures, with how much more time they spend with their families, compared to Europe or North America, including reading to their kids. The people are overall welcoming about the digital transformation of their family pastime, and we are quite happy with our choice of where to expand,’ Readmio’s co-founder and CEO Jozef Šimko tells ITKeyMedia.

He adds that, as it turns out, the price of user acquisition is 10x lower than, for example, the US, allowing Readmio to painlessly offer its services 3x cheaper in these markets. All startups are advised to consider this market.

The well-known Czech fund ZAKA VC was among Readmio’s earliest backers. ‘The Readmio team has proven exceptional agility during our common journey. They areconstantly iterating and improving the product and marketing efficiency, entering new countries,and learning how different cultures respond to their stories. It’s an adventure to watch themlearn and grow,’ ZAKA VC’s head of portfolio Natalia Sachova comments.

New Features

Curiously, when announcing their Latin American ambition, Readmio also mentioned plans of adding more features to their offering. The team had to think thoroughly about whether they wanted to develop separate apps for separate features or add them to the existing app. It was decided in favor of the latter because this way Readmio didn’t need to develop or market anything anew. The new features include audio books, comprehension quizzes, and sleep music to play after the story.

‘We did think about an AI mimicking a parent’s voice, but having looked at what, for example, ElevenLabs is doing, we believe there is no technology in place for that at the moment. The generated audio material lacks emotion, which is critical when you read to children. This reading experience is for the children to learn language and communication, and so we must be 100% sure that they get the best experience,’ Mr Šimko says.

‘One particularly touching instance was when a boy who couldn’t hear well was listening to Readmio. This inspired him to record his own voice, which boosted his confidence, which he then proudly demonstrated to his mom,’ he shares further.

The CEO also mentions feedback saying that Readmio gets effectively applied for reading not only to children but also to seniors and blind people, even though the app was never marketed this way. Reportedly, Readmio is also quite beneficial for helping children with hearing impediments.

On to New Markets

Simpact Ventures’ CEO and general partner Krzysztof Grochowski is convinced by the research that clearly shows how much influence regular reading aloud has on children’s linguistic and cognitive development.

‘We are glad that we can support a project that not only focuses on education, but also responds to contemporary challenges, ensuring healthy development of children in the digital world,” he states.

EUR 500K of Seed investment from Simpact are meant to fuel Readmio’s further expansion to new markets. This time, the destination is Asia.

‘We are reasonably cautious about Asian markets. If we take India for example, the Hindu alphabet is radically different from what we’re used to, which means we’ll have to adjust the whole team, including sales and marketing. Needless to say that there’s research to be done regarding the local traditional stories,’ Mr Šimko points out.

As for the languages, Readmio expresses interest in Hindu, Vietnamese, and Korean, with about 10 languages overall under consideration altogether.

‘Our collaboration with Simpact Ventures is a milestone that aligns perfectly with our mission to create a brighter, more connected world through storytelling. We are excited to expand our offerings and continue to innovate in ways that enhance learning and development for children everywhere,’ Readmio’s co-founder and head of growth Ilya Novodvorskiy sums up. 

The company’s declared silver lining is to offer top curated content, created by real people, with the heaviest possible focus on privacy.