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Brazilian startup Timokids opens operations in PR

Timokids is available in four languages (Portuguese, English, Spanish and Italian) and has customers in more than 190 countries.

Hunt Holdings LP, an early stage tech investor in the U.S., added the edutainment startup Timokids to its portfolio, in a deal that will support the company’s international expansion from Puerto Rico, the companies announced Monday.

The company was part of the second generation of international accelerator Parallel18.

Founded in Brazil in 2014, Timokids developed an app that provides social educational content to help parents and teachers explain daily issues to kids 1-12 years old.

Through a methodology that uses technology, the company introduces complex concepts, such as bullying, social behavior, citizenship among other important developmental subjects.

Timokids is available in four languages (Portuguese, English, Spanish and Italian) and has customers in more than 190 countries.

Timokids provides a tool to help parents fill the gaps of information and stimulate meaningful conversations in the family, as the children prepare emotionally to the challenges of an ever changing world. Psychologists and pedagogues support all the content.

“The use of technology allow us to connect with kids in a universe that is already part of their lives, so they can have the right orientation to deal with the issues that present them,” said Fabiany Lima, Founder of Timokids and mother of twins.

“Nowadays, children are exposed to so much data, but they lack the tools to separate what’s true from what’s not,” she said.

“In Timokids, we believe that accurate information can help prevent and detect serious problems such as bullying or sexual abuse, at the same time that we empower children and families to build a better society” Lima said.

“When we teach kids we impact three generations: because they influence the parents behavior, and the new, healthier, patterns get passed to their future children,” she noted.

The move to Puerto Rico
The strategy to establish operations in Puerto Rico attends to several goals of the growing company. Lima mentioned that the island presents as an ideal place to support Timokids’ global expansion, hire high quality employees with the skills to work with different languages and cultures and be close to U.S. market and investors.

Furthermore, the island’s fiscal structure is ideal to support global tech startups, something that was not missed by Hunt Holdings LP, the investor said.

“We invest early and follow-on as necessary. While our investment thesis is U.S.-only, we are pleased to invest in TimoKids, Inc., a company incorporated in Delaware with operations in Puerto Rico and roots in Brazil,” said Ebetuel Pallares, Advisor to Hunt Holdings LP.

“The relationship with Parallel18 -the high-quality screening and assistance that the accelerator offers its cohorts- gave us comfort to lead TimoKids’ seed round. We believe there is great opportunity in bridging investments from Latin America into the U.S. via Puerto Rico,” Pallares added.

Pallares met Timokids’ founder, Lima, at Parallel18’s Demo Day last January. The startup accelerator is based in Puerto Rico, but open to innovative, scalable companies from all over the world.

“We are very proud of Timokids success, and the decision to spearhead its global expansion from Puerto Rico. At Parallel18, we are convinced that is possible to have more stories like this, where a growing company finds in the island the resources and conditions necessary to reach global markets,” said Sebastian Vidal, executive director of Parallel18.

“We are committed to support economic development in Puerto Rico by creating opportunities for local and international entrepreneurs with innovative and scalable businesses,” he said.

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This story was written by our staff based on a press release.
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1 Comment

  1. Sydney Rockwell May 30, 2017

    Timokids sounds like a company that truly cares about families. Children definitely need champions who will help them uncover the truth and deal with difficult issues. Perhaps a future opportunity would be developing tools to help kids deal with issues like infidelity and divorce. Congratulations to Ms. Lima on your advantageous move.

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