Video game startup Qranio wants learning to be fun for employees

Contxto – A video game is typically viewed as a hobby or source of amusement while waiting around. But Brazilian education startup Qranio knows that playing has a lot of potential for the learning process. This is why the developer has been slowly expanding its video game offerings to companies.

Train your brain

Samir Iásbeck founded Qranio in 2013. This startup is commonly known for offering educational games and quizzes for subjects like chemistry, math, and history.

Users can sign up for a free account and start learning. As the person plays through and shows their mettle, they accumulate intellectual points or “Qis,” for the Portuguese equivalent of “IQ.”

These points can then be traded for real prizes on the app.

The education startup got off the ground with a capital injection from its own founder. And throughout its seven-year existence, Qranio has raised equity from angel investors. While Wayra Brasil, Telefónica’s accelerator program, also pitched the startup R$130,000 (more than US$32,000) in March of 2012.

Besides offering premium memberships to make a profit, this startup has also been covering another front: businesses.

Video game biz

It looks like delving into the business-to-business (B2B) model was a critical decision.

“If we had only remained a B2C (business-to-consumer), it would have broken us. The cost of staying afloat is very high,” said Iásbeck.

Businesses looking to maintain or increase employee productivity through training have become key sources for the video game industry in recent years. Qranio is helping companies by working closely with them to engineer solutions that adapt to the business’ unique needs.

So, for example, the startup has developed a platform to ease the comprehension process of medical terminology for Lily, a major pharmaceuticals company, in 2017. It also created a questionnaire system for users to answer matters regarding leadership, communication, and wellness for a banking company.

The phrase “making learning fun” sounds like a cliché, but I’m all for any employee training option that isn’t a PowerPoint presentation.

More so if there are video games involved.