A3 SPARK

FEEDBACK: I think you’ve done an eloquent job at shedding light on an issue that many of us are aware of, but not truly educated on. I was baffled by many of the statistics, and your pitch left me feeling hopeful about the future of education among Syrian children. One of my main concerns was with internet connectivity and access, which I see you have already addressed. You’ve come up with a great solution to utilize unstable connection to the best of its ability via content updates when possible. It’s clear that you and your team have given this venture a great deal of thought and commitment. I wish you the best of luck with this endeavour!

Hi rrto, thank you very much for your offer. I am very pleased from your help, as I always look for someone to help me in building strong sentences and fix my grammatical mistakes. Thanks Maureen, Tareq and Caleb. About the video creation, I am not good at all in creating movies and this was the first time I create a movie, I wanted to be better. Your questions about implementation process, devices distribution and the more detailed questions are really valuable and I have answers for them, but I couldn't address them all because it requires much more than 8 minutes (2000 words). If you are interested in these details, I can send you more specific details. Your contributions are very welcomed!

Osayma, I see your venture being a great story that could not only influence how the UN runs children's programs in refugee camps in the future but also education programs in more stable nations. As Tina noted, a very strong part of your presentation is the idea that it will cost a lot less to invest in Syrian education now than the cost of rebuilding Syria later. Another great argument for Spark (or whatever name it ends up with) is one I've heard even for those who have a hard home life here in Canada, that education is a safe place where children can experience some relief from the pain they have been living through. So this isn't really for a venture capitalist to make money, it's for aid organizations to invest a little now so they won't have to invest a lot later. Questions of housing, power and wifi for the tablets have already been addressed here. The only other thing I have to offer is English grammar. I'm a former ESL teacher with some copyediting experience, so if you'd like me to edit it, please let me know (rrtoronto@gmail.com). I'll have some time after this course is over!

Thank you so much Osayma for sharing this incredibly important and timely venture idea. I feel very privileged to have had the chance to review it. Your pitch is very comprehensive and clearly identified the critical need for the SPARK project, in particular, you effectively demonstrate the current gap that this program would fill. The SPARK team has a wealth of experience, both from the technical perspective, and in terms of familiarity with the market and context for delivery. It seems like this venture will essentially leverage the best of what educational technology currently offers, at a pivotal time for Syria and for our planet. In this way, the return will be seen for years to come. I wish you every success!

REVIEW - Osayma, I am not sure how I can add value through my review comments because I think you have picked such an important venture that the two recommendations I have seem very trivial. I will provide you the two comments anyway in the spirit of helping you make improvements in your proposal: (1) Powtoon might not be the most suitable platform for presenting your elevator pitch. I found that it was sluggish and quite staccato in its movement. You might be better off using prezi or video. (2) I would like to see greater elaboration on the development and distribution model. I know that your proposal is still developing and it is too early to ask for a well thought out and completed model, but I think this is one of the areas you could make some improvements. Having said that, I don't know what else to add... The problem is immediately identifiable and I don't think you need to convince anybody that NGOs should be making this a priority. You have a nascent solution that requires some elaboration, but otherwise your presentation was great. I would highly endorse investment in this venture.

REVIEW: Osayma, your presentation is packed with positives from start to finish. Overall you have a polish to the presentation that makes it appealing, easy to follow and thorough. The vision of your app is both timely and compelling. The pain point came through very clearly, as well as your steps towards the solution. I especially liked how you emphasized the importance of education to a people group and the destructive consequences of robbing a generation of education. One question I have is about the logistics of the devices and the app. There were not a lot of specifics supplied as to how the app would work. The stages were informative, but lack a “hands on” sort of depth. Who is going to monitor the devices? Or will the even be monitored? Are they the responsibility of the individual student, or of the UN branch overseeing the particular refugee camp? What happens when one breaks? Are they going to rely on the internet or a local intranet? One other question I have revolves around the timeline. It is projected to be 4.5 years from now until the app is fully rolled out and effectively utilized by its entire intended audience. As an investor I would like to know how far my $275, 000 will take me, and what the projected total expenses will be. As an investor I would like to know what kind of financial ride I am in for. This venture could potentially require far more cash than I have to offer over the next 3-5. Due to the humanitarian nature of this venture, I would like to see it through to fruition, and would need to know what kind of resources will be needed exactly. (This sort of funding information might not quite be pitch specific. But would definitely help motivate me as an investor.)

Thank you all for your great feedback and reviews. I will try to answer your thoughts here and I am ready for any more comments. First, about the logistics question from Sandy, we are trying to find an NGO that will support the program and administer it so it will be responsible of the devices' distribution process. The electricity is not perfect, even where I am living now, there are shortage periods vary from 3-12 hours/ day, but it is available. There are several UN reports these issues, and we will rely on it. Second, I liked your review Tina and I liked your suggestions. For the curriculum issue, it is really a complicated issue, and the UNICEF did a big report about that, how to make a credible content? Is it going to help refugees to be part of the host countries? or it is about helping them to go back to Syria. In Syria,the case is easier because they will study the Syrian curriculum. We are thinking about providing a content that covers the core points for the international standards,and prepare students to pass the official exams. Or we can create content of the host countries curriculum, Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon. I presented in the results that teachers will make money from this project, but maybe I didn't mention their nationality. I had the same idea of making a partnership with PEARSON, but actually I looking for the UBC support in the first level. For the price of the devices, we assumed that we may find Android tablets around this number. These are not "fixed" numbers. Third, Michele, After choosing this name for my venture "SPARK", I found that there's an NGO in Holland has the same name, and it helps people to work in after crisis places. Definitely I will choose another name for my real venture, and I will be very happy if anyone of you suggested a name that reflects bringing hope for the future. About the internet access in Syria and refugees camps issue, as long there is a mobile network, there is internet access, but we assumed that it is weak and unstable, so we are thinking about creating off line content, with automatic updates when the internet connection is available, special to allow teachers to follow their students' progress. When thinking about the project, we assumed that Access points availability will be part of our project. In these access points there will be a reliable internet connection and this will be the last choice for the students (at the worst case). Last, Catherine I liked your suggestion of applying for the Kick starter, but it will be a later choice after trying the supporting from big NGOs. About the tablets number, we assumed that each student will get one. But for families who has many children students, we may consider the subject. The access point centers, the employees and the administration will be responsible of the tablets distributing process.

FEEDBACK: I was impressed with your pitch. There is no doubt that we need to try to understand what the Syrian crisis is doing to the education of a generation of children. You have great visuals and present a powerful plan to move forward. I am wondering about the logistics of getting the devices, and the internet, into the hands of the Syrian children so that they can access the online learning programs that they so desperately need with the lack of schools and the unrest of the refugee camps. I think you have a successful vision in place. Good luck.

REVIEW: Very well done! In both your elevator pitch and in your venture pitch presentation you use powerful visuals to identify not only the current problem of Syrian children lacking education, but also the future manifestations of that problem, including living in poverty. You also make an excellent point that the cost of educating the children is less than the cost of reconstruction. This is the most powerful, key component to your pitch and you need to continue focusing on this single selling feature. Your CEO credibility is well established and it sounds like you have a very knowledgeable, powerful team with personal interest in the Syrian refugee crisis. By bringing your personal connection into it potential investors also know that you have the heart to do whatever it takes to make this venture a success. From the beginning you clearly identify that this is "not for profit". Many investors will be looking for a venture that makes them money. By identifying this right away and reinforcing it throughout, I strongly feel that you do a good job of weeding out the wrong people and focus on captivating the "right" people, people who are benefactors. Your venture concept, market, "the Ask" and "Road Map" are all very well laid out. You have obviously done a lot of work looking into making this venture a reality. QUESTIONS and THOUGHTS: In your "Venture concept" you mention "looking for credibility of these exams at host countries." Whose curriculum will you be using? What language(s) will be used? I am assuming lessons will be in Syrian, which means that the content needs to be developed by Syrian speaking teachers. Is it possible to partner these Syrian teachers with others from different countries to collaborate on lesson development? Also, you state "We need to provide specific tablets". In your "Ask" you have $120,000 allocated for 1000 devices. This breaks down to $120 / device, not including the cost of any shipping, taxes, etc. You also have $15,000 for hardware maintenance / training. Is this enough capital to cover these costs? I am just concerned that this number might be a bit under budget. I do like your "Road Map" as it clearly outlines further expansion goals. RECOMMENDATION: In your pitch you identify Pearson's "Save the Children" initiative and how it might be looking into mobile learning. Pearson is a massive company with a lot of funding to back it. I love your idea and recommend that you pitch it to Pearson, ask them to become a partner in this most excellent endeavor. With your backgrounds, expertise, passion, and idea combined with Pearson's already available educational resources and financing, this could really be a smashing success. GOOD LUCK!!!!

REVIEW: Great work, Osayma! I think you do really well identifying the need and relevance of the venture. Using key figures, like the one at the beginning of the Elevator Pitch illustrating how little funding is being direct toward education in the Syrian crisis. But inversely, this figure also helps to emphasize the potential impact of your venture for Syrian students. Your Venture Pitch has a clear five-year timeline for the venture that is grounded in both time and place,specifying particular locales where the venture will move forward. My two concerns are (1) the name of the venture—“Spark” is already the name of a somewhat popular instant messaging client from a company called Ignite. It’s similar to AIM, and it is popular in the business community and in some education markets, so that might potentially cause some confusion for your venture. What do you think? And (2) What is the mobile access like in refugee camps in the countries specified in the timeline and in areas within Syria? Can kids expect consistent access on their mobiles? With these issues clarified, I would recommend funding for Spark.