The LaunchPad event offers a unique platform for first-time entrepreneurs who have created a technology product intended to impact world language education.

Charlala

CEO & Founder: Chris Hammer

Primary Audience: Undergrad, Community College, High School, K-16 Education

Charlala is a conversational language platform designed for the world language classroom. Charlala has two core tools: a simulated conversation tool and a digital whiteboard tool. Educators use the platform to assess student speaking proficiency and practice conversation activities. The platform also converts any device into a digital canvas to engage students in authentic conversations through a variety of communicative activities including card talks, weekend chats, and storytelling. Both tools are integrated into the Charlala platform, allowing teachers to organize classes, create asynchronous assignments, host synchronous activities, and provide feedback using rubrics that look and feel like traditional rubrics on paper.

Lirica

CEO: Paul Custance

Primary Audience: Government/Adult Ed.

Lirica is a mobile application that teaches all the building blocks of the language through amazing music. The app intelligently matches up core language components with the lyrics of different pieces of popular music, fitting them to your difficulty level, so that you can succeed whether you’re an absolute beginner or have a little more experience. With each song, listeners learn vocabulary, grammar, and listening comprehension in context, which is reinforced every time they listen to the song. Songs make language memorable. They are used in classrooms around the world to engage students and illuminate culture. Our mission is to place this powerful classroom learning interaction directly into the hands of people to learn anywhere, whenever they want.

Benefits

Exposure to thousands of language educators and several successful companies in the field through the Tech Center news and website.

The Tech Center will add your company to its network of 31 language programs at 21 leading institutions of higher education and will invite your company to participate in select targeted Tech Center-sponsored events and projects.

Past participants will provide mentoring for the competition.

Inclusion in our network of innovators, which includes highly specialized professionals in the field of language learning technology.

Winners will be featured in promotional materials for the event.

LaunchPad Award

The LaunchPad Award is given to a single finalist and is determined by a group of judges appointed by the Tech Center. Judges typically include Flagship stakeholders (program directors, teachers, and students), leadership of established companies, and potential investors.

LaunchPad judging criteria:

1. Flagship Fit: the product has potential to be used in the Flagship context. Learn about The Language Flagship here.
2. Product Alignment: the product’s purpose is aligned with its affordances, features, and functions.
3. User Experience: the product supports user engagement and the user experience through a well designed user interface.
4. Innovation: the product utilizes innovative approaches and/or technology to address a need in technology-enhanced language learning and/or teaching.
5. Pitch Quality: the product pitch is well structured, convincing, and utilizes visual media in effective ways.