Commencing his first company at age 21—during the financial crisis, not out of choice but out of necessity, Kyle Wallgren’s odyssey of excellence includes establishing 13 companies.
He sold 9 of them in two different countries. Kyle came to America 6 years ago from Canada on an E-2 Investment Visa, where he built two of those companies and sold them before the outbreak of COVID-19.
During the pandemic, Kyle built a manufacturing facility to make both covid-related and non-covid items while learning the ins and outs of the international import/export business and scaled that from 0-$14M in revenue in the first year. During the 18-month border shutdown, while Kyle could not reach his children in Canada, he focused on building a platform as an educational tool to help children learn to read and keep families connected.
The world has experienced a shift since the pandemic broke out. Now, self-education has taken a stronger stand than ever, with remote learning and parents taking a more active role. This has, however, enabled poor-quality learning and reading.
To repair the situation, Kyle created a new communication and reading application called Edsoma. Having built various other businesses, he said this is the first business he can do out of joy. Having suffered from literacy issues his entire life, Kyle understands literacy is an issue that needs to be addressed in the US and he wants to play an active role in combating it.
Edsoma is designed to get children become better and more confident readers while helping them bond with the authority figures in their lives. The app has been on the trajectory to become every family’s favorite reading application with its numerous features and functionalities that encourage bonding while learning.
One remarkable thing about Edsoma is that parents and guardians do not need to be physically present with their children to read with them. Instead, through the video capabilities, they can do the reading from any part of the world.
The Journey of Commencement
Kyle admits he knew nothing about tech space when he established Edsoma. But his research and development resulted in the app being downloaded in 11 countries. Edsoma is a patent-pending Artificial Intelligence (AI) software that assists readers with the proper pronunciation of words when they get stuck while reading a book inside the app.
Simultaneously, for Kyle, understanding cultural differences has been one of the steepest learning curves he has ever faced. Edsoma believes that reading is for everyone, everywhere. Its mission is to help eliminate illiteracy around the world.
Gaining Momentum
Edsoma is a reading application designed to imbibe the culture of reading in children while helping them learn word pronunciation correctly and effectively bond with their parents or guardians.
Kyle Wallgren’s biggest inspiration for creating Edsoma came from his personal desire to connect with his children and read with them regardless of the distance between them. Edsoma has many impressive features, the most notable of them being the correction feature which teaches the reader how to pronounce words correctly during a read-aloud.
The app is poised to become every family’s favorite application as it allows parents to read with their children from any location in the world. It automatically keeps track of reading activities so that parents, teachers, and schools can monitor the books children read and the progress they have made.
Edsoma’s vision is to promote reading for all. Its education platform is inclusive and accessible to everyone. “We believe that literacy is the pathway to opportunity, and we are working to build confident and independent readers because everyone deserves a reading chance,” shares Kyle.
Creating Significant Impact
Kyle is not an expert in this space. And with that, he has been able to grow with blinders on. He feels like if he would have been an expert in the category, he would have found things to hold him back.
But without the knowledge, Kyle has been able to look at things from a much simpler perspective. Sometimes understanding the entire space or entire vertical, you’re trying to achieve allows you to set boundaries based on the industry standards.
Kyle expresses, “We understand that children are our future, and without the right tools to move forward, we limit the success our children will have. Because we are a mission-driven company, everyone shows up with their best foot forward without question because they know the impact we bring will be on a global scale.”
Kyle created software that can be utilized from the simplest devices. He wanted to be cost-aware to make sure that people in any demographic can have access. Under his guidance, Edsoma prides itself in working with strategic partners to help soften the cost for user success.
Plethora of Transformations
The change that Kyle aims to bring to the table is ensuring that every child can become a leader. He shares, “We’re not waiting for the opportunity; we ARE the opportunity.”
AI is trending in the tech space. Kyle uses AI to comprehend the needs of the users while providing fresh and interesting resources to improve the skills they lack. Edsoma is the leader in digital solutions in the literacy space.
Edsoma has many impressive features, the most notable of them being the correction feature which teaches the reader how to pronounce words correctly during a read-aloud. The app is poised to become every family’s favorite application as it allows parents to read with their children from any location in the world.
The app also automatically keeps track of reading activities so that parents, teachers, and schools can monitor the books the children read and the progress they have made.
Embracing the Future Roadmap
Kyle envisions Edsoma to be the top provider of education resources worldwide. Its goal is to improve literacy skills with 100+ million users over the next ten years. Kyle Wallgren’s goal for Edsoma is to break into the mainstream educational system.
As the world continues to move towards full digital acceptance, He believes Edsoma is in a good position to become widely accepted by parents and tutors for their children. Also, the long-term goal of the app is to continue to help children develop their reading skills while strengthening the bond with their parents, teachers and guardians.
The Words of Wisdom
Advice for the budding entrepreneurs and aspirants willing to venture into the EdTech niche, Kyle shares, “Close your eyes and jump. The information is readily available. How bad do you want it?” “If we can identify the difference between fear and fact, we can remove the boundaries to almost anything,” concluded Kyle.
