Let us present you Owlee, one of the participants of our acceleration program StartMeUp. Although the company still hasn’t been created, its products have already been set up: a mind game that aims at developing memory, logic and abstract thinking. Yuliya Patotskaya, co-developer, chosen alongside ten project holders, shares with us her first few weeks within this program.
Once upon a time…there was Owlee
The idea of Owlee blossomed about two years ago, while Yulia, then 27, had just gone back to university for a second masters degree in computer science. Her sister, Alisa Patotskaya, was engrossed in personal development. They were convinced “that people should be encouraged to follow this path and never give up” they both realised that “the game market doesn’t acknowledge this intellectual dimension”. “We believe that video games don’t take personal development into consideration thus, making players feel frustrated.” says Yuliya Patotskaya “Women are usually left out of the current game market.”
Never mind, Yulia and Alisa launched the conception of their own game on smartphones: Owlee, available on Google Play. “The main purpose of our game is learning: users gain knowledge, work their memory, logic and handle abstract concepts.” The first results are convincing: “feedback from the first lot of players confirms our positioning on the market: taking part in the personal and intellectual development of the users.” A new augmented reality version is already underway.
“We still have a lot to learn to improve our strategy, particularly regarding marketing and sales strategies”. Therefore, Yuliya Patotskaya entered her StartMeUp, and was selected in the first promo of 2019.
StartMeUp seen from the inside
StartMeUp is a program put forth by La French Tech Rennes St Malo intended for young creators. Our aim: help them go from promoters of ideas to the concretisation of their project. Thus, the selected entrepreneurs follow a 3 month 16 half-day training and exchange programme.
“I really liked the approach, from the very first contact: the StartMeUp team pinpointed issues to which we had no answers .… and which we hadn’t even considered!”, remembersYulia. “Thanks to this program, I have learnt a lot about all the fundamental subjects, from the creation of our startup, to managing our teams, including the positioning of our product.”
She finishes by saying: “The mentors are excellent and the exchange between project promoters is very interesting, because we are sharing our experience, our ideas… these are essential moments for us entrepreneurs!”
