Kansas City-built Boddle earns $500K Yass Prize Finalist Award, hits 2M monthly users

MIAMI — Winning a coveted award from Stop for Education is expected to empower Boddle Learning to reach a broader audience than ever before, as well as significantly expanding its curriculum and advancing its cutting-edge AI-powered education tools.

Boddle, which launched and grew in Kansas City before relocating to Tulsa, Oklahoma, was announced as a $500,000 Yass Prize Finalist award winner by the Stop for Education organization.

Edna Martinson and Clarence Tan, Boddle

“The Yass Prize is a huge boost for us in expanding Boddle and reaching more students, but honestly, the community behind it has been just as impactful,” said Edna Martinson, co-founder of Boddle, alongside husband Clarence Tan. “We just wrapped up a three-day accelerator in Miami, and the level of knowledge sharing among educators and innovators from across the country was truly inspiring.”

Founded by billionaire entrepreneurs Jeff and Janine Yass, the Yass Prize is a competitive award that recognizes and supports innovative and transformative education models. It is known to many as “the Pulitzer Prize of education.”

Boddle — which uses an adaptive, AI-powered, gaming platform to encourage learning through personalized education — is among four just-announced funded award winners from the last cohort of the Stop for Education organization, which has given more than 225 awards in excess of $75 million since it formed in 2022.

Edna Martinson, Boddle Learning, pitches her company during the Stop for Education accelerator in Miami; courtesy photo

“Boddle’s commitment to accessibility and inclusivity is supported by a sustainable business model of premium subscriptions and public education funds, and its alignment with the Yass Prize’s vision of permissionless learning,” the organization said in an announcement of the award. “Accessible and permissionless educational services are delivered to parents, educators, and students, bypassing traditional system approvals. Student engagement is outstanding; it’s 50 percent higher than the education industry average for comparable programs.”

A 2024 Yass Prize Finalist Award given to Boddle Learning; courtesy photo

“In addition, Boddle’s entrepreneurial leadership embraces learning across all sectors, and has established itself as a trailblazer in personalized education in the edtech space,” the announcement said.

Being named a Yass Prize finalist also presents Boddle’s founders the opportunity to speak at “The Power of Innovation Summit” in Washington, DC — an event planned shortly after the Nov. 5 election where “the boldest and most innovative leaders will plot a course for ensuring that freedom, flexibility, and full and fair funding drive critical changes for education and the workforce in America.”

With its final cohort coming to a close, the S.T.O.P. initiative — operating on four core principles: Sustainable, Transformational, Outstanding, and Permissionless education — will now focus future efforts on developing and strengthening its existing national network of awardees to continue and expand their innovative work and transformational impact, alongside partners with the Center for Education Reform and Forbes.

Participation in the programming already has supported Boddle’s efforts to get its technology into more classrooms, Martinson said, noting her team recently passed a significant milestone with students.

“Getting recognition from Yass, CER, and Forbes as part of this award is such meaningful validation, and hitting 2 million monthly active users shows that kids are really loving Boddle, while teachers are seeing its value in their classrooms,” she said.