A digital solution in a non-digitized world of education

Wycieczkomat has joined our impact and technological part of WP2 Investments! A startup that combines a social mission with innovative technology and offers a modern tool to help organize school trips.

We warmly welcome the startup on board WP2 Investments and invite you to read the interview with its CEO and co-founder - Marcin Owczarczyk, in which he reveals why the startup operates in this market area and what challenges and opportunities it faces.

The area of education in our country certainly needs refreshment and technological support. What factors influenced you to see the startup potential in this market?

Marcin Owczarczyk: In the world of global digitization, it was only Covid that caused the emergence and spread of technology at school - it forced the transition to remote learning and the use of digital tools that have been popular for years in other areas of life (such as online meeting platforms). He familiarized them with them and popularized them a little in education.

Another factor is the fact that the work of a teacher in our country is extremely responsible and completely underestimated. This huge social group, which in its hands in a significant way "holds the good of our country" is extremely overloaded and underfunded. The requirements (of parents, environment) are growing, and systemic support remains insufficient, which affects the effectiveness and commitment of teachers. There is definitely a need to refresh the educational market in such a way as to equip teachers with modern tools that will facilitate their work in many fields and enable more effective and engaging teaching. Investments in educational technologies can significantly improve the quality of teaching and prepare young people for the challenges of the future.

And another factor is the fact that the tourism industry in this area is also not overly digitized when it comes to the professional organization of school trips.  

Did your previous startup experiences have an impact on the creation of Wycieczkomat? Is it a matter of ideas and an impactful approach to business?

MO: Krzysztof Januszewski, COO and co-founder at Wycieczkomat, has worked as a school counselor for over 10 years, thanks to which he knows the problems of teachers very well. I had experience in project development in another startup. And so we combined our competences, believing that together we can quickly respond to the existing challenges. After a year and a half, we were joined by Michał Kalinowski, who in turn saw the technological potential of our idea and sees it as an opportunity to create a scalable, but also socially valuable project. Together we form a trio that dynamically develops our project.

Coming back to the impact nature of our activity, I would like to add that school trips are an extremely important element of education in Poland, supporting the development of children's skills and preparing them for adult life. They are an important aspect of the culture of our Polish education, enabling students to gain experience outside the school desk. It should be emphasized that the organization of trips is not the teacher's responsibility, he does not have to undertake their organization. Unfortunately, it is often parents who put pressure on teachers to take care of the trips, even though it is not their statutory duties.

As a result, a teacher, responsible for several dozen children, is at work for up to 72 hours, leaving his family, and at the same time does not receive additional remuneration or the possibility of receiving overtime. He also loses potential income from additional activities, such as tutoring. And so far no one has taken into account the working time that the teacher had to devote a few months earlier from the moment of the decision to leave to the departure itself, including the responsibility of, for example, collecting money from parents and settling the trip.

So far, no one has provided teachers with tools that would facilitate the organization of trips and burden them with responsible and time-consuming duties. It is worth emphasizing here that the organization of the trip itself is not just a trip, it is several months of preparations, preparation of lists of participants, collection of important information, resignation, replacement of participants, contact with contractors and provision of allowances, accommodation of children, etc.  What was missing was a system that:

• it would help in planning trips tailored to the needs of children and curriculum requirements,
• took control of finances,
• It facilitated communication with parents and students, so that teachers could focus on their work and support for young people, instead of organizational and logistical matters related to trips.

And this problem is comprehensively addressed by the tool offered by the Wycieczkomat.

What did your fundraising path look like?

MO: We were looking for people who would be able to support the development of the project at different stages of its life, especially at the stages that are ahead of us. The greatest value for us was the additional contribution, experience in business scaling, product development and experience in the places we are heading to.

Reveal the secret when it comes to your long-term strategy - what will the development of your tool look like?

MO: We have the ambition to create a global solution, starting with school trips, that will revolutionize the tourism market and the management of group tourism, as well as the way of delivering value in this field. We want to support Polish education, in particular headmasters and teachers, which will directly improve education combined with the development and integration of nearly 4 million children in Polish schools. We test our products for sports clubs or B2B, and we also serve the first customers from abroad. 

An additional value of our project is the possibility of attracting foreign schools to Polish, which will certainly attract additional capital to the country. Poland as a destination for foreign school trips is historically, logistically and cost-attractive. We want to use these aspects in our operations and the development of our company.

And therefore, we expect the next round of financing for approx.  2-3 million euros with a view to going abroad with the service.

Interviewed by Ewa Pysiewicz, November 2024