Yogome

Yogome emerged in 2010 from a web development business founded by Manolo Díaz and Alberto Colín in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. The company pivoted to create educational video games after a successful project for a school. Manolo Díaz, who was self-taught in Flash programming from age 15, served as the CEO, while Alberto Colín focused on illustration and design.

The firm operated in the educational technology (EdTech) market, providing a digital subscription service for children in kindergarten through fifth grade. Its product portfolio included a suite of mobile apps with over 2,000 activities, such as games, videos, and digital books. The content spanned nine subjects, including math, science, programming, and languages, and was available in six languages. A key feature was the 'Epic Heroes of Knowledge' game, which involved a narrative of defeating villains through educational mini-games and was developed with input from Yale University's play2PREVENT lab. A parent dashboard allowed for tracking a child's progress and setting challenges.

Yogome's business model was primarily subscription-based, offering access to its content for a monthly or annual fee, with some games operating on a free-to-play model with in-app purchases. The company gained significant traction, raising over $36 million in venture capital, including a notable $26.9 million Series B round in March 2018. At its peak, Yogome claimed to have six million monthly active users across more than 50 countries.

However, in October 2018, Yogome abruptly ceased operations. The shutdown was the result of fraud allegations against co-founder and CEO Manolo Díaz. An internal investigation, reportedly triggered by an employee tipping off an investor about discrepancies in user data, uncovered that the company had been inflating its user and sales metrics since late 2016. The board concluded that the financial and integrity compromises were irreversible, leading to the company's definitive closure and the layoff of its entire team of over 150 employees in Mexico and the U.S.

Keywords: educational games, EdTech, mobile learning, children's apps, subscription service, K-5 education, game-based learning, Manolo Díaz, Alberto Colín, Mexican startup, 500 Startups, Seaya Ventures, Exceed Capital, edutainment, digital books for kids, parent dashboard, Yale play2PREVENT, startup fraud, financial misconduct, company closure