social_economy svg
Confirmed Amount = 53.458,87 €
Reserved Amount = 87,4 €

53.546,27 €

18% Funded
300.000 €

35 days left to close

ubbu

Location Pin Svg
Lisbon, PT

instalment

monthly

term

3 years

yearly interest

5.75%

risk rating

B-

Launching digital inclusion through early education

Description

ubbu is a technology company, focused on making computational thinking accessible to all children through using their original software. 

This campaign’s goal is to advance funds that ubbu will receive from European Structural Funds and a group of social investors to execute a project and offer free digital literacy education to 80.000 children across mainland Portugal. A significant number of children benefiting from the project (17.800) study in priority educational intervention schools (TEIP). The program covers essential modules on Artificial Intelligence, Digital Security, and Financial Literacy for students from 1st to 6th grade. 

The bridge funding will allow ubbu to accelerate the execution of the project by developing content, training educators, and launching early classroom pilots. This means earlier access, earlier impact, and a head start for thousands of children.

The program will reach 80.000 children and its impact will be measured through a comprehensive evaluation of the TEIP students digital literacy skills before and after using the platform. The University of Aveiro will serve as an independent evaluator, using an adapted questionnaire based on Portugal's Digital Competence Reference Framework. ubbu aims for at least 60% of participating students to show improved digital competency levels across five key areas: Information Literacy, Communication and Citizenship, Content Creation, Security and Privacy, and Solution Development.

The Impact

  • Increase equal access to education: ubbu’s goal is to reduce inequalities in the access to digital competencies. This funding contributes to increase equal access through offering free digital literacy education in Portuguese schools considered priority for educational intervention (TEIP). The program includes almost 17.800 students in priority intervention schools, having a goal of 60% of them reaching increased digital competencies after one school year – which means an expected outcome of over 10.600 students.
  • Promotion of effective learning: ubbu’s digital literacy program covers Artificial Intelligence, Digital Security, and Financial Literacy for students from 1st to 6th grade. The students’ skills will be evaluated before and after interacting with ubbu’s platform to demonstrate improvement in digital competency levels in five areas: Information Literacy, Communication and Citizenship, Content Creation, Security and Privacy, and Solution Development.
  • Ensure equal opportunity and reduction of inequalities: The program implemented by ubbu focuses on schools which are in territories with high number of children and teens with social vulnerability risk, aiming to ensure educational inclusion and success, to improve learning quality and avoid school dropout.
  • Increase access to sustainability education: in the learning program, ubbu includes literacy around sustainability, including the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, focusing on developing citizenship skills at the same time.

Sustainable Development Goals

4 image
10 image

Financial viability

The loan requested through this campaign is a short-term bridge to advance these guaranteed, non-refundable subsidy payments. As such, repayment will be ensured by the receipt of these grants.

This project has a minimum target of 240.000,00€.

As stated in Part B of the KIIS document (Key Investment Information Sheet), the minimum targeted loan amount is 240.000,00€, this means the funding campaign can close with any amount between 240.000,00€ and 300.000,00€ on the end date.

PDF Logo Svg

Download the Financial Statements for the promoter here

PDF Logo Svg

Download Key Investment Information Sheet

The Promoter

About UNICORN TREASURE, LDA

ubbu, whose legal entity is UNICORN TREASURE, LDA, was founded in 2020 by João Magalhães and its cofounders with the mission to make computational thinking accessible to all children, regardless of their background. ubbu recognized two critical challenges in today's educational landscape: while children are increasingly consuming technology, they rarely learn to create with it, resulting in a significant gap in digital literacy skills.

ubbu teaches programming through game-based lessons - their students learn to build games, narratives, and program their own world! The age-appropriate curriculum is designed for children between 6 and 12 years old, and each of the lessons is aligned with multidisciplinary elements, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics), and at least one UN Sustainable Development Goal so that students also develop their citizenship skills!

This skills gap has broader implications for society. As technology sectors face talent shortages while other areas experience unemployment, the promoter saw an opportunity to address both issues by working with children from an early age, preparing them for future careers that may not even exist yet. Simultaneously, they observed that many countries are beginning to include computer science in their curricula, but most teachers lack the preparation and confidence to teach these subjects effectively. 

ubbu's solution is a comprehensive game-based learning platform that enables everyday classroom teachers without computer science experience to successfully teach coding and computational thinking to their students. The platform provides ready-to-use lessons, student progress tracking, and curriculum alignment, making it accessible for educators of all technical backgrounds.

What makes ubbu particularly valuable is its proven impact on broader academic performance. Multiple studies have shown that after using ubbo’s platform, students demonstrate improved mathematics scores, confirming that computational thinking skills enhance logical reasoning across subjects.

Today, ubbu has reached thousands of students across Portugal and beyond. They continuously develop new content in emerging areas like Artificial Intelligence, Digital Security, and Financial Literacy to ensure children become not just consumers of technology, but confident, creative digital citizens.

ubbu is part of the Code for All group, a B Corp certified edtech impact company that launched Academia de Código and Academia de Código Júnior in 2015. Academia de Código is the biggest in-person tech bootcamp brand in Portugal. Academia de Código Júnior was later renamed as ubbu, and the adult bootcamp Academia de Código was rebranded, in September 2023, and is now named Code for All.

The team

Joao Magalhães

linkedin
CEO

João is ubbu's CEO and co-founder, creating a platform that teaches programming to children. Previously at EY and BPP, he advised businesses before earning his MBA at IE. He also co-founded Code For All, recognized by the European Commission for excellence in digital skills development.

Francisca Veleso

linkedin
Director of Product and Design

Francisca is Director of Product and Design at ubbu. Previously Design Manager at FARFETCH, with experience at Talkdesk, EatTasty, and Advicefront. Specializes in user-centric design, organizational planning, and mentoring teams across fintech, food, fashion, and EdTech sectors.

Business Model

ubbu operates a hybrid, scalable business model reaching different market segments through three complementary channels:

  • B2Gov: partnership with municipalities and public entities to provide free platform access in public schools, especially in TEIP schools (Educational Territories of Priority Intervention). This channel drives significant inclusion impact and national reach.
  • B2B: work directly with private schools, offering tailored platform licensing. These institutions value the promoter's structured approach that integrates programming into curricula without requiring technical specialists.
  • B2C: ubbu provides subscription plans for families, ensuring digital education extends beyond schools into home environments.

The company's value proposition centers on making computational thinking accessible to all children while supporting non-technical teachers to deliver quality computer science education. The platform includes age-appropriate curriculum, teacher resources, student progress tracking, and educational standards alignment.

This diversified model ensures financial sustainability and international scalability. The promoter's key customers include public education departments, private schools, and families, while primary costs involve content development, platform maintenance, and customer support.

Active since

2020

Fiscal country

PT

Operating In

Portugal

Industry

Education

Women Shareholders

No

Updates

2025-04-24

Open for investment

This campaign is open for investment

Sign up to our newsletter and stay up-to-date on our investment opportunities