The Path to Mass Market
Today's featured startup is turning math into a sport.
Project Overview
Mathdash is an online platform that hosts frequent math competitions for students starting from the 5th grade, while also offering personalized training to excel in said competitions.
Competitions take place almost daily. To participate, students log in at a set time and solve a series of math problems within the allotted timeframe. Each competition is tailored to a specific skill level, based on a student’s grade and their ranking on the platform.
Rankings and points are earned through participation in official competitions. However, some contests are explicitly designated as practice rounds, allowing students to get familiar with the competition format without affecting their rankings. As someone who plays lots of online chess, this system somewhat reminds me of chess ELO. Pretty neat.
In addition to live competitions, students can also solve problems from past events. While these attempts don’t contribute to official rankings, they still place students on a separate leaderboard for those who completed the challenge outside of competition time.
Beyond points and rankings, winners of the competitions receive cash prizes. A typical contest consists of ten problems, with the top two finishers earning $20 and $15, respectively.
By registering for a competition, participants agree not to use external assistance or the internet to solve problems.
Mathdash is currently part of Y Combinator and has secured the standard $500,000 in funding. The startup publicly launched its platform three days ago, though it had already been running in pilot mode, with 200 “mathletes” solving a total of 400,000 problems during the test phase.
What’s the Gist?
In the U.S., there are more than a dozen established math competitions for students. One of the most well-known is the American Mathematics Competitions (AMC), which attracts over 300,000 participants annually.
However, Mathdash believes that competitive learning has yet to reach its full potential. The team argues that far more students would participate in academic competitions if barriers to entry were lower—after all, people enjoy both learning and competing.
The most common reasons students hesitate to join math competitions include:
• The problems seem too difficult.
• The registration process is too complicated.
• Fear of looking bad compared to others.
• Lack of time.
Mathdash aims to make math competitions accessible to all by:
• Offering a broad range of difficulty levels, from slightly challenging problems to expert-level tasks.
• Matching participants with competitors at their skill level, with the primary goal being to earn points rather than simply winning.
• Simplifying registration—students can sign up with a single tap on their phone.
• Hosting daily competitions that last only two minutes.
There’s a strong case for expanding the reach of math competitions. As of 2021, there were roughly 34 million students in grades 5–12 in the U.S., yet the most popular math competition (AMC) only engages 300,000 of them annually.
If Mathdash succeeds in attracting millions of students, it could eventually expand beyond math into other academic subjects.
The key challenge? Finding a sustainable business model. However, if they achieve mass adoption, monetization options — such as advertising — become increasingly more viable.
Mathdash’s approach is rooted in Competition-Based Learning, an actual educational methodology where students compete to demonstrate subject mastery. This stands in contrast to the widely used Cooperative Learning, which emphasizes teamwork and mutual support in solving problems.
It’s important to distinguish competitive learning from gamification. Traditional gamification rewards individual achievements, while competitive learning focuses on outperforming others.
Critics argue that competition-based education can lead to stress and anxiety. Some even dismiss it as a byproduct of capitalist ideology, built entirely on rivalry.
On the other hand, competition is an unavoidable part of adult life. So perhaps it’s better to prepare students for it early?
Key Takeaways
Why stop at students?
Many adults struggle with competition, believing that personal effort alone determines success—when, in reality, outcomes are often influenced by the actions of others. Hard work doesn’t always guarantee rewards.
This opens the door for broader applications of competition-based learning.
For modern competitive education to work, it must also align with microlearning principles—keeping lessons short and frequent. Mathdash understands this, structuring its competitions as quick, daily events.
A straightforward opportunity? Creating a platform for academic competitions modeled after Mathdash. The concept is clear and could be implemented immediately.
But what about competition-based learning for adults?
One proven example is Kaggle, the well-known data science and machine learning competition platform. It took off by offering complex, high-stakes challenges.
The real question: Is there room for a simpler, more accessible competition-based learning platform in another field? If so, which one—and how would it work?
Company info:
Mathdash
Website: https://mathdash.com/
Last funding round: $500K, 01.12.2024
Total funds raised: $500K after 1 round