This simple question sparked the journey that would evolve from Grove to FunRaising.AI—a mission-driven platform designed to help children launch small businesses while turning screen time into skill time. As the Founder, Project Lead, and UX Designer, I guided this initiative from initial concept through strategic pivots and accelerator applications, combining my psychology background with academic collaboration to create something truly impactful.
The Initial Spark - The "Grove" Concept
The journey began with a simple question: how can we empower the next generation with financial literacy? The initial concept, named Grove, was born from this mission—an app designed to help children launch small businesses in their local communities.
Drawing on my background in Psychology, I spearheaded the early concept design and market research to validate the core idea and understand the needs of our young audience. This foundational phase involved creating initial wireframes and prototypes to bring the abstract concept into a tangible form.
Foundation Phase
- • Market research and user validation
- • Initial wireframes and prototypes
- • Psychology-based user research
- • Concept validation for youth entrepreneurship
Evolution through Academic Collaboration
The initial Grove concept was a strong foundation, but true innovation comes from iteration and feedback. The project took a significant leap forward when I began to further elaborate on the vision with UC Davis Professor Dr. Alfredo Reyes Costilla. This collaboration was a turning point.
We made several strategic pivots, recognizing a deeper need not just for a tool, but for a structured educational ecosystem. We integrated a rich learning aspect directly into the platform and renamed the project to FunRaising.AI to reflect its new, dual focus on education and entrepreneurship.
Strategic Pivots
- • Academic collaboration with UC Davis
- • Evolution from Grove to FunRaising.AI
- • Integration of educational ecosystem
- • Mission: Turn screen time into skill time
Building the Educational Ecosystem
Our mission evolved: we wanted to turn screen time into skill time. To achieve this, we developed comprehensive lesson plans and curriculums for teachers to use in the classroom, specifically designed to teach children from K-8th grade about entrepreneurship and financial literacy.
Classroom Integration
Comprehensive lesson plans and curriculums for teachers to use in K-8th grade classrooms, specifically designed to teach entrepreneurship and financial literacy.
Homeschooling Support
Specialized curriculums for homeschooling environments, providing structured learning opportunities for independent study.
Parent Resources
Resources for parents to promote independent, project-based learning at home, turning everyday activities into learning opportunities.
Validation and Recognition
To ensure FunRaising.AI truly met the needs of its users, I conducted numerous interviews with parents and teachers. Their invaluable feedback directly shaped the features, improved the usability of the app and website, and confirmed we were solving a real-world problem in education.
This refined, feedback-driven vision gave us the confidence to take another major step. We prepared a comprehensive pitch and officially applied to the prestigious UC Berkeley SKYDECK accelerator competition, putting our project on a stage with other top-tier startups.
Validation Process
- • Extensive user interviews with parents and teachers
- • Feature development based on real user feedback
- • Usability improvements and iterations
- • UC Berkeley SKYDECK accelerator application
Outcome and Continuing Vision
While FunRaising.AI is currently on hold as a formal venture, it remains a continuing passion of mine that I work on as a side project. The journey from a simple idea to a competitive accelerator application has been one of the most formative experiences of my career.
Iterative Design & User Research
Learned the importance of continuous user feedback and how to iterate designs based on real-world insights from parents and educators.
Academic Collaboration
Developed skills in academic partnership and strategic pivoting, learning how to evolve a concept through expert collaboration and feedback.
Strategic Vision & Impact
Most importantly, it solidified my ability to take a concept, nurture it with feedback and expertise, and build it into a platform with the potential for real impact in education.