Ello

Breaking down Ello (@ReadWithEllo), an AI startup targeting early literacy with operator-grade execution. What it does: AI reading coach for K-3 kids. Listens to read-aloud, delivers real-time phonics feedback, pairs with decodable books at exact reading level. Includes 700+ digital titles plus physical book delivery. Who it's for: Parents and educators fixing phonics gaps before they compound. Edge: Founder team blends ed impact (ex-Google head of impact), child psych expertise, and AI exits (Stanford PhD with 2 prior sales). Solves edtech tradeoff of digital scale vs. tactile engagement. #AI

So proud to have Kelvin Beachum of the AZ Cardinals as a Storyteller <3

@garrytan So proud to be a y combinator company working on addressing exactly this!!

We are on the verge of truly personalized education with AI that once was only available to the most wealthy When you make intelligence too cheap to meter means every child can develop theirs at their pace and level

@ReadWithEllo A why moment right here 🙌🏿🙏🏿 So special watching my sister & my kids share Kelvin’s Big Adventure Map w/ my niece — excited by family + our story on every page! #Legacy Join the adventure & support teachers across the US with every purchase ello.com/kelvinbeachum

What an honor to get a shout-out in @KelvinBeachumJr's new children's book. Seeing him help drill 3 clean water wells in @WorldVisionZamo was amazing! No wonder he's a 3X #WPMOY nominee.   #MyBeachumStory @AZCardinals @NFL @NFLPA @Nationwide @espn @ReadWithEllo @WorldVisionUSA

Amazing news! We’re proud to partner with Octavia Spencer to help more kids become confident readers. At Ello, we believe every child deserves the kind of 1:1 reading support that helps them feel seen, capable, and excited to read. Ello is an AI reading teacher that listens as your child reads out loud, gently coaches them through tricky words, corrects mistakes in the moment, and encourages them to keep going. Just like a great teacher would. Together with Octavia, we created “Detective Dell Is on the Case”. The book is a playful, mystery-filled story designed to build confidence, curiosity, and a love of reading. All proceeds from the book support City Year Los Angeles, helping students get the support they need to thrive in school and beyond 💛 📖 Detective Dell Is on the Case! is now available to read in the Ello app. 👉 Download Ello and start reading today - ello.com/octavia

@cjc @anooj @mboverell at Classdojo mapped a bunch of AI products for kids last month: newliteracies.ai/field-notes/ai…

@anooj @ReadWithEllo Haven’t tried any other AI powered kids apps. Open to recommendations!

Watching my 5 yr old learn to read with an AI app (@ReadWithEllo). It’s the same app that my 7 yr old learned to read with a few years ago. I’ve officially outsourced parenting to the robots and at this point I’m just QA.

@cjc 🥰 Thanks for the shoutout!

We’ve entered the post-Christmas, pre-New Year’s parent phase: no school, no structure, endless snacks, and zero idea what day it is... (and that's okay!)

Internet parents want optimization. IRL parents want peace. Online, it’s: acceleration, rigor, benchmarks, outcomes. Offline, it’s: “Is my kid okay? Do they like learning? Can bedtime not be a battle?” Kids don’t fall in love with learning because it’s faster. They fall in love because it feels safe, human, and a little bit magical. Build for that and the rigor takes care of itself.

@urbanistvc @NielsHoven @wfenza Thanks Laura, means a lot! 💙

FWIW I am no longer in the market now that my kids have already learned how to read, but I would have been more interested in a free trial than company-sponsored proof that Mentava is superior to any other method of reading instruction. I doubt that the typical potential customer is that rigorous. They're looking for an easy solution that meets their minimum requirements. It wasn't hard for us to see that @ReadWithEllo gave our kids a big boost (once they had sufficient training in phonics from school).

These excuses about why Mentava can't be subject to a rigorous evaluation is really updating me downward on its effectiveness. Pretty sad, because it sounded promising

@HannahWardEdu Or use Ello (14 days for free, 14,99 pm after)! P.S. I’m a little biased. But big fan of anything that helps more kids read.💙

Mentava is possibly cool, idk - I've never had an extra $500 a month laying around to try it out. To everyone hanging out in the poorhouse with me, I put this together for my own kids then put it online for free for everyone's kids. I want to live in a world where everyone reads.

If kids don’t love reading. Then that's not a kid problem, it’s a product problem. We’re fixing it.

@rodhowarth Thanks so much Rod, means the world to us! Shout outs like these keeps us going 🔥

My daughter is a big fan of @ReadWithEllo - first reading app she’s consistently excited about & can use without help for long periods of time. Incorporating voice recognition is a game changer.

Happy International Students Day! 🎓❤️

One word at a time 💙

So true! 💙

A hesitant whisper turns into a sentence, a sentence into a story, and a story into confidence. That's why we built Ello 💙