One in 5 children go home after school to an empty house. That’s approximately 11.5 million children who are left to their own devices after school; I mean that literally and figuratively. That’s scary. More than ever, after-school programs are essential. This makes HOKALI, a digital platform dedicated to enriching children’s lives through after-school programming, more critical than ever.
Founders Ignacio Viau and Tomas Bisi created the solution after their own experiences as coaches of children. They started HOKALI as a B2C product that helped parents find instructors and vice versa. Ignacio shares, “As instructors ourselves, we got so many requests from family and friends asking for surfing, kite surfing and sailing lessons. We discovered that there was a real need, that finding activities and instructors was a real pain point for parents.”
He adds, “That was a real motivator for us to start HOKALI.” To grow their original B2C business model and connect parents with instructors, Tomas and Ignacio started going to schools. Tomas explains, “When we were out talking to schools, they started to ask us about our instructors. They wanted to know if we could provide the service to their school. We listened to the directors, and we realized that there was a huge pain point in this market of education.”
Since then, they have strategically evolved into a B2B bridge between schools, qualified instructors, parents, and students, offering a seamless solution to the challenges of organizing and managing a diverse range of activities.
“At the beginning, it was just with sports, and then as soon as we reached out to schools, we discovered that there was a need for other activities, like music, art, languages, STEM, yoga, acting and more. We love hearing the voice of the client and creating something people want. That’s the goal,” remarked Tomas.
Even though they have pivoted, a lot of good came from the original business model. Tomas explains, “We became experts at onboarding instructors because we expanded to many cities and to many sports and activities. When we updated our business model, we went through the onboarding process again to make sure that they fit. We became really good at it.”
He adds, “The two of us ended up mixing our passions to create HOKALI. We’re both sports lovers and instructors, and we worked in technology at tech companies. I come from a computer science background, so we basically mixed all of our passions together in one place to build HOKALI.”
Tomas is the CTO at HOKALI. His background in computer science, software engineering and product development brings a wealth of technical expertise. His additional experience working in both startups and large organizations has allowed him to polish his skills. His passion for technology and commitment to innovation drive HOKALI’s platform development and growth strategies.
Ignacio is no stranger to startups as well. He shares, “We first had this idea of a surfing lessons marketplace in the sports industry. I was like, ‘Yeah, let’s start the business.’ While we were doing that, I was also working in business development at another startup and working near the CEO of that startup. He really inspired me. I learned so much, and that inspired me to start this business with Tomas.”
Ignacio is the CEO of HOKALI. He earned a Master’s Degree in Law and is a passionate and motivated serial entrepreneur with three startups under his belt. He shares, “I graduated as a lawyer when I was 28 years old. I moved to San Francisco and started working in different startups. I also had my first business as a lawyer; I created a website, and I started getting clients. And then, I co-founded a second business that is still running in San Francisco, a premier food business, Pampa Barbecue. HOKALI is business number three.”
Ignacio adds, “Tomas and I have a strong bond because of sports. One evening, we said to each other over beers, ‘One day, we need to create a company around sports.’ And that is what we did.”
HOKALI is rapidly growing in the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas and beyond. Its curated instructor selections and its partnerships with academies for various activities are highly sought after. The platform’s integrated payments, scheduling and class management features make it easy for schools to find vetted instructors, book, organize and manage their after-school programs. Also, camps are a huge factor in HOKALI’s growth and success.
Tomas and Ignacio continue to look for ways to improve and expand their offerings. They envision a future where schools everywhere can easily find and offer the best in after-school programming, and where children have a safe place to go after school to have fun with friends, explore their passions and unlock their full potential.
