Atlas Primer

This is a somewhat personal post, so bear with me. Today I'm consumed by immeasurable pride for the Atlas Primer team who, since 2020 and despite numerous challenges, has stayed true to the vision that a significant platform-shift was coming. And now everyone else sees it too. Voice interfaces are the future. Earlier this week I attended a seminal event arranged by almannaromur.is and nyskopunarstofa.hi.is, which marks the Icelandic government's escalated efforts to preserve the Icelandic language and ensure Iceland remains competitive, as AI keeps eating the world. Thank you for having me Lilja Dögg Jónsdóttir and Ásta Olga Magnúsdóttir, it was delightful event! And Hulda B Kjærnested Baldursdóttir, thank you for the help and for talking about Atlas Primer! At the event I learned more about some of the amazing research happening in this space and is spearheaded by people like Jón Guðnason, Eydis Huld Magnusdottir PhD, Anna Björk Nikulásdóttir, and Vilhjalmur (Villi) Thorsteinsson. Please check out their astonishing accomplishments. As research turns into infrastructure, companies like Atlas Primer are ready to build new and exciting products on top of it. But it hasn't always been easy building voice applications. When the team and I started out, the technology just wasn't there yet, which resulted in poor user experience. At that time, most of us were already mildly traumatized after talking to Alexa or Siri, not to mention website chatbots, and Clippy, the notorious MS Office assistant. But now we have things like ChatGPT Advanced Voice Mode, and what sounded like science fiction to most people just a year ago, is now an app on your phone. Today, anyone can make an engaging voice interface, but there's a profound difference between voice-enabled apps that just scratch the surface of what's possible, and voice-first apps like Atlas Primer that are truly transformative. Just consider the mobile-enabled incumbents that were displaced by Uber's mobile-first approach that fully utilized a new paradigm. We're now seeing more and more founders and builders adopting voice interfaces, like Jon Gunnar Thordarson and Stefán Baxter who are making amazing things. I recommend you reach out to them to learn how they're on track to dominate their respective market niches. By the way, if you're wondering how to spot companies like Atlas Primer, Jón's Bara tala, and Stefán's Snjallgögn early on, feel free to reach out to Bala Kamallakharan who was one of the first investor in all three, and one of the first subscribers to my vision of voice-enabled education. I'll leave you with a recording from 2020 where I demo Atlas Primer on Live TV (at 3m12s left). Doing a live demo with a product that was in development and built on technology that was still in its infancy was borderline reckless. Yet somehow, we survived it and here we are today, at the cusp of what is perhaps the most profound technological, societal and behavioral shift of our lifetimes.

🌍 Exciting Partnership Announcement! 🌍 We're thrilled to share that the Institute Of Neurodiversity ION is partnering with Atlas Primer, a platform revolutionising education through accessible and flexible learning! 📚💻 Atlas Primer's interactive approach combines audiobooks, podcasts, and smart tech, making quality education accessible anywhere. This collaboration will offer ION members exclusive access to Atlas Primer, empowering neurominority individuals with tools to learn, teach, and share knowledge like never before. 🤝 Atlas Primer was founded on the vision of creating a learning environment that combined the accessibility and convenience of audiobooks and podcasts, with the interactivity and flexibility offered by voice assistants and smart devices. Their primary goal is to increase the availability of quality education through the use of technology, by opening up access, usability and automation. Their approach allows the creation of interactive learning environments with even the simplest of devices and in the most remote locations. Atlas Primer was also selected by TIME as one of World's Top Companies of 2024. It offers content learning and course creation, powered through responsible AI and automation, and it even offers an enterprise solution. “We at ION are delighted and proud to be partnering with Atlas Primer to help create a more inclusive learning environment and allow a wider community to share knowledge and lived experience through educational content.” Silvan Ruthenberg, Global Lead at Institute Of Neurodiversity ION “I'm sincerely proud to partner with ION on making learning more inclusive to neuro minorities, by offering ION members a discount access to the Atlas Primer app. No two people learn or teach in the same way, and it's our mission to keep pioneering the use of modalities such as audio and conversation in education, so that more people reach their full potential. Whether you want to learn or create courses to give or to sell, Atlas Primer caters to you with unparalleled flexibility and accessibility. We believe that the future of humanity is boundless when every voice can teach, and every mind can learn, unrestrained by background or ability.” Hinrik Jósafat Atlason, Founder & CEO of Atlas Primer. Together, we’re shaping a future where every mind can learn and every voice can teach. 💡 #InstituteOfNeurodiversity #AtlasPrimer #Neurodiversity #InclusiveEducation #TechnologyForGood #AccessibleLearning

Atlas Primer was featured in Forbes this week - a huge recognition for a small startup from Iceland! What an absolute pleasure it was speaking with Elaine Pofeldt about how we got started, our journey so far, and what lies ahead. It's a truly humbling experience to meet someone of Elaine's caliber and feel a sincere interest in and appreciation for one's work. Although it's me on the cover, I want to use this opportunity to recognize that I would never have made it there without the help and support of some amazing people. The list is long, but I want to give a special shout-out to Awolad Hossain and Mainul Hossain who have been with me in this since the early days. Their dedication and hard work have allowed us to overcome one impossible engineering challenge after another. Through Elaine's elegant writing, the article captures important milestones of our journey while recognizing the partnerships that were forged along the way and were pivotal to our success. This includes our earliest backers at Reykjavik University, Rannís - The Icelandic Centre for Research, Nordic Innovation House - Silicon Valley, The Octopus Movement, Bala Kamallakharan at Iceland Venture Studio, as well as the Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator who welcomed us in NYC and introduced us to their incredible network of founders and investors. Furthermore, the article mentions our partnership with American Student Assistance who we hold in very high regard, and thoroughly enjoy collaborating with as we work together to help millions of teens prepare for the future. I'm tremendously proud to share our story, our wonderful partnerships, and how we're redefining learning so that more people can reach their full potential. Individuals with learning differences should not be excluded from our education system, instead they should be embraced and empowered, so that we can all benefit from increased diversity of thought and opinion. Atlas Primer has reached its first milestone and pioneered a groundbreaking fusion of audio and voice technology to make learning more efficient and accessible. We've now set our sights on the next milestone, which is equally revolutionary and overshadows anything we've done so far in terms of impact and raw revenue generating potential. I'll share more about that in due time, but for now I'll leave you with a vision of a world where anyone, regardless of means and ability can share and monetize their unique knowledge, insight, or experience through a new learning modality that is uniquely adapted to a future where AI is everywhere and in everything. 👉 Read the article here: https://lnkd.in/dpFmXZBD

I sometimes get the chance to be on stage and talk about our mission to empower learning for those who are excluded and underestimated by our educational system. Few things make me as proud as using a big stage to raise awareness of this, and this time around, the stage doesn't get much bigger. I presented Atlas Primer in Stockholm last month at Techarenan, now Scandinavia's biggest tech conference. We were selected from hundreds of candidates to represent the Top 40 most promising startups, and after presenting in the semi-finals, a panel of esteemed investors selected us as part of the Top 4 finalist who would go on to present on the big stage the following day. It was a delightful event and tremendously impactful. Earlier on that stage we had heard an emotional speech by Al Gore, and right after we presented the Top 4, Steve Wozniak took stage and gave us some fascinating insights into the early days of Apple. But the definite highlight for me personally came after my presentation when I roamed the arena and connected with numerous students, parents, teachers, and school principals who identified with the problems I had talked about. They were eager to support our mission and conveyed sincere encouragement. Atlas Primer didn't win the pitch competition, but that almost seems irrelevant now given how inspired I was after encountering so many amazing and inspiring people. Thank you Victor Prince (victorprince.com) for the photo 🙏

Atlas Primer is going to ASU+GSV in sunny San Diego 😎 Reach out if you want to meet up and know more about our voice and audio learning platform where courses can be created 100x faster than before, and learners become 300% more efficient 🚀

The Octopus Movement Welcomes Atlas Primer to the Brain Forest Alliance We are thrilled to announce that Atlas Primer, a trailblazer in the educational technology sector, has joined the Brain Forest Alliance. This partnership marks a significant stride in our journey towards revolutionizing how we think about and approach education. Atlas Primer is redefining the educational landscape with its innovative 'interactive audio learning.' By focusing on an audio-first methodology, they are creating a world where learning is as simple as having a conversation. This approach is not only groundbreaking but also inclusive, particularly benefiting those who are neurodivergent, including individuals with dyslexia, ADHD, or autism. As a member of the Brain Forest Alliance, Atlas Primer will gain access to our global network of nonlinear thinkers and innovators. The Octopus Movement is committed to supporting Atlas Primer in their mission to transform education. We believe that their unique approach to learning, which combines AI and voice technology, is not just a tool but a movement towards a more empathetic and effective educational system. Atlas Primer's remarkable growth, prestigious accolades, and partnerships with tech giants like OpenAI, Microsoft, and AWS are a testament to their potential and impact. Their expansion from Iceland to New York and the Bay Area, and their impressive user engagement, highlight the effectiveness and appeal of their platform. We are excited to collaborate with Atlas Primer and support them in their journey to empower the 1 in 5 who are neurodivergent. Together, we aim to create a more inclusive, empathetic, and effective educational landscape. Join us in welcoming Atlas Primer to the Brain Forest Alliance. Together, we will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in education, ensuring that every individual has the opportunity to reach their full potential. www.atlasprimer.com