MindHub is a network of innovative child and adolescent programming centers.
At MindHub, students develop essential skills – critical and analytical thinking, problem-solving skills, algorithmic thinking, programming fundamentals, and teamwork that help them succeed in the professions of the future. A few more specific courses and pieces of training are included – web programming, mobile application development, and game development. In September, MindHub launches programming courses for students aged 12-18 thanks to the collaboration with Telerik Academy.
The first MindHub center was established four years ago in Sofia, Bulgaria. The idea originated with its founders in the spring of 2015 during a stay in the United States. Their initial goal is to investigate and determine whether there is interest in programming for children in programming, as well as whether they will be understood and interesting for parents in Bulgaria. After looking at the results achieved in the spring of 2016, they find that they have reached over 120 children in just a few months. There are also several partnerships.
The founders set themselves the task of replicating the model of a successful center in other major cities in Bulgaria as well as outside our country. Thus comes the idea of a franchise business as one of several test models for growth.
In 2016, as well as the beginning of 2017, MindHub Programs for Learning Children in Programming was launched in Sofia, Plovdiv, Veliko Turnovo, Varna, and Ruse. All schools function in the same way – there are separate spaces with a full range of tools, working on the principle of extracurricular activities, observing all the specifics and characteristics of the business model.
MindHub’s franchise network is growing at an incredible rate. The first school outside Bulgaria was opened in the autumn of 2018 in Estonia. Two schools in Macedonia follow two in Romania – Cluj and Bucharest, and a center in Finland. Negotiations and the opening of new MindHub centers are in the UK, Slovenia, as well as several new cities in Romania.
The MindHub team boasts enormous successes in their home country – the fourth and fifth centers are to open in Sofia, Ruse is back with a new location.
With the opening of these schools, the MindHub network will allow more children to learn to program in nearly 20 locations.
Behind the success of MindHub is a team of about 20 people. It is mainly gathered by professionals in various fields who are interested in both the successful business model and the social element to support the future of children and adolescents. The most common form of selection is recommendations.
Each team member recognizes the mission as their own and strongly believes in the success and better future of children, which MindHub aims to achieve through its daily activities. Through their programming activities, they develop 8 of the 12 critical skills of the 21st century.
One of the biggest successes of the MindHub franchise, according to its founders, is the fact that they have built a complete software system that meets their business needs and allows them to grow faster. With this online platform, they provide timely information and progress tracking for all their partners and for them as organizers and service providers. On the one hand, parents receive timely feedback on their children’s performance, can rewrite them for the next levels, get informed about payments and news. On the other hand, teachers and mentors in clubs can track the progress of children, whether a child is absent, whether they are moving to another group, etc. The platform also incorporates all of the organization’s know-how, lessons learned, and tutorials so that when a new school or club joins the MindHub family, wherever they are, they can quickly and intuitively function effectively.
Similarly, the BVOP.org initialized its educational programs with a focus on training everyone in project management practices, project risk management, business value, waste management, people management, and Human Resources, and much more. We hope they will finish this idea until the end of the year.
The MindHub franchise offers its partners a complete onboarding process and many pieces of training required for franchisees to open their programming school. Through all the training sessions and meetings with members of the MindHub team, their partners have full access to business management systems as well as ongoing support from the organization’s professionals.
