Where education, technology, and imagination meet.
Solmere Labs creates innovative educational technologies and learning experiences that help young people build the knowledge, skills, and confidence they need to navigate an increasingly digital world.
Inside the Lab
Education for a changing world
Technology is transforming how children learn, communicate, create, and participate in society. The question is no longer whether young people will grow up in a digital world — it's whether they'll be prepared to lead in one.
Solmere Labs is an education technology innovation company that develops learning experiences designed to make complex subjects understandable, engaging, responsible, and accessible to young learners. We work at the intersection of education, technology, financial literacy, digital citizenship, game-based learning, storytelling, and emerging technologies.
Rather than teaching children to memorize vocabulary, we design experiences where they make choices, see consequences, and build genuine judgment — because knowledge that isn't practiced never becomes capability. Learn about Solmere Labs →
Turning complex ideas into meaningful learning experiences
Educational Technology
Designing digital tools and platforms that support engaging and accessible learning.
Game-Based Learning
Transforming educational concepts into interactive challenges, simulations, and learning adventures.
Financial & Digital Literacy
Helping young learners understand money, digital systems, online responsibility, and the evolving digital economy.
Storytelling & Character-Based Education
Using memorable characters, narratives, and educational worlds to make complex concepts understandable and engaging.
Responsible Technology Education
Helping young people develop the knowledge and critical thinking skills to navigate emerging technologies safely and responsibly.
Research & Innovation
Exploring new approaches to educational technology, interactive learning, digital citizenship, and future-ready education.
Meet SmartFi Kids
Financial literacy. Digital citizenship. Future-ready learning.
SmartFi Kids is the educational ecosystem created by Solmere Labs to help students in grades K–12 explore financial literacy, technology, digital citizenship, online safety, entrepreneurship, and the digital economy — through age-appropriate stories, games, characters, and interactive adventures set in the magical world of Worthia.
At a glance
- Grades K–12Ages 5–18, across four developmental stages
- EARN Model curriculumResearch-informed and sequenced by cognitive readiness
- SmartoPolyOur flagship educational board game, playable today
- Safe by designAd-free and privacy-protective, built around COPPA
- Where it standsPre-launch · classroom pilot ready · raising pre-seed
Solmere Worlds Foundation
A child's money confidence shouldn't depend on their school's budget. Solmere Worlds Foundation brings free SmartFi Kids curriculum to the classrooms and communities that need it most, funded by grants, philanthropy, and technology partners who give in new ways.
- Sponsor a classroomA full year of free access for one class
- Donate AI & cloud creditsComputing power for schools that can't buy it
- Fund a new languageAI-drafted, educator-reviewed translations
- Partner on open researchWhat works, shared openly with the field
How we build better learning experiences
Research
Understand learners, educational challenges, emerging technologies, and future skill requirements.
Design
Translate complex subjects into accessible educational experiences.
Create
Develop stories, characters, games, digital tools, and interactive learning environments.
Test
Evaluate usability, engagement, accessibility, comprehension, and educational effectiveness.
Improve
Use research, feedback, and responsible innovation to continuously strengthen learning experiences.
The right lesson at the right age
Children learn differently at different developmental stages. Every Solmere Labs experience is designed according to age, comprehension level, and developmental readiness — concepts are introduced only when learners are cognitively prepared for them.
Early Learners
Grades K–2- Visual learning & simple choices
- Patterns, needs versus wants
- Basic money concepts
- Online safety fundamentals
- Short interactive activities
Elementary Learners
Grades 3–5- Saving, spending & budgeting
- Goal setting
- Digital responsibility
- Problem solving
- Introductory technology concepts
Middle School
Grades 6–8- Financial decision-making
- Entrepreneurship & digital economies
- Technology systems
- Online scams & privacy
- Critical thinking
High School
Grades 9–12- Personal finance & investing fundamentals
- Digital assets & emerging technologies
- Cybersecurity awareness
- Entrepreneurship & economic decision-making
- Career readiness
Making complex ideas meaningful for the next generation
Solmere Labs exists to make complex ideas understandable and meaningful for the next generation. We create accessible, engaging, and responsible educational technologies that turn curiosity into knowledge, knowledge into judgment, and judgment into confidence — so every young learner can thrive in a world that will keep changing long after the classroom does.
Every young person, future-ready
We envision a future where every young person — regardless of background or circumstance — has access to the knowledge, skills, and learning experiences necessary to confidently participate in an increasingly technological and interconnected world, and to shape that world for the better.
Sannia Abdullah Close, PhD
Founder & CEO, Solmere Labs
Sannia built Solmere Labs on a conviction drawn from her own research: the gap in financial confidence opens in elementary school, and it opens unevenly. Few schools teach children the money and technology skills real life now asks of them. Her EARN Model meets children where their minds actually are, and SmartFi Kids brings it to life.
- Stanford-trained researcher in political science and international security
- Has presented her work at some of the country's most prestigious institutions
- Author of the Nuru's World children's book series
- Host of the Women with Ambition podcast
The future isn't something we wait for. It's what we build today.
What guides everything we build
Curiosity
Learning begins with questions.
Accessibility
Education should be understandable and available to diverse learners.
Creativity
Complex ideas become meaningful through imagination and thoughtful design.
Responsibility
Technology education must prioritize safety, ethics, and informed decision-making.
Innovation
Education must evolve alongside society and technology.
Impact
Learning should create meaningful knowledge and real-world skills.
An innovation lab built for young learners
Solmere Labs is where education, technology, and imagination meet — a creative technology lab dedicated to preparing the next generation for the world they're inheriting.
Who we are
Solmere Labs LLC is an education technology and innovation company focused on designing engaging, accessible, and future-ready learning experiences for children and young people. We combine education, technology, storytelling, interactive media, game-based learning, and responsible innovation to help prepare young learners for an increasingly digital world.
We are the creator and developer of SmartFi Kids, an educational platform that introduces students in grades K–12 to financial literacy, digital citizenship, emerging technologies, and responsible participation in the digital economy.
Why we exist
Most children finish school without ever being taught how money really works, how digital systems shape their lives, or how to think critically about the technologies they use every day. These aren't elective skills anymore — they're the literacy of the century our children will live in.
Solmere Labs exists because we believe this education shouldn't wait, shouldn't bore, and shouldn't be reserved for the fortunate few. Complex ideas can be made understandable. Serious learning can be joyful. And every child deserves both.
Our educational philosophy
We design from three convictions:
- Story first. Children remember adventures, characters, and choices — not vocabulary lists. Every concept we teach arrives inside a narrative worth following.
- Real decisions build real judgment. Learners make choices, see consequences, and reflect — the way financial and digital judgment is actually built.
- Development comes first. No concept is introduced before a child is cognitively ready for it. Ideas are then revisited with greater depth as reasoning and real-world experience grow.
Our approach to innovation
Innovation at Solmere Labs is disciplined, not flashy. We research how children actually learn, prototype quickly, test with real learners and educators, and improve continuously. Technology is always a means — never the point. If a game mechanic, a story, or an interface doesn't serve understanding, it doesn't ship.
Our commitment to responsible technology
We build for children, which means safety, privacy, and ethics are founding design principles rather than compliance checkboxes. Our work is designed to be ad-free, privacy-protective, and aligned with child-focused regulations such as COPPA. When we teach emerging technologies — including digital assets and financial technology — we teach understanding, skepticism, and safety. We never promote investing in any asset.
Our story
Solmere Labs began with a simple observation: the subjects that will most shape children's futures — money, technology, digital life — are the ones schools teach least. What started as a storytelling initiative for young learners grew into a full learning ecosystem, and SmartFi Kids became our first major initiative: a K–12 platform where financial literacy is learned through adventure in the world of Worthia. Today, Solmere Labs continues to design new educational technologies, games, research projects, and learning platforms — with much more ahead.
How we're structured
Solmere Labs LLC builds and operates our learning platforms, starting with SmartFi Kids. Solmere Worlds Foundation, our nonprofit arm, brings free curriculum to the schools and communities that need it most. The company makes the work sustainable, and the Foundation makes sure access never depends on a budget.
Our founder
Solmere Labs is led by its founder, working with a growing circle of collaborators across education, research, technology, and creative storytelling.
Sannia Abdullah Close, PhD
Founder & CEO, Solmere Labs
Sannia built Solmere Labs on a conviction drawn from her own research: the gap in financial confidence opens in elementary school, and it opens unevenly. Few schools teach children the money and technology skills real life now asks of them. Her EARN Model meets children where their minds actually are, and SmartFi Kids brings it to life.
- Stanford-trained researcher in political science and international security
- Has presented her work at some of the country's most prestigious institutions
- Author of the Nuru's World children's book series
- Host of the Women with Ambition podcast
The future isn't something we wait for. It's what we build today.
Our future
SmartFi Kids is our flagship and our first chapter. We are raising pre-seed funding to take it from a pilot-ready curriculum to a working platform in classrooms, and the lab's roadmap extends toward new educational platforms, research, games, and responsible AI tools that help young people meet the future with confidence. If you'd like to build some of that future with us, we'd love to hear from you.
Turning complex ideas into meaningful learning experiences
Eleven areas of work, one purpose: helping young people understand the world they're growing into.
Our areas of work
Educational Technology Development
We design and build digital learning tools from the ground up — platforms, applications, and interactive experiences engineered around how children actually learn, with accessibility and safety built in from the first line of code.
Interactive Learning Platforms
Complete learning ecosystems that bring stories, games, progress tracking, and family and classroom tools together in one place — so learning continues from screen to dinner table to classroom.
Game-Based Learning
We transform educational concepts into board games, digital games, missions, and simulations where children practice real decision-making. Play isn't a reward for learning — it's how the learning happens.
Financial Literacy Education
From a first coin to careers, credit, and investing fundamentals — developmentally sequenced financial education that builds genuine judgment, not memorized vocabulary.
Digital Citizenship
Online safety, privacy, healthy digital habits, and respectful participation — taught early, revisited often, and framed as capability rather than fear.
Emerging Technology Education
Age-appropriate introductions to the technologies shaping children's futures — digital money, artificial intelligence, and new financial systems — always with an emphasis on understanding, skepticism, and safety.
Educational Storytelling
Original stories and narrative worlds where complex ideas arrive inside adventures children genuinely want to follow — because the lessons that come wrapped in a story are the ones that last.
Character-Based Learning
Memorable characters who model different mindsets, make relatable mistakes, and grow — giving children companions for their learning journey and language for their own choices.
Curriculum Innovation
Research-informed, developmentally sequenced K–12 curriculum design — spiral learning pathways, applied assessment, and classroom-ready resources that respect how teachers actually teach.
Research & Development
Continuous exploration of new approaches to educational technology, learning science, and future-ready education — so what we build tomorrow is better than what we built today.
Responsible AI for Learning
Adaptive explanations that meet each learner where they are, with an educator reviewing what the AI produces and clear limits on what it can do. Children's data is never sold, never used for advertising, and never used to train outside AI models.
SmartFi Kids
Growing smart kids one money adventure at a time — the flagship educational ecosystem created by Solmere Labs.
Financial literacy that begins with imagination
Most children finish school without ever being taught how money really works. SmartFi Kids starts earlier — and starts differently. Money is about more than dollars and cents: it's learning to make thoughtful choices, plan ahead, solve problems, understand value, and help others. SmartFi Kids turns those lessons into stories, games, and adventures children never forget.
The learning philosophy is simple: story first, real decisions with real stakes, and a curriculum that grows with each child across four developmental stages from Kindergarten through Grade 12.
Welcome to Worthia
Worthia is the magical learning universe at the heart of SmartFi Kids. Every region teaches a real financial life skill, unlocked through stories, missions, and challenges — from Saving Springs and Marketplace Village across Budget Bridge, up Investment Mountains, out to Entrepreneur Island and Generosity Garden, into Digital Money and Future Finance City, all the way to Dream Castle.
Children don't move through a syllabus — they journey through a world.
Research-informed learning, K–12
Four developmental stages carry learners from their first coin all the way to careers, credit, and investing — with concepts introduced only when children are cognitively ready, then deepened as they grow.
Foundations
K–Gr 2 · ages 5–8- Recognizing money & what it's for
- Needs versus wants
- Simple choices & trade-offs
- Saving, sharing & patience
- Stories, songs, games & hands-on play
Builders
Gr 3–5 · ages 8–11- Allowances & saving goals
- First budgets & responsible spending
- Comparing choices & value
- Simple entrepreneurship
- Digital safety & generosity
Navigators
Gr 6–8 · ages 11–14- Banking & how money moves
- Entrepreneurship & business basics
- Investing foundations & compound growth
- Digital payments & consumer awareness
- Interactive simulations
Trailblazers
Gr 9–12 · ages 14–18- Personal finance, credit & debt
- Investing, taxes & insurance basics
- Careers & entrepreneurship
- Financial technology & digital assets, taught age-appropriately
- Realistic decision-making simulations
A complete learning ecosystem
Being built in phases toward launch. SmartoPoly is playable today.
Interactive storybooks & games
Adventures where children's choices shape the tale, plus SmartoPoly — the flagship educational board game, free to play.
Educator resources
Developmentally sequenced curriculum pathways, lesson plans, printable activities, and applied assessments.
Parent tools
Progress dashboards, family challenges, allowances and chore rewards, and age-appropriate discussion prompts.
Safe by design
Ad-free, privacy-protective, and built around child-safety regulations such as COPPA from day one.
Every child deserves the future we're building
Solmere Worlds Foundation brings free SmartFi Kids curriculum and learning tools to the schools and communities that need them most. It is funded by grants, philanthropy, and partners who believe a child's access to good learning should never depend on a budget.
Two arms, one mission
Solmere Labs LLC builds and operates the SmartFi Kids platform. The Foundation exists for the children that a market alone won't reach: classrooms without a budget line for financial literacy, rural and tribal schools, libraries, and community programs.
Keeping the two separate means grant and philanthropic dollars go where they are meant to go: free access and open research, accounted for apart from the company's commercial work.
- Free classroom accessSmartFi Kids curriculum and printable materials for under-resourced schools, libraries, and youth programs.
- Educator supportLesson guides and short trainings so a teacher can start the very next day.
- Open researchStudies of what actually works, published as aggregate, de-identified findings.
- New languages and communitiesBringing Worthia to families at home and abroad, in the languages they speak.
Giving, built for the AI era
An AI-driven learning company can be supported in more ways than a check. Some of the most valuable gifts are computing power, expertise, and reach.
Sponsor a classroom
Fund a full year of SmartFi Kids for one classroom, and follow that class's progress through the year.
Donate AI & cloud credits
Technology companies can give cloud computing and AI model credits in kind. Those credits power adaptive, safety-first learning for students whose schools could never pay for it.
Fund a new language
AI drafts the first translation of each lesson, and native-speaking educators review every word before a child sees it. Sponsors choose the language they want to open.
Give-a-Seat At launch
Families who join SmartFi Kids will be able to add an optional gift that unlocks a free seat for a child in a partner school. Generosity, taught by example.
Partner on open research
Universities and research groups co-design studies with us. Results are shared openly so every school, not only ours, can learn from them.
Join the educator review network
Teachers volunteer to review AI-assisted lesson materials, keeping a human expert between every model and every child.
Every sponsor will see a privacy-safe impact dashboard: classrooms reached, lessons completed, and skills gained, reported in aggregate and never at the level of an individual child.
Promises we make to every donor
Children's data stays protected
Children's data is never sold, never used for advertising, and never used to train outside AI models.
A human in every loop
Every AI-assisted material is reviewed by an educator before it reaches a learner.
Gifts go where you intend
Foundation funds support free access and open research, and are tracked apart from the company's commercial operations.
We report what we learn
Including what didn't work. Honest results are how better learning gets built.
Support inquiry
Tell us how you'd like to help, and we'll follow up personally with the details, including the Foundation's current registration and how gifts are handled.
How we build better learning experiences
A disciplined, research-informed cycle — because children deserve education that's been designed, tested, and improved with the same rigor as the best technology they'll ever use.
Our process
Research
We start with learners: developmental science, educational challenges, emerging technologies, and the skills the future will demand.
Design
We translate complex subjects into accessible experiences — matching every concept to the age and readiness of the child who'll meet it.
Create
We build stories, characters, games, digital tools, and interactive learning environments that children genuinely want to return to.
Test
We evaluate usability, engagement, accessibility, comprehension, and educational effectiveness with real learners and educators.
Improve
We use research, feedback, and responsible innovation to continuously strengthen every experience we offer.
The rules we don't break
Cognitive readiness first
No concept is introduced before the cognitive architecture exists to support it.
Real stakes, real decisions
Learners choose, see consequences, and reflect — that's how judgment is built.
True spiral design
Ideas return at greater depth as learners grow, with deepening that can be observed and assessed.
Equity by design
Learning experiences are income-agnostic and designed to work for every family and classroom.
Applied assessment only
We measure what children can do and decide — never how many vocabulary words they can recite.
Safety is structural
Privacy, ethics, and child protection are designed in from the start, not patched on later.
Let's build the future of learning together
Solmere Labs works with investors, schools, districts, universities, researchers, foundations, technology companies, and government education programs to bring meaningful learning to more children. We are raising our pre-seed round now.
Ways to work with us
Pre-seed Investment
Join our pre-seed round and help take SmartFi Kids from a pilot-ready curriculum to a working platform in classrooms.
Grants & Sponsored Access
Fund free access for schools and communities through Solmere Worlds Foundation. Foundations and corporate sponsors welcome.
Pilot Programs
Bring SmartFi Kids into classrooms and after-school programs with structured, supported pilots.
Technology Partnerships
Integrate, co-develop, or extend educational technology with aligned platform and tool partners.
Curriculum Development
Co-create standards-aligned pathways, resources, and assessments with education organizations.
Community Programs
Bring financial and digital literacy to libraries, community centers, and youth organizations.
Research Collaborations
Study engagement, comprehension, and outcomes with university and independent researchers, and publish what we learn.
Content Partnerships
Develop stories, characters, translations, and learning content for new audiences together.
Partnership inquiry
Tell us a little about your organization and what you'd like to explore. We read every inquiry.
Help us build what learning can become
Solmere Labs brings together people from education, technology, software and game development, UX/UI design, research, curriculum design, storytelling, animation, AI, marketing, and partnerships.
Open positions
There are currently no open positions, but we are always interested in connecting with people who share our passion for education, technology, and meaningful innovation.
General talent inquiry
Talk to Solmere Labs
Investors, funders, educators, families, researchers, partners, press: we'd love to hear from you.
Privacy Policy
Effective date: to be confirmed at publication.
Solmere Labs LLC ("Solmere Labs," "we," "us") respects your privacy. This page summarizes how this website handles information; the complete, legally reviewed Privacy Policy will be published here.
Information we collect
This website collects only the information you choose to provide through inquiry forms (such as your name, organization, email address, and message). We do not sell personal information.
Children's privacy
This corporate website is intended for adult audiences — educators, families, partners, and professionals. Our children's learning products, including SmartFi Kids, are governed by their own child-focused privacy policies designed around regulations such as COPPA and FERPA.
Contact
Questions about privacy? Please reach out through our contact page.
Terms of Use
Effective date: to be confirmed at publication.
Welcome to the Solmere Labs LLC website. By using this site, you agree to use it lawfully and respectfully. The complete, legally reviewed Terms of Use will be published here.
Intellectual property
All content on this site — including the Solmere Labs and SmartFi Kids names, logos, characters, text, and designs — is owned by or licensed to Solmere Labs LLC and may not be reproduced without permission.
Third-party links
This site links to SmartFiKids.org and may link to other resources. Those sites are governed by their own terms and policies.
Contact
Questions about these terms? Please reach out through our contact page.
Accessibility Statement
Solmere Labs is committed to making education accessible — and that starts with our own website. This site is designed to conform to WCAG 2.1 AA guidance, including:
- Semantic HTML structure and landmark regions
- Full keyboard navigation with visible focus indicators
- Sufficient color contrast for text and interactive elements
- Respect for reduced-motion preferences
- Descriptive labels on all forms and controls
Accessibility is an ongoing effort. If you encounter any barrier while using this site, please tell us through our contact page — we genuinely want to know, and we'll work to fix it.
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