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In a country where only 5 percent of the population speaks English but 99 percent use WhatsApp daily, one startup is boldly connecting the dots. Born out of a grassroots initiative and now backed by investors, Storm Education is rethinking language learning, starting with Brazil’s underserved majority.

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A Problem Hiding in Plain Sight

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In 2024, Brazil ranked 81st out of 116 countries in English proficiency, according to EF’s global index. Despite growing globalization, millions of Brazilians still lack access to basic English education. Cost, distance, and rigid platforms have kept entire communities, especially those in peripheral urban areas and indigenous regions, out of the conversation.

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Storm Education was created to change that.

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It started in 2020, mid-pandemic. Marcos Almirante, a board advisor to the NGO Abraço Campeão, noticed his students struggling to access formal English courses. Seeing them actively communicating through WhatsApp, he spotted an opportunity: why not deliver language lessons through the tool they were already using?

What began as a passion project has become one of Brazil’s most compelling education technology stories.

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Learning English With Memes, Audio, and Everyday Culture

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Forget the old textbook and drill approach. Storm’s method is mobile first, human-centered, and culturally grounded. Think short audio lessons and visuals sent via WhatsApp, built to reflect Brazil’s lived reality. Lessons feature memes, pop culture, and everyday humor to keep learners engaged.

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One example is a meme featuring Brazilian pop star Anitta’s face on the body of footballer Vinicius Junior, used to teach adjectives in context.

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"It's instrumental English" explains Rodrigo Sforcini, Business Director at Storm. "We are not teaching business-level fluency. We are teaching people how to get by, how to ask for help, give directions, and greet a tourist."

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The curriculum currently includes 150 conversational lessons designed for real-world situations, all crafted to work with low data consumption and without the need for a separate app.

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From a WhatsApp Group to a Funded Startup

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Storm started small with just 20 students and a group of volunteers. But word spread fast. Within two years, they were serving nearly 2000 students nationwide. The demand was overwhelming. What began as a grassroots initiative needed infrastructure.

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In 2022, Storm formalized as a company. By February 2025, they closed their pre-seed round with support from Anjos do Brasil, one of the country’s top angel investor networks.

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With new funding, the company is now integrating artificial intelligence to personalize and scale delivery. They are also hiring specialized staff across tech, education, and growth.

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But what makes this startup truly stand out is not just how they teach, but who they are teaching.

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“We are focusing on the 95 percent that traditional language schools ignore” says Marcos. “From favela communities to rural schools and indigenous villages, this is about access, dignity, and opportunity.”

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A B2B Model With a Social Impact Mission

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Today, Storm operates primarily as a business-to-business company. They sell contracts to governments, schools, nonprofit organizations, and corporations, enabling them to provide English education to employees or citizens who might otherwise be excluded.

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They are also making inroads into large public events that attract foreign audiences, where the demand for basic English skills spikes.

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But Storm is not stopping at tuition fees. They are experimenting with branded education, embedding local brands into lessons to monetize while enhancing relatability. Imagine teaching color vocabulary using a well-known Brazilian flip-flop brand or food items that students encounter every day.

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To the student, it is a free and fun WhatsApp class. To the brand, it is a chance to show up in a meaningful, educational context.

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What Investors See in Storm

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Thammy Marcato, lead investor from Anjos do Brasil, believes Storm breaks the mold in five essential ways:

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  • Cultural Relevance: Traditional language courses import foreign contexts. Storm localizes the learning experience, from tropical holidays to slang, to reflect the student’s real world.
  • Platform of Choice: By using WhatsApp, Storm avoids building a costly standalone app. More importantly, they meet the user where they already are, on a familiar and frictionless platform.
  • Inclusive Targeting: While most education startups chase high-paying customers, Storm targets the massive underserved market priced out of conventional courses. This gives them a wide moat and unique positioning.
  • Branded Learning as a Revenue Model: Their use of product placement in lessons opens up a new media channel, education as a branded touchpoint.‍
  • A High-Trust Founding Team: Beyond the model, it is the team that won investors over. “They bring confidence, resourcefulness, and a commitment to execution” says Marcato.

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Why This Story Matters

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At COREangels, innovation often starts where no one is looking. Storm Education exemplifies that principle. They took a broken system, language education in Brazil, and rebuilt it with empathy, creativity, and bold simplicity.

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They did not launch with a perfect product or a polished platform. They started with a problem, a WhatsApp group, and a purpose. That is the kind of startup we love to watch and support.

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Want to invest in startups transforming foundational access challenges into scalable impact?
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