Unlocking the Full Potential of Educational Resources

Puffin empowers schools to optimize resource utilization, reduce costs, and enhance learning experiences by efficiently managing both physical learning aids and textbooks, alongside digital interfaces.

Our Mission

At Puffin, we aim to transform how schools manage, access, and utilize physical educational resources—including textbooks, STEM kits, props, and hands-on interactive tools—fostering a more efficient and collaborative educational environment.

Physical learning resources are vital to creating inclusive and engaging learning experiences. They complement digital interfaces by providing tangible, hands-on opportunities that enhance understanding and retention. However, managing these resources efficiently poses significant challenges. Schools often face underutilization of resources, lack of transparency in availability, and unnecessary expenditures due to inefficient management.

Puffin's goal is to build a digital infrastructure that improves cost-efficient dissemination and usage of physical educational resources across education systems, promoting sharing and collaboration among schools.

  • Lack of Visibility: Schools are unaware of available and underutilized textbooks and physical learning aids within their network.
  • Inefficient Acquisition: Schools spend unnecessarily due to lack of access to second-hand markets or borrowing options for both textbooks and educational tools.
  • Manual Processes: Approval requests and inventory updates are time-consuming and prone to errors.
  • Resource Waste: Unwanted textbooks and items are not effectively redistributed or sold, leading to waste.

The Importance of Physical Resources in a Digital Age

While digital interfaces offer cost-effective and flexible learning opportunities, physical resources like textbooks and hands-on tools remain essential. They provide tactile experiences that enrich learning, foster engagement, and cater to diverse learning styles. Puffin bridges the gap between digital and physical, ensuring that schools can leverage the best of both worlds.

Our Solutions

Puffin addresses these challenges with innovative features designed for modern education needs:

Explore and Discover

Allow users to explore available textbooks and physical learning aids within their own school, network of schools, teacher communities, and marketplaces.

Plan and Acquire

Facilitate cost-efficient acquisition by highlighting underutilized resources before purchasing, automating approval requests, and providing inventory updates. Compare editions and prices across second-hand marketplaces and retail options for both textbooks and educational tools.

Use and Maintain

Integrate inventory and usage analytics to monitor stock utilization, costs avoided, and resource uniqueness compared to other schools. Manage individualized resource check-outs and returns for both textbooks and physical items.

End-of-Life Management

Streamline the process of making unwanted textbooks and physical resources available on second-hand marketplaces, promoting sustainability and reducing waste.

Stakeholder Perspectives

Discover how Puffin benefits educators, administrators, and policymakers in managing textbooks and physical learning aids.

Enhancing Teaching with Accessible Resources

  • Resource Discovery: Easily find textbooks and physical learning aids relevant to their curriculum.
  • Collaborative Planning: Share and access resources within teacher communities.
  • Efficient Borrowing: Request and borrow resources from other schools seamlessly.

Optimizing Budget and Resource Management

  • Cost Savings: Identify underutilized textbooks and items to reduce unnecessary purchases.
  • Automated Processes: Streamline approval requests and inventory updates.
  • Data-Driven Decisions: Utilize analytics for stock utilization and cost avoidance.

Promoting Efficient Resource Use Across Schools

  • Transparency: Gain insights into resource distribution and utilization across schools.
  • Sustainability: Encourage circular economy practices by promoting second-hand use of textbooks and physical learning aids.
  • Equitable Access: Support policies that enable resource sharing and reduce disparities.

Who We Are

The Puffin project is driven by:

Profile: Raoul Joshi is the founder of Joshico, a professional services company dedicated to enhancing children’s education and welfare through partnerships with local governments, healthcare institutions, and law enforcement agencies. Formerly an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company, he focused on digital transformation and operational improvements in industrial and public sector settings. He co-authored a study on the global impact of artificial intelligence and has taught secondary school students in Stockholm as a Teaching Fellow with Teach For Sweden and Teach For All. His career began at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations’ specialized technology agency, where he worked as an intern and consultant.

Expertise: Raoul specializes in artificial intelligence, education, and public sector innovation. He has a deep understanding of AI’s socioeconomic impacts and develops data-driven solutions for challenges in education management. His experience includes educational program development, resource optimization, and providing strategic advice to government institutions. With teaching experience in electrical engineering, business administration, and mathematics at both secondary and university levels, he is familiar with the practical needs of educators and students.

Motivation: Raoul founded Puffin to improve how schools manage both physical and digital resources. His experiences as an educator revealed disparities and inefficiencies in the education system. He aims to create data-driven tools that empower educators, administrators, and policymakers to enhance operational efficiency and promote equitable access to quality education globally.

Profile: Ed is a passionate technologist who has spent roughly a decade building startups for McKinsey clients. With deep roots and expertise in technology, especially in user interfaces across various platforms, Ed has a great passion for the web. Beyond Puffin, he is also building handover and LEAGUES.

Expertise: Ed believes that everyone has the right to easily learn to use technology that is hard and complex behind the curtains. This is why he has spent more than two decades crafting highly usable and innovative customer journeys that are easy to learn and use—or don’t even require learning to use.

Motivation: Ed joined Raoul to contribute to bringing education worldwide from digital screens back to the physical world. He believes that physical resources are essential for effective learning and aims to make them more accessible through technology.

Get Involved

Interested in enhancing your school's resource management? Here's how you can get started with Puffin:

  • Request a Demo: See how Puffin can revolutionize your management of textbooks and physical learning aids.
  • Join Our Network: Collaborate with other schools to share resources and best practices.
  • Contact Us: Reach out to discuss custom solutions or partnerships.