Dalza recently announced its official launch in Luxembourg; the digital platform aims to use technology to improve the lives of neurodivergent children and their families.
According to the company, one in five children is neurodivergent. These children often need additional support and interventions from parents and various professionals, which can be overwhelming for both them and their families. The digital platform enables parents to effectively manage all aspects of their child’s care and enhances the support they can provide to their children.
Chronicle.lu recently spoke with Robby Coelho, founder and CEO of Dalza, to gain an insight into the new platform and how it can benefit the parents and children concerned.
Chronicle.lu: Please give our readers an overview of Dalza, including the inspiration behind the platform, the development process and the service it offers.
Robby Coelho: Dalza is a platform that empowers parents, therapists and teachers to effectively support children who have learning challenges or disabilities or who are otherwise neurodivergent. Available on web and mobile, Dalza integrates all relevant information about the child into a single place, providing a holistic view of the child. Dalza then enables parents, educators, therapists and healthcare professionals to collaborate and communicate in real time and helps ensure that the child receives personalised, comprehensive, well-coordinated support. By doing this, the platform reduces the administrative burden on parents, allowing them to focus more on their child's well-being. Ultimately, Dalza's goal is to improve learning and developmental outcomes and to help the child thrive and reach their full potential.
The inspiration behind Dalza is personal. I experienced learning challenges as a child and when I found myself facing the same challenges with my own son many years on, I realised that, whilst inclusion has made progress, the experience for parents and families has not. We are still overwhelmed and isolated, managing siloed support and care for our children. After researching why this is so, I realised that the whole ecosystem, including educators and healthcare professionals, shares similar frustrations. Dalza was created to tackle these frustrations and challenges.
Chronicle.lu: In how many countries is the platform currently available? When did the platform launch in Luxembourg and what inspired you to do so?
Robby Coelho: Dalza is currently officially available in Luxembourg, Portugal and South Africa, although we also have users that have signed up from other countries. As I live in Luxembourg, I believe it important to also contribute and support our community. We launched in Luxembourg after registering as a social impact company (called a SIS).
Chronicle.lu: How many people are currently signed up to the platform in Luxembourg and what is your target number?
Robby Coelho: We officially launched in Luxembourg recently. The first 150 families that register in Luxembourg receive a free annual subscription to Dalza (courtesy of the Andre Losch Foundation) and we have had a very positive response so far. At least 20% of all children are neurodivergent or have learning challenges or disabilities and our aim is to support all these children in Luxembourg.
Chronicle.lu: What entrepreneurial/startup support have you received in Luxembourg? What is your main source of funding?
Robby Coelho: Dalza is supported by the Luxembourg Social Business Incubator, established by the Ministère du Travail [Ministry of Labour]. Through the Social Business Incubator, Dalza is provided with business premises and offices, access to training, mentorship and other non-financial business support. Dalza has been almost entirely funded by me to date and some angel investors have recently come on board. We also received financial support from the Andre Losch Foundation to enable us to make Dalza available in French and German and they have also sponsored annual subscriptions for 150 families.
Chronicle.lu: What makes Dalza unique and what are the main advantages for families who use the platform?
Robby Coelho: Dalza is parent owned and controlled. It enables the parent to securely store all their child’s information in one place and create a complete picture of the child, while also facilitating seamless care coordination, communication and information sharing between parents, doctors, therapists and teachers. Even the child can participate in their care. Importantly, the parent controls what information is shared and who it is shared with and can participate in all communications, which gives the parent peace of mind while sharing the load. Another key difference from existing systems is that Dalza stays with the parent and builds a continuous record of the child’s life and developmental milestones, maintaining consistent care even when changing providers, schools, cities or countries. All while ensuring compliance with GDPR and privacy as an imperative.
Chronicle.lu: What are the future plans for the company?
Robby Coelho: In addition to regularly introducing new features and improvements, our vision for Dalza extends globally. We aim to create a worldwide community that champions innovative support for children with learning and thinking differences and sets a new standard for what support can look like when it considers the diverse needs of every child.
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