Austin Ketola
Asobo Education – MICRO Fall 2025
Published July 8, 2026
As part of our ‘Meet Our Founders’ series today, we introduce Austin Ketola, Founder and CEO of Asobo Education, based in Southport, NC. Asobo Education helps teachers quickly identify student learning gaps and gives kids a fun, game-based way to learn.
Q: What problem are you trying to solve, and what influenced you to start your company?
A: I’m focused on solving the challenge of identifying and addressing student learning gaps in a way that is both accurate and practical for teachers, as well as truly engaging and interesting for students. Too often, educators know their students are struggling but don’t have the time or tools to pinpoint why or determine the best next step. My experience tutoring and working directly with students made it clear how individualized learning needs really are, and how difficult it is for teachers to support every student with limited time and resources. I started Asobo because I believe that technology, and now AI, when designed thoughtfully, can help bridge this gap by giving teachers clearer insights and students a more engaging, personalized learning experience.
Q: What are you most excited about right now? What keeps you up at night?
A: I’m most excited about the opportunity to put Asobo into more classrooms and gather meaningful insights from real student and teacher use. After months of development, I’m eager to validate the product in real environments and learn how it can best support instruction and address learning gaps. What keeps me up at night is ensuring that I’m prioritizing the right problems, especially in a space as complex and fast-moving as K–12 education. I want to build a tool that genuinely improves student outcomes, and striking the right balance between innovation and practicality is always top of mind.
Q: What does the road ahead look like for your company?
A: The near-term focus is on refining the learning experience, validating our adaptive engine, and strengthening classroom adoption through pilot programs. Over the next year, I want Asobo to become a trusted resource for teachers looking to identify student needs more quickly and support them more effectively. Once we have strong validation and product–market fit, we’ll work toward broader distribution and deeper integrations with existing school workflows. Long-term, the road ahead involves building a scalable, research-backed platform that meaningfully improves how students learn and becomes the gold-standard in edtech worldwide.
Q: What other passions do you have besides your business?
A: Outside of Asobo I love to cook, run, and play tennis. Some of my favorite dishes are smash burgers, chicken tikka masala, and I recently started making bread. I just started running this year but fell in love with the process and am currently training to qualify for Boston. I love spending time with friends and cheering for NC State as well.
While visiting Raleigh, Austin recommends:
- In Raleigh, I love walking Lake Johnson Trail and exploring downtown. For food, I’d suggest MoJoe’s for a great burger or 321 Coffee for a pick-me-up.
Support Austin and Asobo Education by:
- The biggest help is connecting me with teachers, principals, homeschool groups, or anyone working directly with students who might be open to trying Asobo. Real conversations and feedback from people in the K-12 world make a huge difference. Visit asoboeducation.com for more information about what you’re doing and try it out free if you’re interested!
