Our story
It started as a school project. It became a promise.
Nanu exists because one student noticed who the system was leaving behind — and instead of looking away, she asked what those learners could already do.
The spark
A campus assignment that wouldn't let go.
Nanu was founded by Rita Mnavu, known to her team as Aaliyah, while she was still in university. What started as a school project — a proof of concept, a grade to earn — turned into something she couldn't set down once the semester ended.
The more she built, the more she saw a gap that had nothing to do with technology: students with cognitive disabilities were consistently left out by the systems meant to serve them. Not because anyone intended harm, but because those systems were built for a "typical" learner who didn't reflect the students in front of her.
The insight
Start from what a learner can already do.
Nanu was born out of a specific, unmet need: a community of learners with cognitive disabilities — specifically those with mild to moderately severe autism, and learners with Down syndrome — who needed a way to build real skills, not just be accommodated.
Rita's founding requirement was deceptively simple: a learner should be able to recognize a repetitive pattern and memorize it. That single capability became the foundation for everything Nanu does — voice prompts that repeat in a predictable rhythm, lessons broken into steps that recur in the same order, and a first skill (beadwork) chosen precisely because it's built entirely from repeating patterns a learner can see, feel, and complete.
From project to platform
How Nanu has grown.
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The beginning
A school project, built for one classroom
Rita built the first version of Nanu to answer a question she couldn't stop asking: what would it take for a learner with autism or Down syndrome to move through a school day with real independence, not just supervision?
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Building the team
A small team forms around the mission
Rita brought together a core team — Salma, Rene, and Aisha — to help take Nanu from a personal project to something a real school could run on.
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V2
A full platform, rebuilt around voice
Nanu grew into a complete, voice-first system: dashboards for students, parents, lecturers, heads of department, finance and records teams; a support chatbot; a rewards system; and accessibility preferences built into every account from day one.
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V3 — today
Skill Apps: teaching one craft to independence
The same pattern-first insight that founded Nanu became the blueprint for a new product line. Beadwork Academy, the first Skill App, takes a learner from "what is this tool" all the way to a finished project — and a real, marketable skill.
Meet the Team
“I wasn't trying to build something for learners with disabilities. I was trying to build something with them — starting from what they could already do, not what they couldn't.”
Rita Mnavu (Aaliyah), Founder
Want to be part of the next chapter?
Whether you're a parent, a school, a teacher, or a partner who backs founders solving real problems — there's a place for you in this story.