Octopodi Technologies Inc.

In light of the Instructure hack (and what feels like hacks happening on a weekly basis), our team wanted to share what security looks like for Octopodi Technologies.

One of our co-founders was ADAMENT that we build a desktop application rather than a web app, and that decision is seemingly working well.

AI didn’t break education. It exposed it.

For years, we’ve built systems around correctness—did the student get the answer right?

But correctness has never guaranteed understanding.

Now, with AI generating answers instantly, that gap is impossible to ignore.

The real question isn’t:
Did they get it right?

It’s:
How did they think through it?

That’s where education needs to shift next.

We're excited to share that Octopodi was named one of the Top 100 Companies to Watch in 2026 by !

We are so excited to be listed with so many amazing startups. What makes it hit even more is the timing. We’re less than a week away from launching pilot testing with our fully functional MVP. After a lot of conversations, iterations, and late nights, our team cannot believe how real everything is starting to feel.

Huge thank you to Eric Rafat for all his hard work and support of the Canadian Startup ecosystem.

Thank you to everyone who voted! With your votes, our CEO has made it into the top 20 in her category! However, she lost her spot at 1st place in her group. Can you help her get back into first place and into the next round?

You can vote once every 24 hours. Appreciate any and all votes!

VOTE HERE:

Is Christianna Chow the Entrepreneur of Impact? One visionary will take home $25,000, appear in an Entrepreneur Magazine advertorial, and receive a one-on-one mentoring session with Daymond John.

We did it 💙

We’ve officially completed the Incubate+ program 🚀

This program pushed us — not just in building Octopodi, but in how we think as founders.

From refining our pitch…
To challenging our assumptions…
To being surrounded by other builders figuring it out in real time…

This is what early-stage looks like.

Grateful for the mentors, the community, and the growth 🙌

We’re just getting started.

Last week our team had the opportunity to connect with Conestoga College students at the Conestoga Growth Summit.

We ended up having a lot of really real conversations about careers, uncertainty, building something from scratch, and figuring things out as you go.

As an edtech company, we spend a lot of time thinking about improving the classroom, but there’s also a responsibility to step outside of it.

To show up, share real experiences, and give students a bit more clarity (or at least reassurance) about what’s possible.

Thank you to IT Club - Conestoga College and Google Developer Group @ Conestoga College for having us at the event.

We’re proud to share that our founder, Christianna Chow, is currently competing in the Entrepreneur of Impact 2026 competition 🎉

This competition recognizes entrepreneurs building meaningful, real-world impact and we couldn’t think of someone more deserving.

At Octopodi, our mission is simple:
👉 Help educators save time
👉 Improve feedback for students
👉 Elevate how technical skills are taught

If you’d like to support Christianna and the Octopodi team:
🔗 Vote here (takes 10 seconds): https://entrepreneurofimpact.org/2026/christianna-chow

✔️ One free vote every 24 hours

We appreciate every single one of you 🙌

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Is Christianna Chow the Entrepreneur of Impact? One visionary will take home $25,000, appear in an Entrepreneur Magazine advertorial, and receive a one-on-one mentoring session with Daymond John.

We’re excited to share that Octopodi Technologies has officially joined StartUp Lab Laurier 🚀

As a startup building tools to support coding education in higher ed, being surrounded by mentors, founders, and innovators who challenge and support our growth is incredibly valuable.

We’re looking forward to sharpening our strategy, learning from the community, and continuing to build technology that helps instructors spend less time grading — and more time teaching.

Thank you to the Startup Lab Laurier team for welcoming us 🙌

Today’s $6.4B investment in Ontario’s postsecondary sector is more than a funding announcement, it’s a statement about the future of education in our province!

At Octopodi Technologies, we see firsthand how institutions are balancing sustainability, student success, and rapidly evolving workforce demands. This kind of meaningful investment gives colleges and universities the stability they need to innovate, modernize, and better support both educators and learners.

As coding and AI-driven disciplines become core to nearly every industry, strengthening postsecondary education means strengthening Ontario’s economic future.

We’re excited to see this commitment — and we’re ready to continue working alongside institutions to ensure students don’t just graduate, but thrive with industry ready skills.

Happy Tuesday!

In this week's blog post, our team shares their thoughts on the importance of accessibility and the lessons they learned from their own corgi pup!

"As I watched my corgi pup struggle to leap up and down from the couch, it reminded me how important accessibility is when you are trying to win over customers." 🐶

✨Read the full blog post here: https://www.octopodi.com/octobloggi/blog-lessons-on-accessibility-from-halloumi

Lessons on Accessibility From My Corgi — Octopodi Technologies As I watched my corgi pup struggle to leap up and down from the couch, it reminded me how important accessibility is when you are trying to win over customers.

“Exploring Traditional Grading Systems: Pros, Cons, And Alternatives”

🟣 Summary: Traditional grading systems, developed in the late 19th century, rely on letter grades (A-F) to assess student performance. While this system is known for its standardized evaluation progress, it has several drawbacks. Critics argue that letter grades oversimplify learning, fail to reflect individual growth, and can discourage students rather than motivate them. Other existing factors like grade inflation and inconsistent grading practices further poke holes in the system’s reliability. Not only that, but traditional grading often prioritizes test scores over skill mastery, which begs the question “what are students really taking away? ”

In response to these challenges, educators are exploring alternatives like standards-based grading. This approach assesses students’ proficiency in specific learning objectives rather than averaging scores across assignments. By emphasizing mastery and feedback, standards-based grading aims to provide a more accurate and equitable representation of student learning. As education evolves, rethinking grading practices is crucial for fostering student success.

🟪 Ah, the archaic pass-fail grind—reducing the nuanced process of learning to a mere checklist... Traditional grading slaps a number on knowledge, but does it truly capture growth? We say no! One of Octopodi's core missions throughout the development of our software has been centered around rethinking the traditional pass-fail system in most existing grading software today. We simply don't believe it provides an effective way for teachers to give insight to students, or for students to truly master their content. We hope our software will aid teachers in prioritizing feedback over finality—and while we're at it, why not reduce the time it takes to do so? 😉

Have you given any thought on how to re-invent traditional grading processes?

Exploring Traditional Grading Systems: Pros, Cons, And Alternatives | Strobel Education Take a deep dive into traditional grading systems and their impact on student motivation, academic performance, and overall educational experiences.