Luca Te Lo Dice - Platform

Helping Latin Americans feel at home in Italy, breaking language barriers and cultural isolation through a community-driven ed-tech platform built around their real needs and lives.

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Inspiration

One and a half years ago, I started posting videos on Instagram and TikTok (that is where the Luca Te Lo Dice name comes from), teaching Italian to Spanish speakers without any long-term vision. A few months in, the first results began to show, followers started reaching out to tell me how much the content was changing their lives, and to ask for private classes. That is how the project started: I was simply giving Italian lessons to the few followers who reached out, and that was all. However, over time, I began to notice that most of my followers were Latin Americans who were living in Italy or planning to move there, and that their struggles went far beyond the language. They felt lost, isolated, and invisible. That's when I realized I wasn't just teaching Italian. I was building something that could genuinely change people's lives.

What it does

Luca Te Lo Dice - Platform is a community-driven ed-tech platform designed primarily for Latin Americans and open to all Spanish speakers who want to integrate into Italian society. Language is the starting point, the platform connects users with certified, personally selected tutors tailored to their specific profile and goals, whether they are professionals relocating for work, Erasmus students, or families building a new life in Italy. But the platform goes far beyond lessons. Each user receives a personalized dashboard based on their profile; a worker, an Erasmus student, a descendant of Italians, and so on, which surfaces the products, services, and content most relevant to their specific situation. A worker might find co-working spaces, job connections, and peer forums. An Erasmus student might be matched with an Italian student looking to practice Spanish, getting free language exchange through our platform. A new arrival might find practical guidance on their first steps in Italy, cultural insights, and local community events, all in one place. Beyond that, the platform is designed to grow through partnerships with communities, businesses, and brands, continuously expanding the services available to users. And much more is in the works, because the needs of migrants are complex, evolving, and deeply personal.

How we built it

The platform was built on a foundation of direct user research. Through surveys and in-depth interviews with our 150K+ social media community, we identified the real needs of our users, which went far beyond language learning. That feedback has driven every feature and design decision. We have spent the past months collecting all the necessary data and insights to define what the platform should look like and what problems it should solve. The hackathon represents the moment where we turn all of that research into a real, working product.

Challenges we ran into

The biggest challenge has been scaling without capital. In the early stages, I recruited teachers without upfront funding, operating on a commission-based model. Building trust, both with teachers and students, while running everything manually was incredibly demanding. Another major challenge has been transitioning from a social media presence into a structured product, without losing the human and community-driven feel that made the project resonate in the first place.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Growing an organic community of over 150K followers across Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook without any paid advertising. Building and managing a team of certified teachers and volunteers entirely through trust and shared vision. Winning a prototyping fund from the NOVA SBE Haddad Entrepreneurship Institute. And above all, receiving daily messages from users telling us that the project has genuinely changed how they experience life in Italy.

What we learned

The most important lesson has been to listen before building. Every major pivot in this project was the result of direct feedback from our community. We learned that the best product decisions don't come from assumptions, they come from honest, continuous conversations with the people you are trying to help.

What's next for Luca Te Lo Dice

The immediate next step is to launch and validate the platform directly on the market, putting it in front of real users and iterating based on their feedback. From there, the roadmap is clear: integrating pre-recorded courses tailored to each user profile, expanding the platform through partnerships with brands, businesses, and local communities, and bringing the experience offline through city-based events organized by local collaborators across Italy. The long-term vision is to build a true national presence, with Luca Te Lo Dice points in cities across Italy, physical spaces where the community can meet, connect, and feel at home. Because ultimately, what we are building is not just a platform. It is a movement to make every Spanish speaker who moves to Italy feel supported, connected, and at home from day one; not like a foreigner, but like someone who truly belongs.

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