AngelCentral Deep Dive Series: Understanding and Investing in Edtech Startups

Education technology (Edtech) is using a combination of IT tools and educational practices to facilitate and enhance learning. 

As digital infrastructure expands across Southeast Asia, Edtech startups are poised to play a crucial role in reshaping education. According to UNESCO's Global Education Monitoring Report 2023, governments in the region have placed an emphasis on connectivity and devices, especially in education, heavily investing in digital resources and learning management systems to support the increased use of technology in education. 

Singapore’s Edtech market size is also forecasted to grow to about US$2.2 billion from 2020 to 2027, which shows a significant increase in demand for digital learning solutions. The government also has plans to spend more to advance technological infrastructure in Singapore. This growth indicates strong potential for investment and innovation in Edtech.

This deep dive workshop is designed to help investors and entrepreneurs navigate and uncover investment opportunities in the growing Edtech sector. Featuring a keynote speech by Mr. Alex Ng, Managing Director of Spaze Ventures, and a panel discussion with Mr. Neo Zhizhong, CEO & Co-founder of Geniebook, Mr. Stanley Han, Founder & CEO, Koobits, and Ms. Yvonne Soh, CEO & Co-founder, Noodle Factory.

Key Takeaways:

• Overview of the Edtech landscape: Gain valuable insights into the current trends and future potential of Edtech startups in Southeast Asia
• Challenges and opportunities in Edtech: Understand the unique challenges that Edtech startups face, as well as the investment opportunities in this space
• Identifying high-potential Edtech startups and understanding the factors that drive their success

Keynote Speaker

Mr. Alex Ng, Managing Director, Spaze Ventures

Alex is the Managing Director of Spaze Ventures, where he leads the investments into early stage technology startups. He has invested in more than 70+ startups, helped them expand overseas and raise the next round of funding. He has more than a decade of experience from both the public and private sectors, where he helps companies grow. Before Spaze Ventures, he was the Vice President of a regional fintech company that specializes in payment processing and consumer data. He was responsible for corporate development, government relations, strategic alliances and regional business development, where he helped to expand into new markets and achieved the “Most Impactful in Asia"​ award at the 2012 ICT Awards. Alex currently serves as the President of Enterprise Singapore Society and the Chairman of Singapore Enterprise Chapter (SEC) at SGTECH. 

Panellists 

Mr. Neo Zhizhong, CEO & Co-founder, Geniebook

Neo is the co-founder & CEO of Geniebook, the leading Singapore-based EdTech firm that is scaling rapidly across Southeast Asia backed by Lightspeed Ventures Partners and EastVentures. Geniebook is a powerful suite of online learning products, including AI-generated worksheets, live classes and teacher chats designed to help students around the world learn 1,000 times faster through personalisation and innovation. Today, Geniebook is Singapore’s largest online learning platform for English, Mathematics and Science syllabi, with Chinese being its newest subject offering. Its successes have been extensively covered by media outlets including TechCrunch, EdSurge, Forbes, TechInAsia, The Straits Times, e27, VN Express, and more. Neo is an experienced educator and entrepreneur who has founded and successfully exited several startups. Prior to Geniebook, he co-founded Rainmaker Labs, a rapid mobile development firm that was acquired by KPMG. He also started SchoolPlus, offline-merge-online education chain where he personally taught and helped thousands of students achieve their academic goals over a decade. His belief that education is personal is what led him to focus full-time on Geniebook, and his goal every day is to help students learn faster and do better.

Ms. Yvonne Soh, CEO & Co-founder, Noodle Factory

Yvonne has been in the tech industry for over 27 years. She spent many years in her career as a Product Manager in Dell and F5 Networks. She is experienced in bringing enterprise technology solutions from concept to launch. She is a self-taught technologist who loves to create awesome user experiences using technology and innovation. In 2009, she co-founded Jam Factory, a learning and development company that provides bespoke blended learning for multi-national corporations. It was through her engagements with the customers that she uncovered the need for a smarter and more time-effective way to engage learners, which led to the launch of Noodle Factory. In her current role leading Noodle Factory, she works closely with her team to leverage the power of AI to provide innovative approaches for learning and development. Yvonne is a lifelong learner, tech junkie and believes that technology should improve lives.

Mr. Stanley Han, Founder & CEO, Koobits

Stanley graduated from the National University of Singapore with an engineering degree and co-founded KooBits while completing his studies. He's worked with the country's top educators to develop KooBits' core technology and sold the platform to over half the primary schools in Singapore. Stanley is a beneficiary of good education opportunities and scholarships, thus a strong believer in education being an agent of change. He firmly believes in the power of self-directed and independent learning given his background. An engineer and game designer by training, Stanley wants to build things and create value, and use his skills to give the same educational opportunity to children around the world.

Moderator

Mr. Phey Teck Moh, Partner, AngelCentral

Phey Teck Moh is a mentor and angel investor in the Singapore entrepreneur ecosystem. He co-founded AngelCentral, to build a community of angel investors; offering education workshops and curate startups for angel investments. At Entrepreneur First, Teck Moh is a mentor to extraordinary people to build amazing startups from scratch. Xpanasia is an advisory company specializing in Telecommunications and Information Technology companies in Asia Pacific.

He had retired as Asia President, Motorola Solutions in May 2013. During his tenure, Motorola Solutions Asia Pacific grew to more than US$1B. Prior to Motorola, Phey was the President & Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Internet, a NASDAQ- listed Internet service provider in Asia Pacific. He started his career at IBM and moved to Compaq.