Portfolio
Edu2Review
Information Services
Edu2Review is the latest brand in the ecosystem of trusted brands of EBIV. Edu2Review’s mission is to help millions of students, students and employees find the right place to study by referencing objective, multi-dimensional reviews from their predecessors.
Edu2Review is operated and managed directly by EBIV JSC. EBIV is known as a pioneering technology company in Vietnam specializing in providing solutions for building and developing personal credit ratings and the Ebrand Index Value (EBIV).
On 08.2016, EBIV has exceeded 632 projects nationwide and was honored with the STARTUP WHEEL 2016 QUALITY AWARD.
HO HOAN - Co-Founder
AUSTIN CARTER - Co-Founder
Founders
Consulting
Milestones
Founded – 2017
Nest Tech invested – 2018
Flexible Pass
Health and Fitness and Technology
Flexible Pass is the No.1 Fitness Pass in Myanmar which gives the people access to over 50 gyms/fitness centres all across Yangon, Myanmar to do a wide variety of fitness activities. The vision of Flexible Pass is to help people in Myanmar live a healthier lifestyle by providing them affordable and flexible fitness options.
Flexible Pass can be used for gym usage & attending over 100 fitness classes, yoga, swimming, boxing, indoor skydiving, rock climbing and special fitness events.
Flexible Pass is founded by Sully Bholat who is currently working as the CEO of the company in March 2017. Flexible Pass was one of the startups graduated in March 2017 from the Founder Institute program, world’s premier idea-stage accelerator and startup launch program. Flexible became one of the 6 startups that graduated from the Founder Institute Yangon Chapter run by Phandeeyar in 2017 was fully launched into the market in June 2017.
The founder Sully Bholat and Flexible Pass has also been selected as one of the 25 startups from 2,000 applicants around the world to attend the Westerwelle Young Founders Programme in Berlin, Germany in September. The conference was held from 13-16th September 2017 in Berlin.
Flexible Pass also recently won Startup of the Year and Best Healthy Lifestyle Tech Startup Awards in the Myanmar Rice Startup Awards given by ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards in October 2017.
Flexible Pass was nominated for 3 categories for the ASEAN Rice Bowl Awards:
- Startup of the Year
- Best Healthy Lifestyle Tech
- People’s Choice
For more information of Flexible Pass please check out its website.
SULLY BHOLAT
FOUNDER & CEO
Graduated with Bachelor of Business Management from University of Queensland (Australia).
Live in overseas for 8+ years and has a lot of international experience.
Young entrepreneur with ambitions to transform Myanmar using technology.
WIN LAE MYA YEE SAN
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
A proactive and a self motivated individual who has a confident approach to people.
A holder of EMBA (International Business Management) from Paris Graduate School of Management.
5 year experiences in business development and human resource management.
Founders
Milestones
Founded – 2017
Nest Tech invested – 2019
KoneSi
Logistics & Supply Chain
KoneSi is an innovative load-pooling logistics solution provider for small and medium enterprises in the retail sector. We help our clients save 50% of their logistics costs, increase their retail reach and focus on other productive tasks by taking full responsibilities of their retail distribution. Within short period of our operations this year, we have worked with over 10 repeating clients to deliver over 140 millions Kyat worth of goods.
The team is founded by experienced and passionate professionals with 20 years of combined working experiences in hospitality, telecom and retail supply chain and logistics sectors.
Founders
Milestones
Founded – 2017
Nest Tech invested – 2019
About Us
Our Vision
Our goal is to create value and be recognized as a leading catalyst in South East Asia in the backing of entrepreneurial talent and to maximize their potential, as they build the next generation of disruptive technology companies. We build trust and mentor start-ups to evolve their strategy and vision and help them to expand and compete at the regional and global level.
Our Investment Focus
Nest Tech invests in internet and mobile start-ups across many sectors, that leverages the rapidly increasing consumer economies of South East Asia with high smartphone and internet penetration rates.
Our Vision
We have premises in Ho Chi Minh City with a café and office space to develop creative ideas, network and collaborate - and further build onto our mix of innovative entrepreneurial and development opportunities.
News
Covid-19 is considered as an agent to change the position of ed-tech (education technology), fostering the process of the technological nation of the global education industry. However, foreign startups still dominate the game in the Vietnamese market.
June 4, 2021Why Vietnam's ed-tech has not yet attracted investors?
Covid-19 is considered as an agent to change the position of ed-tech (education technology), fostering the process of the technological nation of the global education industry. However, foreign startups still dominate the game in the Vietnamese market.
Vietnam’s EdTech landscape 2020 (source: nguyentrihien.com)
Over 1,200 investment transactions in the ed-tech domain with a value of 36.38 billion USD were made in 2020, according to research by Mr Nguyen Tri Hien, co-head of the ed-tech village at Techfest 2020. Global mobile teaching and learning have grown at a rate of 36.45% to a value of $27.32 billion. In which, the United State, China, India and Korea are the leading countries and focus on digital transformation in the education industry. At the beginning of this year, an Indian startup in the ed-tech industry, Byju received $ 450 million in funding from a venture fund.
In Vietnam, the ed-tech market has entered the 5th stage, when online teaching and learning has become popular with everyone. Last year, the number of investments poured into the market was up to $45 million, not to mention the tacit investments that have not been statistically. It is estimated that the ed-tech market will be worth up to $4 billion by the end of 2021, according to research by Mr Hien.
While society is affected by Covid-19, some English centers have shown agility in adapting to the situation of limited contact. The number of orders for short-term online courses at Edu2Review has increased 100% since last year, said Austin Carter, founder of Edu2Review, a course evaluation and booking platform.
Yola, Everest and Manabe are also salient names in adapting to the new state with products that combine online and offline models. And Classin, Elsa and Tesse stand out in the products in the B2B market.
Poor funds because of less diversity
Along with the development of ed-tech in Vietnam is the appearance of foreign companies entering the market. The dominant foreign platforms in the domestic market are Coursera of the United State, UpGrad of India. Even online English learning programs come from abroad, such as Cambly, Duolingo, Hello Chao. Tutoring programs and mock exams are also mastered by SnapAsk and Clevai.
Meanwhile, domestic companies are weak due to… lack of capital. Cite as an example, only Topica ed-tech Group has just raised 50 million USD in a Series D funding round in 2018. Elsa, which received 15 million USD at the beginning of the year, has more than 13 million users worldwide following. However, Elsa has a foreign co-founder, Dr. Xavier Anguera. In addition to these two popular stereotypes, there are not many big investments in Ed-tech in Vietnam. Up to now, startups in this domain are still struggling to find capital and adapt to the market.
The reason Vietnamese companies in the ed-tech domain are less attractive to investors is that they have not introduced many products and services that are adapted to the new situation, according to Mr Austin Carter. In addition, they also lack a strategy to dominate the market. Therefore, companies need to invest in a plan to increase sales, grow over time, and products must match their tastes in order to be able to compete with foreign ed-tech giants.
The lack of diversity in the formation of products and services also prevents domestic ed-tech companies from attracting investors. Except for the majority that offers online learning programs, there are only a few companies that choose to provide technology services for the education industry. Investor Soe Moe Kyaw Oo of Nest Tech Vietnam Co., Ltd said that most Vietnamese ed-tech companies currently focus only on English training. “English training is a lucrative market, investing in this market will ensure profits for companies” – Mr Soe Moe emphasized.
Mr. Soe Moe Kyaw Oo (middle) – needs to find more startups with breakthrough products in the domain of ed-tech
The future of ed-tech
Regarding the future of ed-tech, Mr Soe Moe shared that: “The Covid-19 epidemic has promoted online learning more than before, but learners still prefer the habit of learning face-to-face with teachers. Therefore, companies need to consider when concentrating on investing in one segment. In the long term, ed-tech companies need to research and create tools to make learning more interesting and effective.”
Mr Soe Moe made a comparison between domestic and foreign startups in the industry. Kalpha, a Singaporean ed-tech startup that he invested in 2019, has launched a live streaming platform for teaching. In addition, the one-on-one teaching tool for teachers and learners on this platform has attracted 10,000 new users per month in the Ho Chi Minh City market alone. This is very rare in the Vietnamese ed-tech market.
Mr Soe Moe is looking for investment opportunities in the B2B of the Vietnamese ed-tech market, but there are not many right now. In B2C, he looks for peer-to-peer online teaching and learning models or teaching according to individual needs, but currently, those platforms do not have high traffic.
However, experts still believe that the Vietnamese ed-tech market will grow strongly in the next 3-5 years because of the Vietnamese people’s fondness for learning and curiosity. However, ed-tech cannot be expected to explode like in the financial technology and e-commerce domains, according to Mr. Austin. The amount of user data collected on the ed-tech domain is slower. This will entail the quality of product standardization for users. Next, it also takes time to get used to online and offline learning.
According to Mr Soe Moe, the Vietnam’s ed-tech market will develop sustainably, but with more research about the habit and needs of the market in order to develop suitable products for many customer segments. Moreover, startups also have to pay attention to the costs to be able to bring affordable products and still make a difference.
Source: doanhnhansaigon.vn
Fantasy sports app TrophyRoom recently closed a six figure bridge round and is taking steady aim at the exploding Indian fantasy sports market later this year. Launched as a free-to-play game in September last year, the team at TrophyRoom has been busy gathering data, listening to user feedback and pushing out new features, all with the goal to disrupt a super high-growth but innovation-lacking market in need of a shake-up.
May 25, 2021Social fantasy sports app TrophyRoom closes EUR 300,000 bridge round and targets the exploding Indian market
Fantasy sports app TrophyRoom recently closed a six figure bridge round and is taking steady aim at the exploding Indian fantasy sports market later this year. Launched as a free-to-play game in September last year, the team at TrophyRoom has been busy gathering data, listening to user feedback and pushing out new features, all with the goal to disrupt a super high-growth but innovation-lacking market in need of a shake-up.
The round was closed with participation from a number of angel investors and venture capital funds Maxify and Nest Tech.
Trophyroom’s utility features
“TrophyRoom is ticking all the boxes now. I’m viewing this company as one of the highest potential growth companies in our portfolio. The product is sticky and fun, and the next version is going to be a market mover. The timing is just perfect,” said Soe Moe Kyaw Oo, founder and managing partner, Nest Tech.
TrophyRoom lets you mix and match any real football players from the biggest leagues, and put them into your own daily dream team. You then use your lineup to challenge friends or strangers in head-to-head or group challenges. But the real magic happens when the real matches start. One of TrophyRoom’s unique features are the Tactics Cards – playing cards that allow you to affect the score. Play the right card at the right time and be rewarded. Play it at the wrong time and be punished, the company shared.
“It’s easy to back TrophyRoom. The team has moved mountains and crafted a truly unique product that reeks of sports passion. You feel it when you hold the app in your hand,” stated Georg Westin, founder and president, Maxify, in agreement to Soe Moe Kyaw Oo’s statement.
The company has spent the past months gathering data in support of their hypothesis that creating an easier-to-pick up and more engaging social experience, will produce more loyal players.
“We’re crafting the next generation of fantasy sports, building on the knowledge and experience from the current generation. There’s a serious lack of innovation, which leads to bland products that mimic each other to a high degree. Innovation is mainly focused around introducing new rules, rather than introducing new gameplay features, and this is where TrophyRoom shines. Fantasy sports games are notoriously unforgiving to new players, this is one of the most obvious, yet surprisingly overlooked, problems with the traditional fantasy sports products. At the same time, there’s a golden opportunity to drastically increase the user engagement during the live matches, also something previously ignored by the industry at large,” elaborated Zacharias Tegefeldt, chief executive officer and co-founder, TrophyRoom.
The company is already now seeing the hypothesis paying off. Compared to a benchmark made by GameAnalytics, covering more than 100,000 mobile apps, TrophyRoom has already reached the retention goals most apps never see.
“We’re blessed with an army of really loyal early adopters as well as really good overall retention figures. This gives us the confidence to put the machine into higher gear,” Tegefeldt added.
While available globally, the app is seeing a particularly large interest from Indian users, who now make up about 55 per cent of the total user base.
“We will ramp up our adventures in India. We’re now confident that this market is ready to see the next version of TrophyRoom, which we believe has the potential to shake up the whole industry. The timing is right, the product is right and the team is definitely right too,” Tegefeldt further mentioned.
He also mentions that the company is already now preparing for their next funding round.
You can read more about TrophyRoom at trophyroom.io
Kalpha, a Singaporean edutech startup, announced today it has closed a six-figure seed extension round, led by existing seed-stage investor Nest Tech, with participation from several undisclosed angel investors.
December 16, 2020Kalpha raises six-figure funding to allow P2P exchange of knowledge, skills, experiences on its platform
Kalpha, a Singaporean edutech startup, announced today it has closed a six-figure seed extension round, led by existing seed-stage investor Nest Tech, with participation from several undisclosed angel investors.
(From left): Kalpha co-founder Jaden Teo, Nest Tech VN founder and managing partner Soe Moe Kyaw Oo, and Kalpha Vietnam chief marketing officer and co-founder Tri Nguyen
With the new funding, the startup plans to extend its product offerings by introducing new features to its existing platform.
The fresh funds will be used to extend Kalpha’s offerings
Founded in 2018, Kalpha is a P2P platform where individuals can connect and meet up virtually or physically to learn and share their skills and knowledge on a one-on-one basis.
Users on the platform can either sign up as a sharer or a learner and use the service accordingly. Sharers will have to curate a listing of their skills and knowledge and learners will then schedule the meet-up date and proceed to learn whatever skill they want to learn.
“Kalpha advocates learning beyond school. The vision of Kalpha is to promote lifelong learning where users are empowered to meet others to learn and share their experiences. Through those meetups, Kalpha hopes that users can then make better and more informed decisions before embarking onto certain life paths,” explained Co-founder Jack Soh.
“The opportunity to learn from an experienced individual in a personalised setting on real-life topics are limited, and Kalpha fulfils that gap in the market,” he added.
In terms of growth, the company has shown a positive trajectory having more than 70,000 downloads, over 2,000 listings and 2,500 completed sessions since its launch in January 2019. It also managed to successfully roll out its services outside of Singapore in Vietnam during July 2020.
“Southeast Asia will be Kalpha’s key target market as people in developing countries are always hungry to learn. Having said that, we’re experiencing a very healthy growth in user traction in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, since our rollout in July 2020,” noted C0-founder Tri Nguyen.
The firm plans to roll out its new gamification features as well as a question and answers (Q&A) forum to strengthen its existing P2P model.
Kalpha was incubated in The SandBox by Ngee Ann Polytechnic and was also awarded the SG Founder’s Grant by Enterprise Singapore.
Source from: e27.co
Singapore’s Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) and the United Overseas Bank (UOB) announced their plans to jointly launch a campus startup incubator and learning lab to drive student entrepreneurship and encourage ecosystem partnerships.
December 16, 2020Kalpha participates in the campus startup incubator AGILE
Singapore’s Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) and the United Overseas Bank (UOB) announced their plans to jointly launch a campus startup incubator and learning lab to drive student entrepreneurship and encourage ecosystem partnerships.
Hangout@UOB has areas where students can sit and share ideas (ST Photo: Jason Quah)
AGILE, which stands for Accelerating Growth in Innovation, Learning, and Entrepreneurship, aims to nurture the next generation of entrepreneurs. It will give startups access to mentorship through The FinLab, an innovation accelerator by UOB, and opportunities to glean industry insights through The FinLab’s programs.
In addition, NP and UOB said they aim to use AGILE as a venue for programs such as financial literacy workshops, talks with experts in innovation, entrepreneurship and career guidance, as well as hackathons and competitions.
Called Agile, the 10,000 sq ft space on the NP campus in Clementi will have three main functions (ST Photo: Jason Quah)
Ten startups from sectors such as events management, financial advisory, and medical devices, have already come on board, according to a statement. They consist of the following:
- Kalpha is a peer-to-peer mobile platform in the education technology space where individuals can connect and meet to learn skills, experiences, and knowledge on a one-to-one basis.
- Generation Connect develops novel rehabilitative products based on research to provide engagement and social interaction with a focus on inter-generational bonding.
- Conceptsmiths is a multi-discipline design and branding agency dedicated to helping food and beverage businesses identify, distinguish, and communicate their brand through creative solutions and visuals.
- AllForU is a platform that aggregates undergraduates through a centralized portal to guide students, connecting them to opportunities with companies and vendors.
- Position Five is a creative agency that specializes in events and digital marketing. It has a team for any event requirement, which ranges from logistics, conceptualization, to digital marketing.
- Proa Technology designs and builds intelligent applications for companies to make sense of their data.
- Radx is a software development and technology services company supporting clients in their digital transformation, focusing on AR and VR solutions for interactive experiences.
- FatFreq creates high-quality in-ear monitors and innovative systems for musicians and sound engineers.
- SmoothWork is a “roboCFO” that automates financial advisory, conducts financial health checks, and obtains cheaper financing.
- JoyfulPerson is the mobile micro-learning solution for frontline workers, enabling rapid upskilling, and organizational excellence.
As part of the program, NP and UOB also announced the launch of Hangout@UOB, a community space aimed to facilitate collaboration and encourage student engagement. The space will be managed by student interns under the supervision and mentorship of UOB employees.
“In co-managing Hangout@UOB, students will also learn how to anticipate customer needs, with the guidance from our UOB colleagues. These will be their real-life experiences that go beyond any textbook knowledge,” said Jacquelyn Tan, UOB’s head of group personal financial services.
Source from: techinasia.com