Seizing the data on education

The right stuff: (Top) A tutor conducting a class on GuruLab’s platform which was developed by (below) Eer and Tan.

PETALING JAYA: Drawn by the saying “learning is a treasure”, two Malaysians decided to kickstart an education platform pairing highly- qualified tutors with advanced learning analytics.

Knowing the value of education, Eer Kai Song, 27, and Vicky Tan, 29, co-founded GuruLab.

Their venture soon proved fruitful when they successfully secured a US$1mil (RM4.3mil) seed round investment from a strategic corporate investor who was equally passionate about their mission.

“These funds would subsequently be used to enhance its proprietary analytics platform and expand offerings within Malaysia’s education ecosystem,” said Eer.

Eer said that GuruLab came about when she and Tan saw an opportunity to contribute towards the education system by leveraging data science to offer personalised education to students nationwide.

“This desire to give back to society runs deep within the company with many of our team members being passionate about helping Malaysian students.

“This was especially after witnessing first hand the various opportunities that a good education can bring,” said Eer who previously worked at a consulting firm in London.

Despite having a background in data science, she said her passion for education was what drove her towards this pursuit.

“Education has always been a field I saw myself in and with GuruLab, we hope that our efforts towards educating students from all walks of life, specifically towards the English language can increase their social mobility.

“With their increased social mobility, we believe that it also opens more avenues for them in the future,” said Eer.

Similarly, Tan, who holds a masters in education from Oxford University, said that passion led her to materialising GuruLab alongside Eer.

“Education has always been close to my heart where I myself have been tutoring ever since I finished my secondary school.

“Even during my previous full time job, I still took the time to tutor after hours and had a special sense of fulfilment from it,” she said.

Tan added that the current system built by Gurulab would have the potential to address certain shortcomings within the teaching system.

“I strongly believe that GuruLab’s feedback algorithm and data- driven approach can augment the impact of effective tutors through providing personalised education to suit the needs of all students,” said Tan.

Both Tan and Eer said that although the journey thus far has been challenging, the sense of fulfilment far outweighed its stresses.

GuruLab currently caters to roughly 200 students through their platform with the main focus being towards students aged 13 to 17.

For more information, visit their website at https://www.mygurulab.com/