GuruLab, a Malaysia-based platform pairing highly-qualified tutors with cutting-edge learning analytics, has closed a US$1 million (RM4.3 million) seed round. Co-founders Eer Kai Song and Vicky Tan, both OxBridge graduates, set up the company to realise their vision of giving each student the tailored help they need to improve their grades through a data-driven approach. GuruLab currently offers live-streamed English tuition classes, giving students throughout Malaysia access to some of the country’s top tutors.
Said Eer, who previously worked in London for the top-tier management consultancy McKinsey & Company, “Because education is at the core of what we do in Gurulab, we have assembled a team comprises graduates from the world’s Top 50 universities, including more than 10 holders of Masters and PhD degrees in Education and teachers with decades of education experience.”
Added Tan, who herself holds a Masters in Education from Oxford University, “We believe GuruLab’s feedback algorithm and data-driven methodology can address the shortcomings of the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach used by schools and tuition centres.”
In early 2021, armed with a Masters in Information Engineering from Cambridge University, Eer saw an opportunity to contribute to the Malaysian education system by leveraging the power of data science. The desire to give back runs deep in the company culture, with Eer noting, “Many within our team have returned home after an overseas education to help Malaysian students because we see first-hand the opportunities that a good education can bring.”
GuruLab intends to use the funds to enhance its proprietary analytics platform and expand its offerings within Malaysia’s education ecosystem. They are aggressively recruiting for both education and technology roles, including tutors, software engineers and data scientists. GuruLab’s ambition is to use its current offerings as a springboard to become Southeast Asia’s leading education platform, with expansion into other subjects and markets already on the cards.
Added Tan Toi Ngee from Wright Partners, a venture builder who also participated in the round, “The pandemic has really exposed and exacerbated the skills divide among students in Malaysia. We are confident that the GuruLab team has what it takes to tackle this problem through their data driven approach.”
