“StartDee” a new EdTech founded by former Democrat Party politician Parit “Itim” Wacharasindhu aims to be the Netflix of education.
Education creates an equality, narrows the gap of those who have and have-not, and also sustains the economic growth of the country. The notion has inspired Parit “Itim” Wacharasindhu, to found a startup, Education Technology, the developer of StartDee mobile app.
“Enhanced by data and artificial intelligence, we hope StartDee to become the Netflix of education by gathering personalized learning content of interest to the user. The app aims to be a supplementary learning platform for students that could complement studying at school,” Mr Parit said.
The company aims to serve over 8 million students nationwide, with an affordable subscription fee of 200-300 baht per month, the cost is 10-15 times cheaper than other education tutorials. The app aims to secure sponsorships from companies who may want to buy subscriptions to provide to students, especially those from low-income families.
The platform comes with interactive content and gamification learning that encourage and inspire students in social learning.
Initially, seven major subjects are available in online classroom for high school students and then it will be extended to middle and elementary school students.
StartDee classroom is provided as daily extra tutorial for G8 and G12 students as they are preparing for the national test at the final semester.
The app will have new features serving students as a new learning room in the near future such as StartDee Room for G1-G6 students, StartDee Room for Future Skills, Personal Development Room a knowledge development for individuals, Game Room and Social Room the space of exchange knowledge among students.
The app starts its service this month, earlier than the planned mid-year launch, as schools are close due to the pandemic. The service will be free of charge until the end of June.
The app also partners with mobile operator Advanced Info Service Plc to let users receive SIM cards, known as ZEED SIM, and engage with the app without data charges.
Parit said total global investment in education technology stood at US$9.5 billion in 2019. Southeast Asia would make up 40-50% of the global figure this year, with Thailand accounting for 5-10%.
