GuruLab, a Malaysia-based edtech platform, said Wednesday it has closed a $1 million seed round.

GuruLab said in a statement that it intends to use the funds to enhance its proprietary analytics platform and expand its offerings within Malaysia’s education ecosystem.

According to the statement, GuruLab is aggressively recruiting for both education and technology roles, including tutors, software engineers and data scientists.

Its 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.

Its 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.

“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,” said Eer, who previously worked in London for the top-tier management consultancy McKinsey and Company.

GuruLab currently offers live-streamed English tuition classes, giving students throughout Malaysia access to some of the country’s top tutors.

“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,” said Tan, who holds a Masters in Education from Oxford University.

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.”

It is noted that venture builder Wright Partners 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,” said Tan Toi Ngee from Wright Partners.

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