Online learning platform GuruPanda Sdn Bhd concluded its first round
of crowdfunding with pitchIN on 15 November 2021, successfully
attracting investments totalling RM500,000.
The monies
are slated to fund the company’s expansion plans which will see a
brand-new app, new user interfaces and attractive features to encourage
more participation from its existing subscribers as well as attracting a
wider base.
“We also eventually hope to incorporate AI
and Big Data onto our platform. This is the future of e-Learning, and we
want to ensure that we remain competitive and attractive as the
industry grows, and offer our subscribers the latest learning
applications,” says founder Kingsley Ting.
Launched in
January 2021, GuruPanda is an e-Learning platform for children aged
between 4 and 15 years old, with the various offerings in its stable
based on the Malaysian education syllabus.
The
platform’s learning programmes are presently divided into two - English
and Bahasa Malaysia content for children between the ages of 4 - 7, and
Mandarin content for the 10 - 15-year-old group, based on the SJKC
syllabus for Science, Math, History and Mandarin Language. Programmes
for the 8 - 9-year group will eventually be included. GuruPanda also
provides music courses on their platform for young children.
“Our
first initiative moving forward will be a new app that will enable
subscribers to access the learning programmes on the go. This will be
available for all three operating systems namely IOS, Android and
Harmony,” says Ting.
With the launch of this app,
projected for the first quarter of next year, GuruPanda is looking to
triple is subscriber base, especially tapping into the Malay market to
widen students’ access to affordable and quality e-Learning options. At
subscriptions of between RM130 to RM220 annually, GuruPanda is the most
affordable animated, cartoon-based learning platform in Malaysia.
“Our
programmes are very digitally interactive and offer complete and
high-quality content that suit each child’s learning level,” Ting adds.
True
to its objective to make education fun, engaging, accessible and
affordable for everyone, the planned new interfaces will increase the
gamification and animation elements of the programmes.
“Currently,
students take tests and quizzes and play games in the learning process,
collecting badges as rewards. The new interface will be more
interactive and we plan for students to be able to exchange these badges
for physical prizes such as laptops and mobile phones as well as
in-programme avatars and cartoon characters.”
GuruPanda
is presently only available in Malaysia, with a subscriber base of some
6,000 users. The company is poised to break into the regional market
with a Mandarin language programme, taught in Thai, next year. Expansion
plans into Indonesia and Vietnam are also in the pipeline.
“Our
goal is to develop GuruPanda into a household name, both in Malaysia
and SEA nations, that is synonymous with Fun, Accessible and Effective
Learning,” Ting says.
Towards this end, the company is
anticipating investments in its next crowdfunding initiative, seeking
partners and investors who share the same mind-set of expanding
e-Learning facilities. For more information on GuruPanda, visit the
website at www.gurupanda.com.my
About GuruPanda
A
Malaysian EdTech start-up, GuruPanda offers e-Learning programmes for
children based on the current local syllabus. Content for the various
subjects offered are designed and created by teachers with more than 30
years’ experience and cover English, Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin, STEAM,
Mathematics, Pendidikan Islam, Science Experiments, Music and Story
Time. It is the most affordable and the only e-Learning platform using
animated cartoons in Malaysia, with a wide use of interactive interfaces
that make learning fun.
