Incorporated in 2017 and launched in 2018, Singapore-based online tuition platform, Cudy, has just raised an undisclosed six-figure sum in a seed funding round from investors.
The fresh funds will be used to launch new services and develop their backend technology.
The startup is set to disrupt the $1.1 billion tuition industry in Singapore with its “online marketplace for real-time learning” service.
Started by two Singapore Management University (SMU) undergraduates, Alexander Lim and Sean Lam, Cudy has attracted 500 freelance tutors to sign up since their launch.
They have also partnered with tuition centres around the island to provide real-time online tuition classes on the platform and plans to launch new services in 2019.
Alexander has put his studies on hold to focus on Cudy, which was first conceived under the SMU IIE Accelerator Program, and is also supported by Grey Adventures from Grey Group.
Investors were impressed by Cudy’s healthy growth after heavily acquiring users on the platform, Alexander said in the statement.
Progress and results on Cudy surpassed expectations as compared to competitors who had 10 times more resources available to them, they claimed.
Another factor that contributed to investors’ confidence in Cudy is the successful development of HR systems that reduced recruitment and onboarding time by 95% man-hours.
At the same time, the systems improve the success rates of matches of new hires and attract more talent.
The Cudy Pie
Based on a 2015 survey, 70% of parents in Singapore send their children to tuition, and Cudy sees this as an “opportunity [to] democratise education”.
Alexander, who’s the CEO of Cudy, said, “I believe that the times have changed, the technology has progressed and the learning habits of students are changing.”
Their platform will provide an easier, faster, and cheaper solution, the startup believes.
“Tutors will need to meet the new demand for online tuition by students and parents,” he added.
Citing an issue that was raised in the Singaporean parliament in 2018 where families from lower socio economic background have lesser access to enrichment classes, leading to a gap between students’ performance, Cudy aims to empower and bridge that gap.
Supplementary classes are increasingly costly so Cudy comes in as a more sustainable and cost-effective solution for parents who want to provide tuition classes for their children.
On top of that, freelance tutors on Cudy can improve their skills and personal branding with their preserved content, and transfer their offline tuition styles to online.
“Tutors on the platform can scale their education business without significant expansion costs and effort if they are conducting online classes on Cudy,” said Alexander.
Today’s consumers are more discerning when it comes to paying for digital content, they noted, yet many consumer industries are getting disrupted by on-demand services.
“We decided to focus on what people are willing to pay for. Time,” Alexander shared.
He assured that the matching process between students and tutors will be easier, faster, and cheaper, and that lessons hosted on Cudy’s virtual classrooms will be convenient and secure.
“Both parties will not have to worry about disputes or payment issues anymore as we have an escrow system to provide the trust that is required for the exchange of services, protecting both parties so that they can focus on learning with ease of mind,” he explained.
Featured Image Credit: Cudy