Edtech startup Clevai raises $2.1 mln in pre-Series A round

The money will be used to enhance Clevai's live streaming infrastructure and personalize artificial intelligence (AI)-based learning experiences, a company’s spokesperson said.

Its investors are FEBE Ventures, a Singapore-based fund focused on Vietnam and Southeast Asia, and U.S. investment firm FJ Labs, according to Deal Street Asia.

The startup, which has mentors from Harvard, Oxford and Google, hopes to sign up more than 20,000 students.

Clevai, founded in 2020 by Tran Manh Thang, now also its CEO, and two others, mainly provides online math courses through Clevai Math with teachers from top schools around the country.

It uses an AI platform to help students do exercises and practice. The system is capable of analyzing each student's learning history, thereby providing suitable learning resources, personalized routes and timely feedback to ensure progress.

According to U.S. consulting firm Bain & Company, the average Vietnamese family spends 20 percent of its income on children’s education compared with 6-15 percent in other Southeast Asian countries.

A series of Vietnamese edtech startups have raised funding in 2021 amid the Covid-19 pandemic when students have had learn from home and schools adopted online learning.

Equest Group recently raised $100 million from U.S. equity fund KKR.

AI-powered English language app Elsa received $15 million in a Series B call led by Vietnam Investments Group.