Make it Happen!: Entrepreneurship in The Next Generation

【創新創業辦公室訊】

 

商學院創業創新創業辦公室(OIE)為帶動校園創新風氣及提供最新產業資訊,於10/19週三晚間偕同商學院參與式教學及研究發展辦公室,共同舉行創業家講座,邀請來自泰國法政大學教育與學習科學學院的Dr. Putthachat Angnakoon(以下稱Dr. Paeng)客座演講,與政大同學分享今日泰國的新創環境和整體生態系,並介紹三個迅速崛起與發展的新創科技教育平台,讓同學對泰國新創教育界有更多瞭解。

 

「在疫情推動下,科技教育界的創投資金量,近三年正以每年70%的大幅成長,是疫前時代的三倍。」Dr. Paeng提及,在疫情時代的遠距教育市場需求大增,並隨著視訊與線上教育方面的科技持續突破與創新, 全球科技教育市場正蓬勃發展,其中企業獨角獸(意指估值10億美元以上但未上市的公司)數量更以中國及印度兩國為首,而泰國的教育新創平台也如雨後春筍般創立與發展,也帶動了各有關產業界的改變及發展,包含:創投與募資產業、新創孵化器機構、學術界、科技業、政府公部門等等。 整體而言,科技教育新創生態系這幾年正持續快速變化與發展。

Dr. Paeng接著分享三間泰國科技教育新創企業作為實務案例,分別介紹創辦人的背景及個人經歷,從最初他們如何發現教育市場的痛點,到透過深入分析痛點背後的議題,去審視既有產業架構在今日變化快速的教育環境下所產生的種種問題,並透過各自獨樹一格的思維創造新的商業模式去解決問題。

首先是提供教師多元彈性化分享交流教學想法與各式啟發的「InsKru」教育平台,透過整合泰國產官學各界教育有關機構的資源與人力,InsKru彙整了專業學術領域及創新教育領域,成為泰國教師界火紅的社群交流平台。再來是提倡「玩學並重」的「Vonder」遊戲型學習機器人軟體,將枯燥的學習內容結合遊戲設計(gamification),以互動式學習的媒介,讓使用者們在趣味玩樂中學習,Vonder也針對企業與學校分別設計了人力資源部門徵才用途及課堂學生學習用途的兩種模式版本,在泰國獲得廣大好評及高度的使用者回流率。以及最後的「EdVISORY」新創企業,藉由結合AI智能判讀與資料分析技術,並與20多間國際企業的人力部門合作,實現了智能遠端面試的AI服務,Vonder的AI服務提供企業在遠距面試受試者時,能有效迅速的判別受試者,在應答過程中是否展現合適企業所需的能力及特質,並結合資料分析判別其履歷內容是否符合企業需求,在各大企業的人力服務需求中Vonder已逐步佔有一席之地。

「新創的旅途並非一場衝刺,而是漫長的馬拉松」最後Dr. Paeng總結道,在面對疫情時代的變化,以及科技與教育和各領域的變化,「新創」不單是創業家依靠洞見找出市場痛點,並結合多方資源以為產業及市場提供價值,更是在帶領團隊和為世界帶來影響力的過程,Dr. Paeng也期許政大同學們能多多利用身邊資源,並培養新創家的思維,以期在將來職涯過程裡能找到和創造屬於自己的一套傳遞價值給社會的方式。

NCCU Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIE) had held the Lecture of Entrepreneur on the evening of 10/19, bringing up the trend of innovation and also the latest industry information. We invited Dr. Putthachat Angnakoon (hereafter referred as Dr. Peng) from Thammasat University, Faculty of Education and Learning Sciences, Thailand, for a guest speech, sharing with the students of NCCU the start-up environment and overall ecosystem in Thailand, and introduced three rapidly-developing EdTech platforms, for our better understanding of the EdTech start-up environment of Thailand.

 

"Driven by the pandemic, the amount of venture capital in the EdTech sector has grown by 70% per year in the past three years, which is three times than the pre-epidemic era." Dr. Peng mentioned that the market demand for distance education has significantly grown, and with continuous breakthroughs in genres of technology, the global EdTech market is booming. Also, the number of unicorns (companies valued at more than $1 billion but unlisted) is even greater, especially in China and India.

 

EdTech start-ups in Thailand have also sprung up, driven by the development of related industries, including venture capital and fundraising industries, start-up incubators, academia, and technology industries, government departments, etc. On the whole, the ecosystem of EdTech has continued to change and develop rapidly in recent years.

 

Professor Peng then shared three Thai EdTech start-ups cases, from the founders' background to their personal experiences of discovering the pain points of the education market. Each founders targets different problems arising from the existing industrial structure in today's rapidly changing educational environment, and create new business models to solve the problems through their own unique thinking.

 

The first is the "InsKru" education platform that provides teachers with sharing of inspirational teaching ideas. By integrating the resources of education-related institutions in Thailand's industry. InsKru integrates professional academic fields and innovative education fields, becoming Thailand's leading educational platform, a popular online community for educators.

 

As for “Vonder” is a game-based learning chatbot software that advocates “learning while having fun”. By integrates learning content with gamification, Vonder created an interactive learning medium for users to learn with entertainment. Vonder also designs two distinctive versions for companies and schools, one for the recruitment of human resources department and the other for the learning of students in classroom , which made Vonder won wide acclaim and a high return rate of users in Thailand.

 

Lastly, “EdVISORY" integrates AI technology and cooperates with the human resources departments of more than 20 international companies, realizing “intelligent remote interview” by the AI. Vonder's AI service provides companies rapid and effective determination of whether the interviewee shows the suitable capabilities and characteristics in the response process. Also, with AI data analysis for interviewees’ resume meets, Vonder has gradually won its place in the demand for human resource in Thailand

 

"The journey of new innovation is not a sprint, but a long marathon." In the end, Dr. Peng concluded that in the face of changes in the era of the epidemic, as well as changes in technology, education and various fields, “Innovation" is not only about entrepreneurs relying on insights to find out pain points in the market and integrating resources to provide value to the industry but also in the process of leading the team and bringing influence to the world. Dr. Peng also encouraged NCCU students to make more use of the resources around them and cultivate entrepreneurial thinking to find and create own set of ways to deliver value to the society.