EdTech to Help Disadvantaged Students to be Showcased in Vietnam [fn This Person]

【Financial News Hanoi(Vietnam)=Kim Jun-seok Reporter】 "Starting a business is as hard as dying, but you have to go to the end with a light heart and seriousness. Only then can you survive."

Agarwal Pankaj, CEO of EdTech startup TagHive (photo), said this in fluent Korean during a meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam on the 23rd. Introducing himself as 'Pangyo Pan', CEO Pankaj is a genius who majored in electronic engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), where the admission competition rate is 1300 to 1. He was selected as a Samsung Electronics global scholar in 2004 and connected with Korea while pursuing a master's degree in electronic engineering at Seoul National University. While working as a developer for over 10 years in the VD division of Samsung Electronics, he became the first foreign employee at Samsung Electronics to receive company support to study abroad at Harvard Business School (MBA). He then founded TagHive through Samsung's in-house venture program, C-Lab, and has grown it into an EdTech company with over 50 employees in India and over 10 in Korea.

TagHive provides the educational platform 'Class Saathi'. Saathi means friend. It aims to promote interactive communication between teachers and students in the classroom using a clicker, a type of remote control. Teachers can use Saathi to assign tests and homework, conduct real-time quizzes, and utilize functions like class elections and voting to immediately grasp students' achievements. The biggest feature of Saathi is that it can be used in environments without internet, showing great advantages in regions with poor educational infrastructure like India.

CEO Pankaj said, "There is a noticeable gap in academic achievement between groups using Saathi and those not using it," adding, "In India, many students drop out due to family circumstances, but as academic achievement rises through Saathi, it has provided an opportunity for many students from difficult backgrounds to continue their studies."

Currently, TagHive is targeting Vietnam as the next market based on its achievements in India and Korea. CEO Pankaj said, "We are collaborating with our local partner, the education specialist company Zodiac, and are consistently visiting local schools to check feedback," adding, "After Vietnam, we plan to enter South Africa." He said, "Whether it's India, Vietnam, or Korea, the essence of education is the same despite different languages," and "If we can strengthen this essence through technology, even a small company like ours can do what the world needs."

When asked for advice for startups aiming to enter the Indian market, CEO Pankaj emphasized not to obsess over the country 'India'. He added, "The most important lesson after starting a business is that 'the CEO must go directly to the site'," advising that "even if there are no results, the CEO must go directly a few times and spend time." He continued, "It usually takes 3 to 5 years to prepare for overseas expansion, so you have to let go of impatience," emphasizing that "to generate sales overseas, you have to cook slowly like cooking rice, not like instant noodles."


rejune1112@fnnews.com