The new online learning platform is the fruit of the EdStart global programme run by AWS Amazon Web Services (AWS), anAmazon.com company.AWS EdStart provides cloud technology, mentorship and technical support to help education technology startups (ed-tech) build the next generation of online learning, analytics and campus management solutions.

“Organisations across all sizes and industries, including educational institutions and startups, use AWS for its breadth and depth of services. These ed-tech startups are pushing boundaries to improve the education environment for teachers, students, and parents alike,” said Vincent Quah of Amazon Web Services.

OpenDurian was established by tutors and software developers to make examination preparation and lifelong learning available online as an alternative to costly classroom-based courses.

The startup is designed to offers affordable courses on subjects in high demand by students and working adults, including for the English language test, General Aptitude Test (GAT), Doctor Aptitude Test, biology and mathematics.

“Since joining AWS EdStart programme earlier this year, we have accelerated our new ideas to delivery in two months,” said Chula Pittayapinan, co-founder of OpenDurian.

OpenDurian co-founder Chula Pittayapinan

“We are able to experiment with new features using AWS machine-learning technology such as Amazon Transcribe for generating listening and speaking material, Amazon Rekognition for vocabulary exercise, and Amazon SageMaker for content recommendation. Our engineers also learned a lot from the AWS solution architects about cloud architecture and best practices, so that we can design for success and provide great user experience,” Startups can apply to join the AWS EdStart programme if they were founded within the last five years and generate less than US$10 million in annual revenue. Applications need to include a plan for an innovative solution for students, teachers, or administrators that solves a current problem or positively disrupts an existing educational model.

This is an exciting programme and many startups are applying to us,” said Quah.“OpenDurian is one of the first groups. We’ve seen a strong interest in the programme and we are working very hard to respond to all this applications. We want to really help the startup community and to help this education technology be successful. We want to look at companies that bring innovative services and solutions to make an impact to the students, the teachers,” he added.

Asked how many Thai ed-tech startups AWS is targeting this year, Quah responded, “As many as possible.”

“We would like to help them with the best guidance and advice so that they can be successful. The ed-tech community is extremely competitive, there are so many ed-tech [organisations] out there in the market and we would like to make sure that they are as successful as possible. It is AWS’s passion to support startups that create positive impacts on society.”