Doyobi, a Singapore-based professional development platform, announced that it has raised $2.8 million in pre-Series A funding led by Monk’s Hill Ventures.
The round also saw participation from Tresmonos Capital, Novus Paradigm Capital and XA Network, along with angel investors like Carousell chief executive officer Quek Siu Rui, Glints co-founders Oswald Yeo and Seah Ying Cong and Grab Financial Group head Reuben Lai.
The capital raised will be used to launch new cohort-based courses aimed at upskilling teachers and to develop more resources to help teachers.
Founded in August 2020 by John Tan, Doyobi empowers teachers to bring science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and 21st-century skills to the classroom. The platform offers courses, integrated videos, quizzes, and projects. It also provides instructional videos, self-paced learning, and interactive games and videos for learning. Dyobi hopes to prepare kids to be inventors, entrepreneurs, and changemakers.
Since its inception, Doyobi’s Virtual Learning Environment has been used by nearly 2,000 teachers in over 10 countries. Indonesia and the Philippines are two of Doyobi’s biggest markets, with a growing number of schools in Africa adopting Doyobi.
Speaking about the company, Founder and CEO of Doyobi, John Tan, said,
“There is a massive gap between what is being taught in schools and what children need to learn in order to be prepared for jobs of the future. Curiosity, imagination and empathy are just as important as literacy and numeracy skills. Doyobi is focused on empowering teachers with the resources and skills to deliver STEM and 21st-century skills in the classroom.”
Doyobi’s curricula are also used in Code in the Community, the largest free coding programme in Singapore, supported by Google and the Singapore government. The company also runs an online community called Teachers As Humans where educators can find peer support.
Doyobi is built by teachers for teachers. It’s a team of learning experience designers, software engineers, community managers and product marketers focused on getting teachers to see learning through the eyes of their learners.
Co-founder and Managing Partner of Monk’s Hill, Peng T. Ong, has said,
“We believe that Doyobi is the right team to address this massive gap in the education market. John and his team’s approach in combining both STEM and 21st-century skills delivered through their virtual learning environment are what will propel the education system forward.”
Doyobi also plans to launch a fellowship for school leaders focused on STEM and 21st-century skills in the near future.
Last year in August, the company had raised $1 million in pre-seed funding from 500 startups and Xoogler angels.
