Follow the entrepreneurship journey of Glenn Low, former participant of the Alibaba Cloud – SUSS Entrepreneurship Programme, and current co-founder and COO of HeyHi, a unique AI-enabled yet human-centric EdTech personalised learning system that integrates assessment, synchronous and asynchronous learning on a unified platform!
Glenn Low, participant of the Alibaba Cloud – SUSS Entrepreneurship Programme, and current co-founder and COO of HeyHi (formerly SmartJen)
Glenn’s dream of reaching out to all educators around the world began when he started giving tuition lessons to earn an extra buck while being a PhD student. During his time as a tutor, he experienced the inefficiencies of traditional tutelage systems and identified the problem as a lack of technology that can make teaching more productive and effective. He subsequently set up a tuition agency and connected tutors to students. In 2018, less than three years after setting up his business and working at a multinational corporation (MNC), he decided it was time to chase his dream through an EdTech startup and started SmartJen.
In January 2021, Glenn joined the Alibaba Cloud – SUSS Entrepreneurship Programme with SmartJen (a current product of HeyHi), an adaptive learning system that improves education efficiency by streamlining work processes, and allows assessment of students’ learning progress and personalised education based on the diagnosed learning gaps. Shortly after, Glenn found the right corporate partner HeyHi, to actualise his mission of providing a more holistic teaching journey. Today, they empower educators to deliver personalised learning experiences to learners and inspire collaboration and active interactions between both parties on a single platform. HeyHi has since expanded to a team of 35, operating in over 30 countries with more than 700,000 users.
Speaking of HeyHi’s future plans for expansion into the emerging markets such as Indonesia and Vietnam, Glenn shared, “Everyone is looking to make changes. It is more advantageous to see similar startups as collaborators instead of competitors.” Crediting the Alibaba Cloud – SUSS Entrepreneurship Programme, Glenn also mentioned that it is important to leverage startup ecosystem players such as incubators and government agencies, to develop their business further through mentorship and expansion of networks.
Looking to continue product enhancement and validate HeyHi’s business model in other countries, Glenn advised, “Singaporean entrepreneurs need to think globally. It may be a challenge to find right partners in the deep blue sea of emerging markets, but as entrepreneurs, it is important to believe in your vision, keep trying and do not give up.”
Enroll in the Alibaba Cloud – SUSS Entrepreneurship Programme to gain exposure to valuable mentorships and networks. SUSS is an Accredited Mentor Partner of Enterprise Singapore and eligible startups may be recommended by SUSS for the $50,000 StartupSG Founder Grant.