Three funds back bid to train 1m for edtech 

Disrupt Technology Venture, 500 TukTuks and Beacon Venture Capital will pursue the goal by getting Thais into the StormBreaker Venture Accelerator.
Stormbreaker Venture is said to be the first edtech-focused accelerator in Southeast Asia, with the backers saying it will “revolutionise Thailand's education industry and enrich society's capability and readiness for the digital era”. 
They say that the venture has already made great strides towards its goal, with its first batch of promising startups impacting the lives of over 150,000 students since the inception of the programme. 
The companies say they are confident that Thailand's edtech ecosystem can elevate itself into the top echelons of Southeast Asia and create a Thai edtech unicorn within the next five years. 

Ready to scale up 
The four startups from the StormBreaker accelerator's first batch have gone through an intense programme and are ready to scale up.
Team Vonder, an educational chatbot pioneer that has transformed the way 70,000 students learn, is among them. It has also helped 30,000 more working professionals. 
Team Voxy, an English-learning platform uses artificial intelligence for personalised learning. Team InsKru unites forces across the nation to enhance the way Thais teach by disseminating ideas to over 38,000 teachers and 50,000 students. Team OpenDurian, an industry leader in online education boasting revenues of over Bt49 million, aim to nurture more than 500,000 professionals to respond to the digital disruption. 
Stormbreaker is accepting applications for edtech startups to join its second batch until May 17.
 Krating Poonpol, founder of 500 TukTuks and Disrupt Technology Venture, said that StormBreaker Venture stages incubation programs for operators in the edtech industry. “This stems from a desire to revolutionise the Thai education system by leveraging technologies in order for the nation to be able to thrive in today's digital age,” Krating said. 
“The first batch of the StormBreaker incubation programme serves as a successful first step in ramping up the capabilities of the education sector to answer the global demands of employment in the age of digital disruption. 
“Furthermore, the programme constitutes a step towards realising a goal through which 1 million individuals can easily access quality education and gain new educational experiences within 2020. 
“With only four months having passed since its inception, the programme has positively enriched the learning experiences of more than 150,000 students and laid the foundation to place Thai edtech startups on the global stage as members of Southeast Asia's top thriving edtech ecosystems.”
 He said the edtech investment market is showing promising trends and these are catching the eyes of investors.
“This can be confirmed by the amount of VC investments in edtech which is greater than US$9.52 billion (Bt297.98 billion). What's more, this success was achieved from a pool of only 813 edtech startups and at more than 30 per cent growth,” Krating said. 
“Next year holds true to this tend of growth, where global edtech startup investment is expected to exceed US$10 billion. In Southeast Asia alone, it is anticipated to make up more than Bt4.695 billion of the global total, with Thailand accounting for Bt156 million to Bt313 million of this. 
“The future of Edtech looks promising and is certain to disrupt and enhance the large pre-existing education sectors, for example in English or other language training, professional reskilling, personalised learning pathways, as well as career accelerators.”