Marified parent company Edufied gets seed funding
April 23, 2020Singapore-based Edufied, a credential validation startup, said it has raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding at a valuation of nearly US$4 million.
The capital was raised via a group of private investors, according to a statement.
Established in 2018, Edufied offers a blockchain-based system that allows agencies to provide e-credentials easier. It reduces the amount of admin work needed and helps prevent fake certificates or claims from happening. Receivers, in turn, are given academic and training passports to store and share their credentials securely.
After initially focusing on the academic sector, Edufied expanded its reach to serve clients from professional and government organizations.
Ryan Soh, the founder and CEO of Edufied, said the company plans to use the new funds to expand in both Singapore and the Philippines. “With a larger footprint, we will be enhancing our support team to serve our clients better and focusing on a client-centric approach to improve our product,” he said.
By 2021, the company aims to have a presence in five countries.
During the past year, Soh said that Edufied has been setting up its foundation, onboarding clients such as the Philippine’s AMA Education System and Philippine Merchant Marine Academy, and pilot testing with government agencies in the country.
The company also said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Singapore Association for Private Education to roll out its product to the agency’s 34 institution members.
In September last year, Edufied became a finalist in PIER71, a joint initiative from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore and NUS Enterprise aimed at supporting the maritime innovation ecosystem. Through the program, the startup set up a new business unit called Marified, which provides marine crew with personalized e-passports to digitize certification management.