28/1/2019 – Trust Venture Partners (TVP), a financial advisory firm based in Yangon has taken up a minority stake investment in Live the Dream, an education and personal development platform.
Founded by Shotaro Sasa who is currently studying at CHUO University, Live the Dream is created to act as guidance for youths in Myanmar who are looking to achieve their dreams.
In Myanmar, often youths can’t have the luxury to hope or dream due to their difficult financial household situation, which divides their attention from studying. The high school passing rate in Myanmar is currently just at 30 percent.
The platform thus looks to empower its audience by tackling what is lacking not only in the educational environment, but also to provide motivation through video interviews with Myanmar leaders, entrepreneurs and public figures.
Live the Dream believe that human can be changed by direct experience, and aim to use online content to change a person’s life. The platform currently claims to have more than 260,000 followers.
“Youth in Myanmar often pursue career tracks that they don’t really strive for,” said Shinisuke Goto, the CEO of TVP. “Of course, they cannot realize their full potential. But the demand for well-educated human resources is huge in this growing economy. The low level of talent is still one of the major growth constraint.”
In fact, TVP plans to make more education investments in 2019, and some of them would potentially be made through its investment arm Yangon Capital Partners (YCP).
Goto added that YCP plans to invest in 20 to 30 startups in Myanmar over the next three years.
Prior investments made by TVP include MMTutors, a platform that connects students and tutors, Myanmar Online Creations, a provider of online content and advertising agency Kesion Myanmar.
Development in the public education system is expected in the country, with the current challenges seen across schools that have a high student-to-teacher ratios and the need for an upgrade in curriculum.
At the same time, preparation for the matriculation exam sets a high bar for Myanmar youths which leads young people to spend little time in development values and interests. Live the Dream aims to fill some part of the gap.
