Identifying Transformative Opportunities in EduTech

Identifying Transformative Opportunities in EduTech

Join us for a thought-provoking and interactive session with Dr. Rajiv Tandon as he discusses his new conceptual framework for a common approach to identifying the most promising and transformative areas in EduTech.

Dr. Rajiv Tandon is a serial entrepreneur and educator, having taught entrepreneurship for many years at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota and previously at the University of St. Thomas. After retiring recently from the academic and private sectors, he is combining his passion for entrepreneurship and education to develop more robust entrepreneurial enterprises, especially in EduTech. His special interest is in developing concepts of “bullet proofing” start-up ventures against predatory practices. He was listed by Twin City Business Magazine as one of the “200 Minnesotans You Should Know” for his focus on “EduTech”. Dr. Tandon holds a Mechanical Engineering degree, with honors, from the Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, a M.S. in Operations Research, M.B.A. and Ph. D. in Entrepreneurship; all from the University of Minnesota.

Also joining the discussion will be these panelists:

Christopher Nyren, is the founder of Educated Ventures, an education industry advisory and seed investment firm that has successfully raised and invested nearly $50 million across a dozen separate client capital raises and direct investments since its founding at the start of 2012. Christopher is also the founder of Educelerate, an education innovation network with monthly events involving a membership base of over 1,000 Educelerants in Chicago, the Twin Cities, and Los Angeles. He spent the previous four years helping to build the Corporate Development & Global Strategy team for Apollo Group, the owner of the University of Phoenix. Christopher holds an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania—The Wharton School.

Dr. Frankie Poplau, CEO and co-founder of Yemyo. Frankie served as teacher, CFO and superintendent for 20+ years. Transitioning to the private sector, she held roles in executive consulting, analytics and technical project management while developing the Yemyo business model. Frankie holds a PhD. in education from the University of Minnesota and a Masters in Information Systems Management.

Hassan Syed is a technologist, with 29 years of information technology and business leadership experience in different verticals. In 2012 Hassan started Bir Ventures, a 21st century technology incubator, tapping into the power of social media and crowd sourcing, bringing new knowledge-based products and solutions to the market. Hassan and his team have successfully launched three products through this platform. Hassan holds an undergraduate degree from University of Sindh in Mathematics after completing his diploma in Computer Science from Hyderabad Institute of Computer Sciences.