A MEANINGFUL LIFE

Henry Motte-Muñoz uses his digital savvy to promote education for all

Henry Motte-Muñoz, the young and dynamic leader of one of the country’s biggest tech startups, does not like talking about himself. “It’s all about the students and not me,” he says one Monday evening at Edukasyon’s new office at the sprawling WEWORK complex in BGC. Featured twice already on the pages of Lifestyle Asia (once in 2015 profiling his return to Manila, and next on our list of Power Millennials in 2017), Henry was excited to be interviewed again, but this time to talk more about the company’s growth over the last four years.

Catching up with Edukayson PH founder Henry Motte-Muñoz, whose company isn’t only one of the country’s biggest tech startups, but also a tool for spreading quality education to the Philippine youth

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

Since launching the start-up in 2015, Edukasyon has certainly surpassed expectations. The company was introduced as a technology startup that aimed to empower the Filipino youth by helping them make informed decisions regarding their education. This was done mainly on their website, which acted as a map for young people to discover courses, schools, scholarships, and financial support options to plan out the rest of their lives. The site offered information on countless schools for free, as well as giving students guidance and solutions to enhance their quality of life. As the popularity of the website began to rise, so did operations.

Today, Henry’s team has grown from a small room of do-gooders to a group of over 70 people who believe in what he stands for—that quality education is for everybody. Edukasyon is also growing as a company concept-wise, thinking of clever ways to improve its services for its users. They’ve begun partnering with numerous local and foreign institutions and holding intimate educational events, all while continuously creating thought-provoking blog content to inspire children. They’ve also recently acquired FindUniversity.PH, a website that allows over 10 million students an online directory of colleges, universities and academic programs being offered in the country. This is all on top of running and improving the company’s original baby, the website , which has only gotten better in quality as the years go by. Clearly, Henry and the team have a lot on their plate, and they're doing it all for the benefit of others.

THE BRAIN FACTORY

Being a tech startup, much work is done around the clock to make sure that Edukasyon’s two websites are always functioning and producing excellent content. Edukasyon.PH now averages 1 million unique visitors each month, and currently has 270k registered users. The website was once just a simple search engine that helped students review their educational options. Today, it has grown massively, with over 13,000 schools listed and participating in Henry’s vision.

The website now also features interesting sections such as a blog, suggestions on how to study abroad, online education options, and fun quizzes and assessments that help students figure out possible courses to take based on their personalities. Soon, they will also launch their e Advisors page, which acts as an online guidance counselor for any educational or career-related questions. Henry says this is a move that will bring the company into the next era—a more personalized user experience.

Apart from the digital aspect of the business, Edukasyon holds numerous events, conferences, and activities to try and inspire students. Henry says it is necessary to have a physical presence as well, as it builds trust between the student and the company. They have organized numerous student fairs (in partnership with LGUs) in 30 cities around the Philippines, and have reached more than 150,000 students. Edukasyon also invites successful business people, passionate employees, and even influencers to talk and discuss their careers with students during their pocket events. He mentions that they don’t discriminate on a speaker’s stature, as long as they have a good influence on the kids. “We welcome anyone who wants to engage with Gen Z, as long as their intentions are good. As a platform, we’re ‘student first’. Before partnering with anyone, we always ask, does this help the students? The students always have to win.”

EXTRA-CURRICULAR SKILLS

Today, Henry shares that the company is taking a more holistic view of education. “In 2016, it was all about gaining access to education, but today we’ve realized that the real question is translating education to [gaining] employment. There’s a lot of people who can get an education now, but we want to make sure that those who get it can translate that to having careers.” Although it is still their mission to get students the education they deserve, the company has restructured a little bit, taking it further by helping students get good careers as well. “Our mission is to set them up for success. We [meet these kids] when they’re 13, and we basically stay with them for the next 10 years.”

“We used to only be an educational marketplace, but since 2018, we’ve been trying to build an ecosystem, with many different [outlets] to help educate students,” he says while explaining the company’s new and improved formula. He says that a good CV doesn’t necessarily translate to a successful career. Through the site’s more aggressive and new personalized tools, he hopes that they are able to teach children grit and emotional resistance that will later help them in the outside world. “If you don’t have those things, you’ll be entering a career jungle gym where you wouldn’t know what to do. What we’re trying to teach students now is a 21st-century skill called “non-cognitive skills”—skills that you won’t typically learn from school.” Noncognitive skills include concepts such as teamwork, critical thinking, and perseverance.

“We welcome anyone who wants to engage with Gen Z, as long as their intentions are good. As a platform, we’re ‘student first’. Before partnering with anyone, we always ask, does this help the students?

The students always have to win.”

GETTING IT RIGHT

For Henry and the team behind Edukasyon, there’s no way but up. As the years go by, they continue to check off milestones from their list. 2018 proved to be one of their biggest years, with 2019 projected to surpass it. A notable achievement from last year includes a partnership with ASUS that promotes digital-first careers through educational activities spearheaded by industry experts. This year, they have partnered with global tech giant Amazon, through the new AWS Educate system, which writer Lis Fortun describes on their website as, “a complimentary online educational platform that provides online training for web-based careers such as data science, machine learning, and software development. Amazon has partnered with Edukasyon.ph to bring the opportunity closer to the next generation of Filipino IT and cloud professionals.”

In the company’s five-year-plan, Henry hopes to launch a mobile app, but says they are taking their time to do so that they can get it perfect. The company is also currently in the midst of opening an office in the Visayas, having already done so in Luzon and Mindanao. “Lastly, we want to make sure that we’re always improving. How do we keep improving our search engines? How can we understand our consumers more?” he says. When asked if world domination was in mind, Henry laughed. The 30-something, although ambitious and hardworking, knows that changing the world always started from home. He politely replied, “Let’s get it right for the Filipino student first.”