Zleenk: an educational platform that will unite the Generation Z
Armenian State University of Armenia, within the frames of the grant program “Innovation constituent of startups” of the grant program “From Idea to Business” awarded by RA Ministry of High-Tech Industry, implements a project aimed at transferring necessary knowledge and practical skills to startup representatives, provide business connections to expand favorable conditions to develop their business. Beneficiaries of the acceleration program are 6 startups from different spheres. Within the frames of the program, starting from February 22, thematic learning courses as well as cooperation stage with mentors have started and continue at ASUE Change Lab where participants get acquainted with problems of intellectual property protection of startups, funding stages and investment instruments, fund-raising, digital marketing and branding.
ASUE Division of Marketing and PR starts a series of publications on 6 startups and the first one is devoted to Zleenk startup that is a unique educational and technological platform. Here is the story of its establishment.
How the startup was established
In 2020, the loss of the best friend during Artsakh 44-day war, made Kima Arakelyan, Diana Ghabuzyan and Levon Avetisyan come up with the idea that future of the country should be based on quality education. They created Zleenk educational platform to group 13-18 year old schoolchildren and build the new future of Armenia by means of improvement of education.
“The motivation is high when you wish to contribute to your country for everything it has given you 24 years, day after day (startup initiators are 24 years old). We believe that education builds the future” – Diana says.
Who are startup initiators?
Kima Arakelyan studied at school in Spitak, then French University of Armenia, continued her master’s degree in NEOMA business school in France where the idea of Zleenk was born and she returned to Armenia to realize it.
Laevon Avetisyan studied at “Quantum” College, then American University of Armenia and currently is a master’s student at Technical University of Munich. He is the co-founder of Zleenk.
Diana Ghabuzyan studies at “Ayb” school, then French University of Armenia, and currently at Technical University of Munich. She is the co-founder of Zleenk.
What is Zleenk and who is it for?
Zleenk is a no-fee mobile educational application for 13-18 year old Armenian-speaking teenagers and only registration on the platform is required. After registration, teenagers can use video lessons, watch videos about different professions and find out by means of assignments if they still want to choose the profession they were thinking about for a while.
The second direction of Zleenk is community building around the interests of teenagers. “We think that children in schools are not motivated by the environment and we are sure that grouping teenagers interested in education will enable us to motivate them as much as possible. We want to help schools and show that there is an alternative” – Diana says.
Why Zleenk?
The startup targets generation Z (born after 1995-1997), we took Z from English and the word ‘link’ that means ‘to connect to each other’.
When was Zleenk established?
Zleenk was registered in June 2021 and the founders started a series of meetings, carried out discussions and made the idea as bright as possible. Although it was difficult to realize but after getting the grant from RA Ministry of High-Tech Industry, they started the practical stage.
Functioning of the startup in numbers
1482 schoolchildren from Armenia have already connected/registered, especially from the provinces. 20 camps have been organized, 34 professional orientation lessons, 6 training courses have been shot and 6 are in the process, 6 competitions were held and 80 live lessons.
How does the acceleration program function at ASUE Change Lab, how will they evaluate the work with mentors?
Startup initiators are satisfied with the courses and highly motivated. “Each of us participated in several lessons and it was very well organized. We exchange with each other all the impressions we get from the interesting lessons as we cannot participate in all the lessons. We are specifically satisfied with our mentor Vadim Grigoryan and trainer Haykaz Aramyan. They not only teach but also transfer new knowledge and try to do the best possible for us”.
For more detailed information, please see the Armenian version.