Legalized, Bangladesh’s first legal education app, founded by Barrister Tasnuva Shelley, introduces digital learning for legal professionals. It provides courses, BAR Council and High Court exam materials, and aims to enhance legal skills and awareness. Concurrently, Indian investor Ranjan Pai has made a significant investment in Aakash Educational Services, reshaping the edtech landscape.
In the dynamic landscape of South Asia, the rise of educational technology or “EdTech” is marking a transformative era in various sectors, including legal education.
This trend is exemplified by Bangladesh’s pioneering legal education app, Legalized, founded by Barrister Tasnuva Shelley. Legalized represents a significant leap in digitizing legal education, reflecting a broader regional shift towards integrating technology in traditional learning domains.
The platform’s inception aligns with a growing trend in South Asia, where technological advancements are increasingly leveraged to enhance educational access and quality.
In a region characterized by rapid digital adoption and a burgeoning youth population, initiatives like Legalized are at the forefront of revolutionizing professional training and development.
This digital revolution is not confined to legal education; it extends across various educational fields, as evidenced by the strategic investments of Indian billionaire Ranjan Pai in the EdTech giant Byju’s and its subsidiaries.
To reshape the legal landscape, Legalized utilizes technology to assist budding legal professionals and local businesses. It offers over 25 specialized courses, compliance training, and study materials for BAR Council and High Court exams, mirroring the EdTech surge in South Asia.
With her rich experience at companies like Google, Grameenphone Ltd, and Novo Nordisk and her MBA and LLM educational background, Shelley aspires to foster a generation of tech-savvy legal professionals and corporations. She aims to improve legal services quality and ensure equitable justice access in Bangladesh.
Legalized distinguishes itself with diverse educational resources like audio lectures, notes, MCQ tests, flashcards, and personalized tutoring. It offers compliance training for businesses, promoting ethical practices. Through global educational partnerships, the platform keeps legal professionals updated with courses on emerging legal topics, technology, economics, blockchain, and privacy laws.
The platform, supporting both English and Bengali, offers personalized study plans, real-time legal updates, and recognized certifications. Since its launch in October, it has rapidly gained users, crossing over 500. Legalized has received accolades, including being a finalist at Tech Law Fest 2023 in Singapore and winning at the LawTech Hub’s Legal Tech Pitch Night in Melbourne.
Shelley envisions a future where legal technology reduces costs and increases justice accessibility. Her vision for 2041 includes a leadership role in legal tech, upholding the rule of law, and advancing the legal profession in Bangladesh.
On another front, Indian billionaire Ranjan Pai’s investment activities reshape the EdTech landscape. Through his family office, Pai invested $170 million in Aakash Educational Services, an offline test-prep subsidiary of Byju’s. This investment enabled Byju’s to repay a loan from Davidson Kempner, transferring pledged shares to Pai’s office.
Pai is also negotiating to acquire an additional stake in Aakash, aiming to resolve a legal dispute with Davidson Kempner over Byju’s default on a structured credit deal. Pai’s involvement is steering Aakash towards independent growth, distinct from Byju’s, which acquired Aakash for $950 million in 2021. The Chaudhry family and Blackstone hold significant stakes in Aakash.
Once eyeing an IPO in 2024, Aakash may now be sold amidst Byju’s challenges, including layoffs and losses. Pai’s investment aligns with his mission to support struggling startups, emphasizing his role as a backer of existing ventures. This approach is significant, given Byju’s reduced valuation from $22 billion to $5.1 billion.
Pai’s investment history with Byju’s dates back to 2012 through Aarin Capital. His strategic investments have allowed him to influence Byju’s via Aakash without direct engagement with the parent company. Despite challenges in the Indian startup ecosystem, Pai remains committed to backing distressed startups, with significant investments in PharmEasy, Bluestone, and Purple.
The digital transformation in legal education led by Legalized and the strategic investment moves by Ranjan Pai in the EdTech sector illustrate significant shifts in how education and technology are merging. Both represent a new era of digital empowerment and strategic investment in education technology.
