Sindy

Sindy Labs operates in the educational technology sector, providing enterprise software to learning institutions. The company has developed an AI-driven conversational assessment tool designed to address challenges in online education, such as low student engagement and academic integrity issues related to generative AI. The platform engages students in customized "check-ins" about their coursework, and the data from these interactions allows educators to monitor student progress and provide personalized feedback at a larger scale. This functionality also helps in identifying students who may be unfamiliar with their submitted work, thereby addressing concerns like contract cheating and over-reliance on AI for assignments.

The Melbourne-based company was founded in 2023 as Sincidium, later rebranding to Sindy Labs. Its founders, Benjamin Arya, Taha Ansari, and Oliver Cucanic, were former University of Melbourne medical students. Arya, the CEO, and Cucanic first met at a university startup competition in 2021 and later collaborated to form the company, winning the same competition they had previously been rivals in. Their shared background in science and medicine, combined with studies in computer science and machine learning, informed their approach to building the company. The founders were motivated by conversations with educators who were concerned about student disengagement in online courses, where interaction rates can be as low as 24%.

Sindy Labs targets universities and other learning institutions as its primary clients. Looking forward, the company plans to expand its services to large employers of graduate students, such as tech and financial firms, to help them streamline their hiring processes by providing better transparency into the talent pipeline from top universities. The company has secured paid trials in the US, New Zealand, and Australia. In 2024, Sindy Labs was accepted into the University of California, Berkeley's SkyDeck accelerator program, which included a US$200,000 (A$305k) investment. This followed initial difficulties in securing capital in Australia's venture funding environment. After the acceptance into SkyDeck, the team established a base in San Francisco.

Keywords: conversational assessment, AI in education, academic integrity, student engagement, personalized feedback, edtech, enterprise software, learning analytics, higher education technology, online learning, student progress tracking, AI teaching assistant, educational assessment, workforce readiness, graduate recruitment, university technology, Berkeley SkyDeck, Sindy Labs, Benjamin Arya, Taha Ansari