Synkers: Tutors at your fingertips

BEIRUT: When French-educated Lebanese Audrey Nakad and her sister Sibylle joined Concordia University in Canada after graduating from the College Notre Dame de Jamhour in Lebanon in 2009, they struggled to find a private English tutor to help them master the language. 

When they did find one, "the sessions were either too expensive or didn't fit with our schedules, which was annoying; we later found out that some of our friends were having the same problem," Audrey says.

This is when the idea behind Synkers was born.

A homegrown mobile application, Synkers links qualified private tutors to high-school and university students. "The application not only connects tutors and students but also creates a student-based community that encourages the exchange of knowledge among youth and enhances their academic performance," Audrey says.

The application, which was officially launched in September 2016, allows students to book a private session with the tutor of their choice and to rate his performance as soon as the session ends.

The app is now available for use at both the American University of Beirut and the Lebanese American University. "Synkers provides a very simple yet personalized experience. You open the app, search for the course you need help in, by code or name, select the tutor based on date, time, location and rating, and proceed to book a session with a simple click," Audrey says.

Once a session is booked, a chat window will automatically pop up, allowing the user and tutor to discuss further details.

Audrey says the session can be paid for in cash or online through the app.

From a tutor's perspective, it is also quite simple to join though the applicant goes through a thorough vetting process, says Audrey.

The applicant must fill the online application form found on the app and submit personal information such as their educational background, transcripts and CV and soon after will be called in for an interview.

"The most important thing for us is to ensure the applicant is a qualified tutor with previous experience in teaching and good communication skills," Audrey explains.

If the applicant is accepted, he is granted permission to list courses on the app, set his fees and available hours. Synkers charges the tutor a 15 percent commission on revenues generated trough the app.

A tutor must at least be 22 years old and hold a bachelor's degree while students can be as young as 16.

Synkers was accepted into the BlackBox program, which is a Silicon Valley-based accelerator focused on helping purpose-driven entrepreneurs and founders of global startups to learn, collaborate and grow. "It was an amazing experience that put us in touch with corporate giants such as Google and Uber, which later helped us apply everything we learned to Synkers that allowed us to grow our idea from vision to reality," Audrey says.

Synkers has to date almost 3,000 users and 300 tutors that have been already vetted. Audrey says she hopes Synkers will later expand beyond Lebanon to become a regional and global platform.

"We want to grow a platform for knowledge exchange between students, teachers and school alumni to help people through educational difficulties," she says.

Synkers can be found on both iOS and Android App Stores.

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As a result of the BDLA16 conference, and the intense interest exhibited in local startups, Annahar has launched "Startup City," a branded column featuring series of the hundreds of early stage businesses in Beirut, and what they represent as to the talent and optimistic business plans of local young tech workers. Send your nominations to: [email protected]