Tuoi Tre Newspaper interviews Founder of Selfomy: “The startup journey of bringing back the AI platform to support teaching”
Last August, within the framework of Tuoi Tre Startup Award 2025, Selfomy representative, Mr. Bui Le Chi Bao, had an exclusive sharing session with Tuoi Tre newspaper about his inspirational startup journey to bring back the AI-based learning platform. The sharing session clarified the challenges and opportunities in the digital transformation era of the education sector, especially in the field of test preparation for international certificates such as IELTS, TOEIC or SAT.
Startup Journey to Breakthrough AI LMS Platform
According to Bui Le Chi Bao, his entrepreneurial journey began in 2012 when he was only 13 years old, with the desire to create a website to ask and answer homework questions for students. “At that time, my friends and I simply wanted to create a website to ask and answer homework questions for students,” Bao shared. The project has achieved certain successes and brought home many prestigious awards and certificates.
After that, Bao spent time studying Computer Science in the UK and working for major US technology companies. These experiences helped him gain a deeper insight into the education market and recognize the problems that still exist. “I see that foreign language centers, especially test preparation centers, often face many challenges,” Bao said. “Teachers are overloaded with manual grading, and students lack a professional test preparation environment.”
ChatGPT is not a competitor, but an opportunity
When asked about the appearance of ChatGPT and its impact on Selfomy, Mr. Bui Le Chi Bao had a surprising comment. “The appearance of ChatGPT is truly a big turning point. I see many centers using ChatGPT to grade papers, but this method lacks system and cannot be customized,” he shared.
Mr. Bao believes that this is not a threat but a great opportunity for Selfomy to become a specialized solution, thoroughly solving the core problems of the education industry. From there, he decided to “revive” Selfomy with a new vision: focusing on applying AI to create an all-in-one platform for foreign language centers.
Selfomy One – Breakthrough solution with AI and private test website
Having gone through a challenging startup journey, now the new version called Selfomy One is the clearest proof of this vision. According to the Founder, the biggest breakthrough lies in the AI technology that marks Writing and Speaking tests.
“Our AI system is trained on thousands of real tests and IELTS assessment criteria, ensuring up to 85% accuracy compared to human examiners,”
Mr. Bui Le Chi Bao shared.
This technology not only helps reduce the grading workload for teachers but also provides instant and detailed feedback to students, helping them improve their work continuously. In addition, Selfomy One also provides a mock test environment that simulates the real IELTS exam on the computer, helping students get familiar with the test format and reduce confusion when entering the official exam.
Impressive numbers and future direction
After only a short time of returning, Selfomy has received a positive reception from the market. Currently, this platform has cooperated and become a partner of about 30 foreign language centers nationwide. The official website also recorded encouraging numbers with 65,000 monthly users and more than 1.5 million visits.
Regarding future directions, Mr. Bui Le Chi Bao revealed a bold plan. “In the near future, we will have a plan to expand the market to the Southeast Asia region,” he shared. “We believe that Selfomy’s education technology solutions can solve common problems that many countries in the region are facing.”
Reference source: https://tuoitre.vn/khoi-nghiep-voi-nen-tang-ai-ho-tro-day-hoc-hanh-trinh-cua-chang-trai-23-tuoi-dua-selfomy-tro-lai-20250823101919568.htm?
