Middle East Technology Excellence Award 2022 for Startup in Education was presented to Zendy
Dec 6, 2022 |
4 Mins ReadThe platform won the award for startup in the education category, joining the league of past winners such as Du, Amazon (MENA), the Entertainer, & BLOOVO to become one of the most innovative companies in the Middle East.
For tech startup Zendy, it is simply unfair that students, researchers, and professionals in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and other developing regions cannot access the same depth of research as those in developed countries. This is despite the rapid shift in the academic publishing spectrum.
Zendy is a product of Knowledge E, a private technology company providing access to digital libraries, training, consulting, and publishing services in the academic sector. Co-founded by entrepreneur Kamran Robert Kardan, it was built in response to the high cost of access to scholarly literature and the limitations of access to academic content in emerging and developing regions.
As such, Zendy, being a fast mover in the industry, offers an alternative to traditional access models. The startup works with publishers and researchers to bridge the gap in equality in emerging regions. It also offers a unique hybrid model for accessing content to meet the consumption needs of academic and non-academic professionals whilst offering publishers a share of the subscriptions’ revenue.
It offers users two options to access content: Zendy Plus and Zendy Open. The former is a subscription-based solution that provides individuals and organisations unlimited access to premium journals from major publishers, whilst the latter is a global open-access solution that features millions of OA resources from leading academic publishers.
Zendy Plus offers unlimited access to research for an average monthly cost of $15, whilst Zendy Open is free and available from anywhere around the world.
Zendy’s monthly user growth rate is 11%, with a sign-up projection of 35,000 by Q4 2022.
Zendy is also an avid supporter of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals relating to equality and inclusivity in education to promote lifelong learning opportunities for everyone.
“We’re delighted to be recognised amongst leaders in the technology sector in MENA. What started as a simple concept of creating an affordable and accessible digital library, has now developed into a meaningful platform that empowers individuals to leverage research. The best part is that we’re just getting started. Our recent launch in Nigeria and soon-to-be-released feature updates are all designed to continue our mission to support lifelong learning opportunities for everyone, everywhere,” said Zendy Co-founder Kamran Kardan.
It has won the Startup - Education category in the recently held Middle East Technology Excellence Awards for this innovation.
The prestigious awards programme honours outstanding companies in the region that have made exceptional contributions in the pursuit of technological innovation in their respective industries.
This article orginally appeared on Asian Business Review.
Zendy at Charleston Conference Asia 2026: Supporting Research Access in Emerging Communities
In January 2026, Zendy will be heading to Charleston Conference Asia, taking place in Bangkok, Thailand. This marks the first-ever Asia edition of the Charleston Conference, an event long known for bringing librarians, publishers, and information professionals together for practical, honest conversations about scholarly communication. The Asia edition builds on that same spirit, while focusing on the realities, challenges, and opportunities shaping research access across the region. A space for real conversations about access and equity Charleston Conference Asia brings together voices from across libraries, publishing, and research support to explore how knowledge is discovered, accessed, and shared, particularly in emerging and underrepresented research communities. For Zendy, this aligns closely with our mission: supporting more equitable access to trusted scholarly content, while giving institutions practical tools that reflect how research is actually done today. Zendy session spotlight We’re proud to have Sara Crowley Vigneau, our Partnership Relations Manager, speaking at the conference on January 28 at 11:45 AM. Her session, “Empowering Early-Career Researchers in Emerging Research Communities,” explores inclusive models for improving access to research, looking beyond theory to what works in practice for institutions, libraries, and early-career scholars. Sara will be joined by a strong panel of speakers bringing perspectives from publishing and academic libraries: Alexandra Campbell, Senior Editor, Springer Nature Christopher Chan, University Librarian, Hong Kong Baptist University Mayasari Abdul Majid, Library Director, LSL Education Group Sdn. Bhd. Together, the session will examine how libraries, publishers, and platforms can better support researchers working within diverse institutional and regional contexts. Why this matters for libraries and institutions Early-career researchers often face barriers that go beyond funding or publishing, from limited access to content, to fragmented discovery tools, to language and regional constraints. Events like Charleston Conference Asia create space to address these challenges openly and collaboratively. Zendy’s participation reflects our ongoing focus on: Expanding access to trusted academic content Supporting libraries with flexible, cost-aware models Providing AI-assisted research tools built with transparency and integrity in mind Let’s connect in Bangkok If you’re attending Charleston Conference Asia 2026, we’d love to connect. Whether you’re a librarian, publisher, or research leader, this is a great opportunity to exchange ideas and explore how access, discovery, and responsible AI can better support research communities across Asia and beyond. To schedule a meeting with our team, please email us at info@zendy.io For full event details, visit Charleston Conference Asia. .wp-block-image img { max-width: 65% !important; margin-left: auto !important; margin-right: auto !important; }
What’s New in ZAIA: Our Biggest Update Yet
We’ve rolled out one of the biggest updates to Zendy AI Assistant, ZAIA. These improvements focus on making research faster, more intuitive, and far more reliable. Here’s what’s new. Inline References You Can Trust You no longer have to scroll, copy, or cross-check to figure out where an insight came from.ZAIA now adds references directly inside its responses. If ZAIA summarises a study, explains a concept, or pulls a fact from a paper, the source appears right there in the answer, clear, traceable, and easy to verify. It feels more like reading a well-cited academic explanation than an AI output. Ask in Any Language, Get Answers in the Same Language Whether you’re researching in Arabic, Spanish, French, or Swahili, ZAIA now responds in the language you use, automatically. There’s no need to switch tools, tweak settings, or use separate translators. Just ask your question in your preferred language, and ZAIA replies in the same one.It’s a smoother experience for multilingual classrooms, international research teams, and anyone working beyond English. Search Smarter with the SOLR Agent Sometimes you know the exact paper you need, you just don’t have the title, DOI, or permalink memorised.Now you don’t have to. ZAIA’s new SOLR Agent can search using: DOI Paper title A Zendy permalink Just drop in any of these, and ZAIA fetches the correct paper instantly. It’s especially useful when you’re deep in a literature review and need to track down sources without losing your rhythm. How does it work? SOLR is the search engine behind ZAIA’s paper search.It helps ZAIA find the exact research paper you’re looking for using clear identifiers like a DOI, paper title, or Zendy link. Instead of guessing keywords or scanning long result lists, SOLR matches your input directly to the right paper, fast and accurately. ZAIA Can Now Help With Your Zendy Account You can now ask ZAIA about your subscription, billing questions, or common FAQs directly inside the platform. No switching tabs.No waiting for replies.No digging through help pages. ZAIA now serves as a support companion as well as a research assistant, especially helpful when you want quick answers in the middle of studying or writing. A Clearer, More Transparent UI One of the most noticeable upgrades is the updated interface.You’ll now see clearer “thinking” steps that show how ZAIA processes your request. It’s more transparent, easier to follow, and gives you a better sense of how ZAIA arrives at each answer, something many researchers have been asking for. Why These Updates Matter Every improvement in this update has one goal: to make research smoother and more trustworthy.Whether you're analysing papers, fact-checking a claim, working across languages, or sorting out your subscription, ZAIA is now better at supporting the full research journey. And we’re not done.This update is part of a larger shift toward a more personal and adaptive ZAIA, one that learns from how each researcher works. For now, we hope these updates make your experience on Zendy faster, clearer, and more enjoyable. If you’d like to see these features in action, just open ZAIA, Zendy AI Assistant, and try them out. .wp-block-image img { max-width: 85% !important; margin-left: auto !important; margin-right: auto !important; }
Zendy and Casalini Libri Partner to Expand Access to European Humanities and AI Research Tools
Oxford, UK – Dec, 2025 – Zendy, the AI-powered research library, and Casalini Libri, one of the leading providers of European scholarly content and library services, have signed a partnership agreement to expand access to high-quality academic research in the humanities and social sciences. This strategic collaboration will make Casalini Libri’s extensive collection of European scholarly publications, including academic journals, monographs, and specialist research outputs, available on Zendy’s platform. The content will be discoverable through ZAIA, Zendy’s AI research assistant, helping librarians, researchers, students, and academic institutions worldwide find and engage with relevant European scholarship more efficiently. With over 800,000 users across 191 countries and territories, Zendy continues to grow as a trusted destination for discovering academic knowledge. By integrating Casalini Libri’s content, Zendy strengthens its mission to improve access to regionally significant scholarship and ensure that important European research is more visible, searchable, and widely used. Casalini Libri is internationally recognised for its deep expertise in European humanities and social sciences, with a particular focus on Southern Europe and broader continental scholarship. Through this partnership, these resources will reach a wider global audience, helping address long-standing discoverability challenges faced by non-English academic content. The collaboration also reflects Zendy’s commitment to linguistic and regional diversity in research. In a scholarly ecosystem where English-language publications dominate, increasing access to European research traditions is essential for a more balanced and representative academic landscape. Zendy users will now be able to explore Casalini Libri’s content seamlessly on the platform, supporting teaching, research, and interdisciplinary work rooted in European intellectual traditions. Together, Zendy and Casalini Libri aim to increase the global reach and impact of European scholarship. For more information, please contact:Lisette van KesselHead of MarketingEmail: l.vankessel@knowledgee.com About Zendy Zendy is an AI-powered, mission-driven, trustworthy research library dedicated to increasing the accessibility and discoverability of scholarly literature, particularly in the global south and underserved regions. The platform currently serves over 800,000 users across 200+ countries and territories, offering a comprehensive collection of academic journals, books, and reports to empower researchers, educators, and students. Zendy also provides AI tools, including its research assistant ZAIA, to help users read, analyse, and summarise academic content more efficiently. Website: https://zendy.io About Casalini Libri Casalini Libri is a leading supplier of European scholarly publications and library services, specialising in humanities and social sciences research. For decades, Casalini Libri has worked closely with publishers, libraries, and research institutions to curate, distribute, and preserve high-quality academic content, supporting the global exchange of European scholarship. .wp-block-image img { max-width: 85% !important; margin-left: auto !important; margin-right: auto !important; }
Address
John Eccles HouseRobert Robinson Avenue,
Oxford Science Park, Oxford
OX4 4GP, United Kingdom