Zendy Co-founder Kamran Kardan interview with Asian Business Review
Dec 9, 2022 |
5 Mins ReadThe Middle East startup landscape is buzzing with breakthrough innovation and creativity. Zendy is proud to play a role in the ecosystem of MENA-based startups and we're thrilled to accept the award for Best Startup - Education at the Middle East Technology Excellence Awards.
Zendy Co-founder Kamran Kardan recently sat down with Asian Business Review to accept the award and discuss Zendy's mission, vision, and values.
Kamran commenced the interview by giving a big shoutout to the Zendy team for their tireless commitment to Zendy's mission of providing affordable and accessible academic content to knowledge enthusiasts globally.
Zendy: knowledge without barriers
In 2019, Zendy embarked on an ambitious journey to offer an alternative model of access to scholarly literature. The traditional pay-per-article model was and still is increasingly unattainable for individuals and researchers, especially in emerging regions where access is already limited.
Looking at the success of the subscription market, namely products like Netflix and Spotify, Zendy founders thought why not offer the same experience for users to discover academic literature? Thus, Zendy was born. Zendy is an affordable academic library that offers unlimited access to journals, articles, e-books, proceedings, and more for the monthly price of a single research paper.
With Zendy, students, researchers, and professionals can read, cite, and download leading research. The added benefit of Zendy is saving money, traditional models of access force individuals to pay between $15 - $40 per research paper.
What does the future of academic access look like?
When asked about the future of Zendy and what's next, Kamran Kardan spoke of Zendy mission which is to continue to reduce inequalities of access to knowledge. As a firm supporter of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Zendy (a product of Knowledge E), is working hard to reach new emerging regions.
To strengthen its mission of creating a global knowledge economy without barriers, in October 2021, Zendy launched its free Open Access platform. Zendy Open features over 43 million free Open Access publications on one easy-to-use platform.
With the support of leading publishers, Zendy's growth is a collaborative effort, and the next 12 months will be defining for the company. In September 2022, Zendy launched in Nigeria and has since acquired over 7,000 from the booming African region.
"We're grateful to be recognised as a leading EduTech Startup in MENA and we're inspired by the many other innovators in the industry who are using technology to make a positive impact in communities globally. The team is currently working on significant updates to the Zendy experience and we're so excited to launch new features in Q1 2023. Day by day we inch closer to our mission of creating a world where everyone, everywhere can access knowledge without barriers," said Zendy Co-founder Kamran Kardan.
Click here to watch the full interview: https://bit.ly/3PcgxPB
Announcing our RAG-Based Revenue-Sharing Model for Academic Publishers
We are excited to announce a first-of-its-kind revenue-sharing model for AI-generated content, ensuring that publishers are fairly compensated when their paywalled research is cited by AI. Zendy Co-founder Kamran Kardan Our domain-specific large language model (LLM), ZAIA, uses Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) to retrieve data from a diverse collection of open access (OA) and paywalled metadata through licensing agreements with publishers. Based on reference generation by the LLM, our new revenue-sharing model enables a fair and sustainable approach to compensating academic publishers for the use of their content by AI. Empowering Publishers with AI Innovation For years, major academic publishers have been cautious about AI companies using their research, citing copyright concerns, revenue impact, and the need for proper attribution. Our new model introduces a transparent, ethical approach for publishers to monetise their content in the AI era. Many large language models are restricted to training on publicly available research, as major publishers have not yet actively licensed their work to AI companies. Our revenue-sharing model is one of the first of its kind, ensuring clear consent, proper attribution, and fair compensation based on content retrieval. The transparent revenue-sharing mechanism ensures fair compensation for publishers based on the number of references provided in ZAIA’s responses. Our co-founder, Kamran Kardan, said: "This is a positive shift for the academic publishing industry. For the first time, AI is being used to drive revenue back to publishers instead of bypassing them. Ethical AI also means giving credit—and compensation—where it’s due. In the long term, we believe even authors should share in this revenue." We are partnering with a range of international publishers on this model, including IT Governance, Lexxion, British Online Archives, and Lived Places Publishing. Additionally, the RAG model is available for open access publishers, and we are currently exploring alternative compensation models for open access. A Leap Forward for Researchers and Institutions ZAIA provides users with precise, contextually relevant content tailored to their research needs. It offers answers to researchers' questions with reference-backed responses, ensuring that researchers and institutions can access high-quality, peer-reviewed materials while supporting the publishers who produce them. Promoting Sustainable and Ethical AI Content Partnerships To deliver accurate, unbiased, and comprehensive insights, large language models (LLMs) require diverse academic content. Our RAG-based model encourages broader collaboration between publishers and AI companies, fostering ethical agreements rooted in mutual licensing. Direct licensing with publishers allows us to guarantee high-quality, accurate, and up-to-date content, including retractions and data updates, thereby placing research integrity at the heart of our platform and our development of sustainable AI. We invite publishers, researchers, and institutions to collaborate in shaping the future of AI-driven research. To learn more about partnership opportunities, visit www.zendy.io or contact us at partnerships@zendy.io. About Zendy We are an AI-powered research library with over 780,000 users across 190+ countries. Designed to streamline the research process, we provide access to millions of journals, articles, and e-books, while offering a range of AI-driven tools, including ZAIA, an AI assistant that helps researchers expedite their research journey. We collaborate with leading academic publishers to make scholarly content more accessible and affordable, ensuring that users can explore high-quality research with ease. Zendy was created to facilitate access to academic literature. By addressing the key challenges that researchers face with traditional ways of finding relevant, high-quality academic content, we strive to provide peace of mind to students, researchers, professionals, and knowledge enthusiasts. We are developed by Knowledge E in a growing collaboration with researchers, students, institutions, and publishers. Our mission is to democratise access to content by making it more affordable and accessible. There are no limitations on reading, just simple access to scholarly resources. For more information visit zendy.io. .wp-block-image img { max-width: 85% !important; margin-left: auto !important; margin-right: auto !important; }
We Are Attending the London Book Fair 2025
We’re pleased to announce our participation in the renowned London Book Fair (LBF) from March 11 to March 13, 2025, at Olympia London. This event marks a significant opportunity for Zendy to connect with industry professionals, showcase its innovative offerings, and contribute to the global publishing sector. About the London Book Fair The London Book Fair is a pivotal event in the publishing industry, attracting over 30,000 attendees from around the world. It provides a dynamic platform for networking, brand awareness, and staying abreast of the latest trends and insights. The fair features over 100 seminars across multiple stages, focusing on topics such as sustainability in publishing, literary translation, diversity and inclusion, emerging trends, responsible AI in research, and pathways to publication. The International Trade Centre (IRC) offers a dedicated space for rights professionals to connect and conduct business during this critical period. Meeting Opportunities If you are attending the London Book Fair and would like to schedule a meeting. Please contact us at hello@zendy.io. Visit the London Book Fair website for more details: https://www.londonbookfair.co.uk/en-gb/about.html .wp-block-image img { max-width: 85% !important; margin-left: auto !important; margin-right: auto !important; }
International Day of Education, AI and education: Preserving human agency in a world of automation
Every year on January 24, people around the world come together to celebrate the International Day of Education. It’s a time to reflect on how AI in education shapes our lives, opens up opportunities, and helps build more knowledge and discoveries. For 2025, the theme is both timely and thought-provoking: "AI and Education: Preserving Human Agency in a World of Automation." The 2025 theme highlights the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) in education. It’s about exploring how learning can help us navigate new technology while making sure we stay in charge of the decisions and ideas that shape our future. With automation becoming more common, the conversation focuses on how we can balance these advances with our values and individuality while using AI responsibly. What’s Happening This Year? UNESCO will host a gathering at the United Nations headquarters to explore the relationship between AI and education, focusing on how education can adapt to these changes and exploring its opportunities and challenges Global Event in Paris: On January 24, 2025, UNESCO will host a global event in Paris focusing on the intersection of AI and education. Global Event in New York: A parallel event will take place at the United Nations headquarters in New York, addressing similar themes. Webinar on Lifelong Learning in the Age of AI: Organised by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, this online webinar on January 24, 2025, will explore the implications of AI for lifelong learning. Why This Day Matters The International Day of Education is a reminder of how essential learning is to solving big challenges, such as poverty, climate change, inequality, conflict, public health, and access to resources. It’s a moment to share progress, build connections, and spark new ideas for making education better and more inclusive. By focusing on AI this year, the goal is to encourage thoughtful discussions about how technology can work for us without losing sight of what makes us human. Read More .wp-block-image img { max-width: 85% !important; margin-left: auto !important; margin-right: auto !important; }