The Burmese Silicon Valley

"We wanted to build tools for teachers and students. We started in 2016 in Silicon Valley and then in 2017 moved to Myanmar. Before the coup, we had a team of 80 individuals working for us full time, and 50 apps with over 400,000 downloads.”

Hla Hla Win is the CEO of an innovative start-up app that was in the process of becoming Myanmar's first homegrown tech success story. Her app combined cutting edge developments in augmented reality with educationally sound methodologies, all of which could be accessed by children in developing countries where internet availability was limited. That Hla Hla chose to move her company's operations from Silicon Valley to rural Myanmar was a sign of just how much they were willing to invest in the promise of the democratic transition that had been well underway.

Like so many Burmese, this hope came crashing down on February 1st. Hla Hla tried her best to keep basic operations going, but this soon proved impossible as the situation worsened, and they had no choice but to pack up and establish their mission elsewhere.
As terrible as the daily news continues to be, with the military continuing its terror campaign of rape, abductions, forced labor, arrests, and killings; there are underlying stories like these which do not make the news with the same regularity, yet which are no less devastating or concerning. Hla Hla's company sought to provide educational opportunities across regions of her country that had long been neglected, and which could train the young generations in a new Myanmar.

At the moment, this is all lost.