http://jkt.web.id/ – CoLearn as an education technology (edutech) startup has just received series A funding of US $ 10 million or (around Rp. 143 billion) from Alpha Wave Incubation (AWI) and edutech investor from the United States GSV Ventures. Previous investors from this startup such as Surge Sequoia Capital India and AC Ventures are also participating in this series again.
Even though Indonesia has significant potential in the field of education, the world of edutech in Indonesia was previously limited in innovation and was not very attractive to investors. Therefore, this latest funding round is claimed to make CoLearn one of the most funded edutech startups in Indonesia. CoLearn also noted that the funding time this time is only less than six months since the last funding.
Several other investors who helped fund CoLearn include Leo Capital, TNB Aura, S7V, January Capital, Alpha JWC, Taurus Ventures, Alter Global, and Mahanusa Capital.
CoLearn itself launched its application in August 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak. Quickly, CoLearn reaches 3.5 million students and students ask more than 5 million questions per month. All their questions were answered by Tanya, which is an artificial intelligence (AI) technology made by CoLearn.
In one survey, 80% of students saw an increase in grades after using CoLearn. Not only does it help Indonesian students do their homework quickly, CoLearn ensures students get the best quality assistance. The solution videos provided are made by the best tutors in Indonesia and contain detailed steps and in-depth discussions.
This is considered to be effective in helping students get rid of their anxiety and fear of difficult subjects such as mathematics. Students are also encouraged to deepen their understanding by attending live online classes delivered interactively by Champion Teachers.
Live classes are designed as a positive learning environment for students. The learning environment is also packaged to foster students’ confidence in facing difficult subjects. In class, students are invited to understand complex concepts in an attractive and easy-to-understand way.
“Despite having the fourth largest education ecosystem in the world with 50 million students, three million teachers and about half a million schools, for decades the quality of education in Indonesia has remained far below its true potential.
The passion to motivate students and ensure they can succeed in an increasingly globalized world is what drives us at CoLearn, ”explained Abhay Saboo, Co-Founder and CEO of CoLearn.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, students in Indonesia relied heavily on tutoring or tutoring (tutoring) places to get additional lessons. This happens because there are not too many online tutoring options available in Indonesia. However, with the increase in internet and smartphone access, plus the closure of schools due to the pandemic, educational technology-based solutions are quickly being accepted by the public.
“Many Indonesians are not aware that education is a means to improve the country’s economic strength. Parents have not connected the two points. But now, it’s slowly changing. Our mission is to accelerate that change by improving the quality of education, ”Abhay added.
For investors like AWI and GSV Ventures, CoLearn marks the beginning of an investment and a long-term bet in the world’s fourth most populous country. AWI is a US $ 300 million venture capital firm, supported by DisruptAD and managed by Falcon Edge Capital, a US $ 5 billion global finance company.
While GSV Ventures is a venture capital company based in the United States that injects funds in the field of educational technology. GSV invests in leaders who are transforming the global education market. CoLearn is the first GSV investment in Indonesia.
“GSV is very pleased to support the strong initiative of the CoLearn founders who are working to bring high quality teaching to Indonesian students on a large scale,” said Deborah Quazzo, Managing Partner of GSV Ventures.
According to him, the opportunities to build successful learning solutions for the world’s fourth largest country are enormous. The best businesses are created when entrepreneurs take a big and important problem and solve it. CoLearn is considered to be doing just that.
CoLearn plans to use this funding to develop products, technology and invest in marketing. Fulfilling its mission of improving the quality of education, CoLearn will continue to focus on teacher training programs. In the next two years, CoLearn hopes to train 200 teachers to complement student learning in schools, especially in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
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