End of an Era, Zenius Edtech Platform Reportedly Acquires Primagama Tutoring Institute

Startups EdTech Zenius is reported to have acquired the tutoring service provider Primagama. According to reliable sources, this acquisition involves all branches of the course institution. According to data on the Primagama website, the company currently operates more than 250 branches in various provinces in Indonesia, serving 4 million students with 3 thousand employees. Branch expansion is carried out with the concept of franchising.

We tried to contact Zenius, but haven't received official confirmation.

Founded by Sabda PS and Medy Suharta, Zenius is known as one of the pioneer of tutoring services online in Indonesia. They debuted with bimbel offline, then packaging the material on DVD discs, then fully online service online. Even so, Primagama was founded in 1982. The collaboration between the two allows for the integration of learning models online to offline or mixed learning take advantage of existing infrastructure and capabilities.

Previously, around the early 2010s, Primagama actually had time to develop services online nicknamed "PrimagamaPlus". It's just that because the market is not yet ready, this service seems to get less attention. At that time the tutoring was direct (off line) still the prima donna. Even now they also have applications to support learning, but the traction they get is less than optimal.

Zenius' corporate action was carried out amidst the severe shock felt by tutoring businesses due to the pandemic. Home study rules mean that tutoring classes are devoid of interest, especially now that the service has been made easier EdTech which moves digitally.

On the other hand, Zenius' entry into Primagama has the potential to provide a more interesting learning experience. Especially when learning activities return to normal later.

Menurut KPAI survey in 202178% of students really want learning to return to the classroom. Virtual spaces are felt to be less effective. 57% of students found it difficult to follow the lesson material and practicum.

Zenius growth rate

Currently Zenius has several products, the best-selling one is tutoring online they. Throughout the 2019/2020 academic year, the Zenius tutoring application was accessed by more than 20 million users. It contains around 100 thousand learning videos and practice questions which can be accessed for free. Not only that, Zenius also provides Live Class services for direct guidance with selected teachers; there is also a UTBK simulation, and several other learning products.

Apart from formal learning materials, there is also Zenius Land for learning applications for toddlers. Meanwhile, ZenPro is aimed at professional learning with more general material. Not only focusing on students, Zenius also developed ZenRu as a teacher teaching management platform.

Early 2021, Zenius received Pre-Series B round of funding which is supported by a number of investors, including Alpha JWC Ventures, Openspace Ventures, Northstar, Kinesys, and BeeNext. One year earlier they booked an investment of $20 million in the Series A round. It is estimated that currently Zenius already has a valuation of over $100 million.

Market competition and value proposition

The edtech sector in Indonesia is growing quite rapidly. The two players who currently dominate are Ruangguru and Zenius – statistics on site visits and app downloads Ruangguru superior. Apart from that, the sub-product variants that both of them have are almost the same.

One thing that Zenius always echoes is on the material side. Instead of inviting students to just memorize, the material at Zenius emphasizes understanding fundamental concepts and critical thinking through various case studies.

Outside of Zenius and Ruangguru, a number of edtechs also continue to maneuver. The latest CoLearn has just posted Series A funding worth 244 billion Rupiah. The app focuses on math and science learning, helping students complete homework assignments independently. Apart from that, there are still Pahamify, Squline, and others.

The presence of Primagama in Zenius' business lines has the potential to strengthen the value proposition if it is truly successful in encapsulating the learning experience hybrid – this could also be the first in Indonesia.