Ruangguru Implement Business Efficiency, Focus on Deepening the "Hybrid Learning" Model

Ruangguru has done layoffs to hundreds of employees. Without mentioning exact numbers, the company confirmed this news at the end of last week. Of course, this adds to the long list of local technology startups that make layoffs under the pretext of business efficiency (towards profitability).

As a platform EdTech with complete service, Ruangguru became a startup that was quite highlighted during the pandemic. Their services are considered effective for online learning, they have proven successful recorded 22 million users in 2020.

The company also said that 2021 achieved the highest Net Promoter Score (NPS) across all product categories and doubled revenue growth, marking its first year in profitability. Subsidiary Ruangguru, namely Skill Academy is also the best-selling platform facilitating competency improvement programs from the government in Pre-Employment Cards.

From the growth trend, finally Ruangguru carry out large-scale recruitment, with the hope of still being able to maintain and increase growth. However, post-pandemic dynamic social and economic conditions have had an adverse impact on the "health" of the company.

Two co-founders Ruangguru (Belva and Faith) deep official statement say:

"At the start of the pandemic, service Ruangguru experienced a huge increase in demand which resulted in too many hiring too fast in the last two years. In addition, the global economic situation has recently deteriorated drastically and is at its lowest point in the last decades, as seen from the high inflation rate and increase in interest rates which have significantly worsened the world investment climate. This has far-reaching implications for the global technology startup community, including us at Ruangguru."

"Friends who are affected receive severance pay, long service awards and compensation rights according to law, insurance extensions and the last month's salary paid in full. We also allocated a team of recruiters. Ruangguru specifically to provide job search support, psychological counseling, and access to career development classes when needed."

Recently obtained funding of 800 billion Rupiah

Following the positive growth obtained one year earlier, in mid-2021 Ruangguru pocketed $55 million (over 800 billion Rupiah) funding led by Tiger Global Management. This round is a continuation of the C series announced in 2019, led by General Atlantic and GGV Capital.

In terms of valuation, according to the data source we got, currently the range is close to status "unicorns". Make Ruangguru the nation's most valuable education startup.

Addressed further in a funding release we received, with increased learning adoption online accelerated by the global Covid-19 pandemic, Ruangguru has driven significant user volume growth throughout 2020.

Move agile Ruangguru also maximized by expansion. They entered Thailand using the StartDee brand in 2020, after being present in Vietnam with brand KienGuru in the previous year.

Customize service

Also conveyed, the next steps will be taken Ruangguru is to intensify product innovation according to post-pandemic consumer needs. One of them is by focusing on presenting hybrid learning utilizing application services and offline learning spaces in Ruangguru Learning Centers. Currently, this place of learning already has 100+ branches in various cities.

A similar strategy was also applied by rivals Ruangguru, namely Zenius. After having done layoffs which is quite still in May 2022, the company said it was committed to presenting learning that is more in line with current societal trends. One of them is by optimizing Primalgam network scattered in various layers of the city.

edtech it was quite accelerated due to the pandemic. However, the rapid adaptation by the community is sometimes still "premature". The transformation that should be carried out gradually, was forced to be adopted in full. As a result, there is a learning experience that is felt to be lacking, as a result gap which cannot be bridged --- for example related to study habits to technical matters.

At this point it doesn't matter EdTech considered no longer relevant, but must find new ways to present a more enjoyable learning experience. Exactly what Belva and Iman believe:

"We remain very optimistic about the prospects and unique position held by Ruangguru in the education technology sector in Indonesia [...] We are confident that by continuing to work effectively and efficiently, we will emerge from this global economic challenge stronger and more resilient than before."