SquLine . Foreign Language Course Service Achievements and Targets

Long time no hear, foreign language course service online SquLine plans to move more in 2017 after receiving funding in April 2016. The plan is that in the second quarter of 2017 SquLine will launch a mobile application, hoping to add one foreign language each year, and cooperate with foreign language institutions in Indonesia. Today SquLine inaugurated their partnership with Aki no Sora to present a Japanese language course.

Located at D.Lab SMDV, Jakarta, today (20/12) SquLine announced their collaboration with the Aki no Sora Institute of Japanese Culture and Language. Through this collaboration, SquLine complements their previous foreign language course services which previously accommodated Mandarin and English.

SquLine CEO Tomy Yunus said, “The great interest and enthusiasm of our students in Indonesia has encouraged us to continue to expand […] by launching an online Japanese language course program in addition to the online courses […] that have been running so far. […] We are collaborating with Aki no Sora who has professional Japanese teachers so that they will be able to provide quality […] study services to SquLine users.”

Changes that occurred and some achievements of SquLine since its inception

SquLine is a startup engaged in the technology sector founded in 2013 by Tomy Yunus Tjen and Yohan Limerta with course services that at that time only focused on Mandarin. Like most other startups, at the beginning of its operation, SquLine also often encountered many obstacles. Tommy said that in their first three months of operation, SquLine was only able to reach thirty users.

This situation prompted Tomy to do a little research through Google Search and found that Chinese, the market they were targeting, did not have a large market share. According to Tomy, 90 percent of searches for foreign language courses are for English and the remaining 10 percent is divided into Japanese, Korean, and Mandarin which have the largest portion.

It was from this research result that SquLine decided to launch an English course in early 2015 which eventually became their turning point. The climax, in April 2016 SquLine succeeded securing Pre-Series A . funding.

“This is a turning point for SquLine, because from 2014-2015 we experienced growth more than 150 percent [of side revenue and users]. In 2015 we also entered the GEPI Incubator and met a very good mentor support SquLine so that we are guided to run the startup properly. Finally [SquLine] got funding in early 2016,” said Tomy.

Condition Indonesia's internet is getting better also became one of the driving forces of SquLine to be more mature in this 2016. Tomy also claims that now SquLine has managed to reach tens of thousands of registered users with more than 1000 of them being paid users from countries such as Indonesia, the United States, the Philippines, China, Japan, and South Korea.

SquLine has also succeeded in establishing exclusive partnerships with six foreign language educational institutions with Aki no Sora as the most recently partnered institution.

SquLine plans and targets in 2017

In the midst of an increasingly heated technology startup, the education sector is actually one of the quietest sectors at the moment. Not much movement has occurred when compared to other sectors such as e-commerce, on-demand services, fintech, or properties that are rumored to be rising again in 2017.

However, according to Tomy, this is a natural thing and if you look at China, Japan, and South Korea. Tomy is also optimistic that in the next 5-7 years the education sector will begin to show its strength. In order not to be left behind, Tomy also promised to keep fighting on this path of education.

As a first step, Tomy revealed that in 2017 SquLine is targeting to launch an application mobile devices based on Android. This is to make it easier for users and teachers to connect with each other when they have to meet face to face online who are currently still riding through platforms such as Skype, Google Hangouts, to LINE. Another target to be achieved is to be able to add one new foreign language course to SquLine every year.

However, what is interesting is the long-term target of SquLine. Tomy revealed that starting from 2017 he wanted to open up the possibility that SquLine could enter schools, big companies.

“In 2017 we have several strategies in the team to enter schools or big companies. That will be the focus. […] Goalfor schools so that they can be substitutes for foreign teachers who are imported from abroad. At the beginning, maybe the entry was extracurricular. So, [in 2017] we will try to approach educational institutions in Indonesia,” said Tomy.