Edtech Startup "Tentorin" Makes It Easy For High School Students To Learn Together Online

Education is phenomena or fundamentals in human life, because where there is human life, after all there is education. In other words, education is a human right. Just like the right to life, the right to an opinion, the right to organize.

Since the pandemic, digital adoption of service EdTech getting tighter. The learning process no longer has to be face-to-face, but the medium has switched to online. In the midst of pluses and minuses, the spirit of the players EdTech to continue to democratize education will not fade. "Tentorin" is here to offer a solution note-sharing platform for high school students, especially those in preparation for university entrance exams.

This startup was initiated by Rafsi Albar (CEO) and Syahriza Ilmi (CTO) who have a deep interest in the world of education. The two met two years ago at Akademik, a startup EdTech focusing on university entrance preparation, while working as a consumer research. At that time, Rafsi focused on the financial division, while Syahriza was on digital products.

Both Rafsi and Syahriza have various experiences that support each other. Rafsi has worked as an Investment Analyst at Kejora Capital, Boston Consulting Group, and Kinobi. Meanwhile, Syahriza has experience as a Digital Finance & Business Analyst at Mitsubishi Fuso, Kalibrr, and ASA Digital. In addition to the two of them, Tentorin now has five other core employees who have diverse experiences, including building organizations and startups.

"After we felt we had a sufficient basis, we formed a team again at the end of 2021 to be more committed to building startups in the field of education," said Rafsi to DailySocial.id.

Before offering a solution note-sharing platform, actually Tentorin have a different initial idea, but still in the realm of education. But the belief is getting unanimous for pivot, after several months of market research and product testing. He and his team found a bigger problem, namely the difficulties faced by students in obtaining learning materials that were suitable for them.

“For example, many students feel that the teacher's explanation alone is sometimes insufficient to understand the whole material. After researching further, it turns out behavior Indonesian students like to share and learn with friends because of differences in the delivery of material by teachers and their peers.”

Tentorin Solution

In fact, Tentorin was only released in March 2022 or about three months ago with the main product being note-sharing platform which can be accessed through its website. There, students can access more than 500 Indonesian student records covering high school material, especially the subjects tested in the university entrance selection, namely the UTBK-SBMPTN and self-exams.

So far, he continued, the Tentorin platform is still free for students to access from anywhere. However, for the future monetization strategy, his party is preparing features live classes, students can create paid classes facilitated by Tentorin. "In order toposts classes on the Tentorin platform, facilitated in terms of payment, and other technical matters, a tutor (a term for students who teach) is given charge. "

This proposition is the most striking difference between Tentorin and similar players in Indonesia. The reason is, Tentorin does not directly provide teaching staff in-house. Instead, build an ecosystem that focuses on students as a source of student learning between each other.

He again gave an example, on the Tentorin platform, there is a record maker's bio, such as his social media account. It is hoped that Tentorin will not only convey material to students, but also involve them actively by giving appreciation to their work. What's more, the platform also makes it possible to collect multiple sources for each material by giving users more options.

“Tentorin also has a Discord which is filled with nearly 1.000 students, every day we hold engagement in the form of discussions related to university entrance selection.”

Concept peer-to-peer like Tentorin, this has actually been implemented by startups EdTech global scale, such as Race Hero, Quizletand Chegg. Each has more and less value. Course Hero and Quizlet are platforms note-sharing largest in the world, they also have services such as task assistance. Unfortunately, the platform does not reach students in Indonesia well.

“We see that there is a huge need that is not being met. Tentorin took best practice of these global players and adapt it to the context and characteristics of students in Indonesia.”

Next plan

Rafsi claims that after two months of its release, Tentorin has helped more than 3.500 students prepare for university. Not only that, it's in the stage pre-revenues because it focuses on developing a library and student community base, so that Tentorin is able to attract more students in the future.

Innovation that can accommodate learning peer-to-peer the next will remain the focus of the company. Last April, the company released a new supporting feature, namely the collection feature. This feature allows the user to save the notes he likes in a single 'binder' in the Tentorin system. In this way, it is easy for students to access notes whenever they need.

Next, features live classes which has actually been tested since last May. For target users, Tentorin will still target high school students. After that, he plans to enter another formal education. "If all goes according to plan, Tentorin will be ready to welcome the new 2022/2023 school year by introducing a breakthrough or two."

As for funding status, so far it is still ongoing bootstrap with additional funds received by Tentorin in the form of gifts or grants. The grant is received upon receiving the award as runner up at the Gotcha Competition held OCBC NISP Ventures and Upturn Scale Program.

"Currently we are raising early stage funding and plan to use the funds to accelerate the product manufacturing process and develop the Tentorin user community," concluded Rafsi.