Zenius Confirms Its Acquisition of Primagama

Startups EdTech Zenius finally officially confirmed acquisition of tutoring service provider Primagama through the signing of an agreement in early 2022. Through this corporate action, Zenius will integrate Primagama into its platform in order to present a new learning model based on online and offline (hybrid).

In an exclusive interview to DailySocial.id, Zenius CEO Rohan Monga said his decision to acquire Primagama was based on the parents' request for tutoring services offline after the child uses the learning service livestreaming. In line with the increase in service quality livestreaming and students' experiences, parents want Zenius to have its own curriculum.

"Because there is a demand from the service user segment livestreaming to solutions/products offline, we feel there gap di learning platforms. If we can build a learning system hybrid, this method can be a comprehensive learning approach, especially for those who want to learn independently offline and online. This is one of the main reasons because there is market demand or customer-led decisions to acquire Primagama," he said.

Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, he recorded business growth of around 20% of his total user base using the service livestreaming this. Then, this service is said to contribute 50% to Zenius' revenue.

In addition, Zenius observed how the pandemic had a significant impact on the business of tutoring institutions in Indonesia due to the implementation of learning at home, especially in 2020. Due to this situation, the valuation of tutoring companies became more expensive.affordable'. Nevertheless, Rohan observes that the tutoring industry in Indonesia will start to revive in 2021. He considers this to be the right time to integrate Primagama into the community. Zenius platform.

"We saw offline learning start shifting ke hybrid learning Even though the pandemic isn't over yet. We believe in the next phase in the industry EdTech after afterschool learning segment will be driven by hybrid learning. This will be our focus in the next year where we will deliver a hybrid learning experience by integrating the Primagama tutoring network into the Zenius platform," said Rohan.

The pandemic has also brought significant changes to parents, not only the acceleration of technology adoption between teachers and students. Because there is learning loss As a result of the home study policy, this situation increases parents' anxiety about their child's academic achievement.

"Parents can directly observe the quality delivered from teachers when children study during a pandemic. They have more opinions about the quality of education and refine their expectations for a better learning experience for children."

Scale-up to integration

Another reason Zenius annexed Primagama among them is the good relationship that has been built by the founder with the owner Primagama. "Curriculum, teaching methods, and Pedagogy they are very align with Zenius. This is the foundation of this acquisition," said Rohan.

In addition, the business model franchise Primagama is considered suitable for scaling up Zenius next business. Zenius is known as one of the pioneering tutoring service platforms in Indonesia. The platform, which was founded by Sabda PS and Medy Suharta, has been accessed by more than 20 million users throughout the 2019/2020 school year. Meanwhile, Zenius provides around 100 thousand learning videos and practice questions that can be accessed for free.

This acquisition opens an opportunity for Zenius to take a new market cake, especially students who have been studying independently offline. Rohan says Zenius has content pre-recorded for independent learning which is assessed to be complementary content to what students learn independently offline.

"We will find a way to bring value to Primagama students, we hope to be able to integrate the Primagama and Zenius curriculum in the future. We want to bring seamless experience for Zenius and Primagama tutors in presenting a good learning experience to students," he explained.

In addition, Primagama is considered to have a strong position as a top of mind tutoring providers, especially among the elderly. Since its establishment in 1982, Primagama is believed to have built strong expertise in developing offline learning methods and teaching methods for students.

Currently Primagama operates 300 branches, more than 3.000 teachers, and more than 30.000 students per year from all levels (SD, SMP, SMA) in various provinces in Indonesia. Primagama's quality in helping students face college entrance exams is also said to have been tested.

"We would have to evolve this blended curriculum. Whether this is from Zenius or Primagama, we will continue to improve the quality of the curriculum so that it can be deliver the best learning outcomes in Indonesia. We will consolidate all of the tech experience through the Zenius platform," he added.