Zenius Receives Continued Funding from MDI Ventures

Edtech startup Zenius today (7/3) announced the acquisition of funding from MDI Ventures with an undisclosed amount. In total, Zenius is said to have raised more than $40 million (over 576 billion Rupiah) from its investors. Former investors (Northstar Group, Alpha JWC Ventures, Openspace Ventures) and new investors (Beacon Venture Capital as a venture capital company owned by Kasikorn Bank Thailand) also joined the round.

It is not clear whether this fresh funding is entering a new round or continuing a round Pre-Series B which was announced last year.

In an official statement, Zenius CEO Rohan Monga said this funding will support the further development and expansion of the learning ecosystem at Zenius. It will continue to focus on improving personalized learning experiences by increasing students' learning motivation.

“Through the new network we have acquired from Primagama, we will expand our reach to increase the impact we have on education. We strongly believe that the hybrid learning model, which is a combination of offline and online, will provide the best results for students,” said Monga.

According to him, with the support of strategic investors such as MDI Ventures, the company is able to expand its network of partnerships and service distribution to have a bigger and deeper impact on Indonesian education.

“Zenius has a proven track record of making an impact on education in Indonesia. Since its founding in 2004, Zenius has now developed a comprehensive learning ecosystem,” said MDI Ventures CEO Donald Wihardja.

Since its founding in 2004, Zenius has helped more than 1,5 million alumni to get into their state/dream university. Last year, seven out of 10 Zenius premium users passed the Computer-Based Written Exam (UTBK), while Zenius' income increased fourfold, one of which was supported by "Live Class".

After Primagama acquisition, Zenius also completes its learning ecosystem by collaborating with Disney to elementary school segment, as well as developing ZenPro, a platform for the professional or lifelong learning segment.

“Zenius is a collaborative player. We are confident that we can realize our mission to create a smarter, brighter, and cooler Indonesia through collaboration, partnership, and synergy with various stakeholders, such as MDI which has the same vision, namely advancing education in Indonesia," said Rohan.

Market competition and value proposition

The edtech sector in Indonesia is growing rapidly, especially since the pandemic. The two players currently dominating are Ruangguru and Zenius, with their sub-product variants that are almost identical.

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.

Beyond Zenius and Ruangguru, a number of platforms EdTech also continue to maneuver. Most recently, CoLearn has just booked a Series A funding of IDR 244 billion. The app focuses on learning math and science, helping students complete homework independently. Beyond that there are Pahamify, Squline, and others.

The presence of Primagama in Zenius' line of business has the potential to strengthen its value proposition if it truly succeeds in wrapping up a hybrid learning experience – this could also be a first in Indonesia.