Startup Cakap Welcomes 2021 with an Investment of US$ 3 Million

Cakap, the leading online language learning platform in Indonesia today announced its success in raising US$ 3 Million in the Series A+ round. This round was led by the Heritas Venture Fund, as well as participation from Strategic Year Holdings and several other leading investors.

Incumbent investors such as Investidea Ventures and Prasetia Dwidharma also participated in this round. This Series A + fundraising marks a solid year ending for Cakap, which has managed to make a fortune amid the difficult economic situation due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Online education continues to increase rapidly in line with the government’s new habitual adaptation protocol, where 94% of children lose access to education and result in the accelerated adoption of technology by education providers in Indonesia.

During this situation, the solution from Cakap has become a bridge in organizing alternative face to face learning and has resulted in an increase in the number of Cakap students growing up to 10 times since the beginning of this year, and an increase of 30 times compared to the same period last year.

Collaborating with Various Parties

In the COVID-19 situation, Cakap has established a mega partnership with the largest telecommunications company in Indonesia, Telkomsel, and is trusted by several government agencies such as non-echelon organizational units within the Ministry of Communication and Information, BAKTI, and the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy.

The collaboration carried out is to provide online English language training for hotel practitioners and MSMEs who are affected by the economic downturn.

Cakap also initiated several programs with the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) for the hospitality community, as well as collaborating with Telkomsel and the Ministry of Education and Culture to help students learn from home.

This EdTech startup is currently developing two main products; for the children’s market with Cakap For Kids, an online English learning and live interaction product for children aged 4-12 years, as a solution for parents who cannot bring their children to offline education centers during the habit-adapting protocol new.

Another focus is to deepen Cakap Upskill, online training with two-way interaction for a wide range of learning topics, such as marketing and subjects related to informatics.

The key to success during this pandemic is understanding the Indonesian landscape to create educational solutions that are accurate and can solve real problems in the target market, where access to high-quality education is not only needed by students in big cities but also throughout the Indonesian archipelago, including third-tier cities and remote areas.

“We are very excited to be a part of the transformation of digital learning in Indonesia, helping to democratize access to quality education and in the long term, improve people’s lives,” said Tommy Yunus, Cakap’s Co-Founder and CEO.

Indonesia is one of the largest education markets in the world with more than 3 million teachers in 300,000 schools. At the same time, Indonesia also has more than 60 million students who are increasingly literate with the internet from day to day.

Edtech Startups in Southeast Asia are Growing

In Southeast Asia, EdTech funding continues to gain momentum, with funding increasing by threefold in 2019, and increasing adoption of EdTech devices with record growth in Southeast Asia.

According to Charis Goh, the Director of Herias Capital, Cakap has created unique and relevant solutions for the Indonesian market, and this is the best time ever as more Indonesians and students become internet literate day by day.

“This company offers an attractive impact proposition by providing affordable access to quality education, and we look forward to working with the team to support the company on their journey to develop educational solutions throughout Indonesia,” said Charis Goh, Director of Heritas Capital.