Indonesia Impact Fund ‘IIF’ Debuts, Provides Funding to Cakap

After receiving funding for Series B in 2021 worth $10 million (more than IDR 140 billion), the Cakap edutech platform has again pocketed advanced funding from the Indonesia Impact Fund (IIF).

IIF officially announced the first closure for its managed funds which took place at the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2021. It was not further stated how much investment Cakap received this time.

This fresh fund will then be used by Cakap to strengthen the company’s expansion goals in an effort to increase access to high-quality education in the country as a whole, especially in areas outside big cities.

We are proud to welcome new investments and collaborations with the Indonesia Impact Fund with Mandiri Capital Indonesia and UNDP, said Cakap Co-founder & CEO Tomy Yunus.

ESG Value-Based Managed Fund

Managed by Mandiri Capital Indonesia, IIF is the first private social impact managed fund in Indonesia based on ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) values ​​with the aim of creating collaboration between the public and private sectors in the venture capital industry.

This managed fund was attended by a number of family offices, private institutions, as well as in collaboration with UNDP (United Nations Development Program) in the implementation and measurement of the right impact with the company’s portfolio.

We believe that with this new initiative, IIF will act as a catalyst in the venture capital industry and fund manager in Indonesia for social impact and sustainable investment, said CEO of Mandiri Capital Indonesia Eddi Danusaputro.

IIF will not only bring financial benefits but also create an impact on Indonesian society as a whole.

Mandiri Capital has appointed Joshua Agusta, Director of Venture Funding, to be the Fund Manager and Partner at IIF. The first funding was carried out with Cakap, one of the largest non-formal technology education platforms in Indonesia.

Non-formal education is a market with great potential that has not been fully exploited in Indonesia. We believe by investing in companies like Cakap, our funding will contribute to bridging the gap between Indonesians in foreign language skills and improving people’s welfare in the long term, said Joshua.

Add Services And Features

The COVID-19 pandemic has also been a driving force for the development of digitalization technology in Indonesia, including the first startup company in the field of education or the first online two-way learning platform in Indonesia, CAKAP.

The rapid use of digital platform services in the education sector has also encouraged Cakap to develop its services to support the education system in Indonesia in the midst of a pandemic.

PT Smart Digital Nusantara or Cakap is a technology education application developer startup that focuses on two-way online education. The company provides an interactive learning platform by connecting students and tutors via text and video calls.

Cakap develops online learning applications with two-way interaction between students and teachers through video calls and text conversations. It enables the two-way learning interactions for life skills learning across Asia Pacific.

At the end of 2021, Cakap launched the Teacher Academy. The service contains teaching training programs through an online platform, starting for English teachers.

It summarizes communicative teaching techniques and the use of technology. The learning solutions provided by Cakap enable personalization.

In addition to the existing learning services, Cakap UpSkill is also claimed to get a good response from the community to reduce the gap of competency in the Indonesian workforce.

It has been recorded that more than 100 thousand alumni have resulted from training programs targeting various professions, ranging from digital marketers, engineers, SMEs owners, to tourism workers.

We will still focus on providing social impact for people in Indonesia through solutions that have been launched previously, ranging from language learning through Cakap Language, increasing skills in the vocational field through Cakap UpSkill, as well as teacher empowerment programs through the Cakap Teacher Academy, he said.