Edtech startup Ruangguru said on Monday that it has raised another USD 55 million in a round led by Tiger Global, bringing its total funding to over USD 200 million. Existing investors GGV Capital, East Ventures, Venturra Capital, and UOB Venture Management also participated this time. In December 2019, the firm raised USD 150 million from General Atlantic and GGV Capital.
With the fresh capital, Ruangguru will further expand in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand, across its K-12 and vocational course segments. The company currently provides online learning courses in over 100 subjects. It also works closely with the Indonesian government as a partner of the pre-employment card, which grants job seekers access to a broad range of training.
“Ruangguru now has strong investors with education industry expertise,” said co-founder Iman Usman. “We plan to leverage their expertise and network to further improve our products and our team.”
The edtech industry in Indonesia is estimated to grow at around 25% annually, according to a report by Innovation Factory and Ravenry. COVID-19 has further accelerated the boom of edtech platforms, among them Zenius Education, Pahamify, and HarukaEdu.
Ruangguru has grown beyond its home market. In 2019, it expanded to Vietnam and last year into Thailand, where it launched a service called StartDee. The firm also introduced new features like Roboguru, an AI-powered “homework solver” that includes photo search and user-generated content. In January, it debuted English Academy, a live-teaching class with Cambridge curriculum for K-12 students. Its Skill Academy, which offers courses such as basic programming and digital marketing, has already been used by over 3 million people just one year after its launch.
So far, the startup has served more than 22 million students and works with more than 300,000 teachers. It turned a profit for the first time last year, after an increase in revenue growth. Ruangguru launched several programs during the pandemic, including a free online school that has been accessed by 10 million students, and free access to Ruangkelas, a learning management tool for teachers, used by thousands of schools in 480 districts across the country.
