Cakap, a Jakarta-based online language learning platform, has raised $3 million in its Series A+ funding round to expand across Indonesia and the region.
The investment round was led by Singapore-based Heritas Capital with participation from Strategic Year Holdings and existing investors InvestIdea Ventures and Prasetia Dwidharma, according to a press statement.
Founded in 2013, Cakap is an online school created to reinvent the language-learning experience. It develops online learning applications that enable two-way interaction between students and professional teachers through video calls and text conversations. The platform empowers learners on their customized path to fluency in a 6-12 month time period through live instruction with native speaking teachers and multimedia learning materials, all provided over the internet.
CAKAP claims it achieved profitability this year and its student numbers have grown 10 times since the beginning of the year and 30 times compared to the same period last year. The company said during the COVID-19 situation, it has established some major partnerships, including with the biggest Telco company in Indonesia, Telkomsel, and trusted by several government bodies, such as Ministry of ICT’s BAKTI and Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, to provide online English training for hospitality and SME practitioners who were impacted by the economic downturn.
Speaking about the company and the problem it is solving, Tomy Yunus, Cakap Co-founder and CEO, said in a statement,
“The key to our success during this pandemic is in our deep understanding of the Indonesian education landscape. Our solution solves the problem of the lack of access to high quality education, not only for students in the big cities, but also for the whole Archipelago of Indonesia, including 3rd tier cities and remote areas. We are excited to be part of the digital learning transformation in Indonesia and helping to democratize access to high quality education and elevating people’s lives in the long run.”
The company plans to use the fresh funds to expand its team as well as to advance its technological development and grow its business across Indonesia.
Commenting on the funding, Charis Goh, Director at Heritas Capital, said,
“Cakap has created a unique and relevant solution for the Indonesian market and there is no better time to scale with many Indonesians and students becoming more internet savvy day by day. The company offers a compelling impact proposition through providing access to affordable quality education and we look forward to working closely with the team to support the company in its journey to scale education solutions throughout Indonesia.”
Cakap has expanded to two major products – one with Cakap for Kids, a LIVE online English learning for kids aged 4-12 years old, and the other with Cakap Upskill, a LIVE online course for broad learning topics, such as marketing and ICT related subjects.
Conrad Tsang, from Strategic Year Holdings, also commented saying, “We believe in the long-term potential of the education technology market in Indonesia and we are excited to back Cakap in their quest to capitalize on the rising demand for high quality education amid the ever increasing disposable income of the general populace.”
Cakap offers online English classes for people across the country. It also offers Mandarin, Japanese, and Indonesian languages on its platform. With a score of 4.9 on the Google Play Store, Cakap is the highest rated online language learning app in the country.
