Cakap, an Indonesian education technology platform, has raised an undisclosed amount in a funding round led by MDI Ventures with participation from existing investor, Heritas Capital, bringing its valuation over $100 million, the company said in a statement.
With this financing round, the startup plans to develop its “blended” learning — a mix of online and offline classes. Cakap mentioned earlier that blended learning will be one of the growth drivers in 2023, besides a planned expansion to lower-tier cities in eastern Indonesia.
Co-founded by Tomy Yunus and Yohan Limerta in 2013, Cakap is an upskilling platform designed to provide quality education to help one master skills and accomplish more in life, in line with UN SDGs. The company aims to elevate People’s Lives by providing high-quality upskilling courses and accredited certifications. Through live instruction with native-speaking teachers and multimedia learning materials, it empowers learners on their customized path to fluency in 6-12 months.
The startup is a pioneer of foreign language learning applications with online English learning and online Mandarin learning institutions in Indonesia, which has successfully introduced an effective way of learning English and a fast way of speaking Mandarin. It is aware of the high demand for learning basic English and conversational English. Therefore, the platform offers certified foreign teachers from Asia Pacific countries who can help students become fluent in English faster. In addition to providing basic English classes for beginners and Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, and Indonesian courses for foreigners.
Speaking about the company, Co-founder & CEO of Cakap, Tomy Yunus, said:
The community’s dynamic learning behavior and methods have prompted Cakap to always provide more relevant learning solutions in the post-pandemic and future eras. Cakap hopes to bridge the market demand with blended learning systems.
Cakap, as a foreign language learning application, also provides Mandarin Kids classes and English classes for children online. Users can also do a free trial and take a placement test to determine how far they understand the language, from reading, writing, and speaking. In addition, for corporate purposes or more complicated matters, the company also provides TOEFL, TOEIC, IELTS, JLPT, and HSK test preparation classes to test simulations that a professional team has developed.
Chief Executive Officer & Executive Director of Heritas Capital, Chik Wai Chiew, added:
Cakap has the potential to expand and impact Southeast Asia. Cakap has shown an excellent track record operationally and financially as a prominent upskilling platform in Indonesia,” he said. “We look forward to Cakap’s continued strong execution in scaling its edtech solution and [to] catalyze access to quality affordable lifelong learning opportunities for everyone.
The firm recently announced that it had positive EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) for three consecutive years since 2020 and that its revenue grew tenfold during the period, bucking the trend of other edtechs in the archipelago.
The latest investment comes a year after Cakap secured an undisclosed amount from Indonesia Impact Fund (IIF). It also raised $10 million in its Series B round in December 2021, co-led by Centauri Fund and Heritas Capital, and $3 million in a Series A+ round led by Heritas Capital a year earlier.
