Five EdTech companies bridging education gaps in SE Asia

EdTech education
Image by Ismunandar Rambe | Bigstockphoto

Amidst long and recurring lockdowns, EdTech companies continue to step up in providing flexible and efficient education and training for Southeast Asia’s growing student population. As local governments implement strategies to deliver education in the new normal, EdTech companies have become instrumental in alleviating setbacks and bridging education gaps.

HolonIQ’s Global Intelligence Platform showed that from 2015-2020, nearly USD $480 million of venture capital has been injected in over 200 individual EdTech investments in Southeast Asia. This highlights the potential of EdTech in the region and the crucial role of venture capital and partnerships in easing current educational challenges.

We looked at five game-changing EdTech companies that show what it’s like to provide meaningful online learning during COVID-19:

  1. Ruangguru – Indonesia

In April 2021, Indonesia EdTech company Ruangguru received USD $55 million in funding that has been used to expand K-12 and lifelong learning lessons in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand.

Today, Ruangguru caters to more than 22 million users with 300,000 lecturers carrying out online learning. Brain Academy, specifically, is a live online tutoring program of Ruangguru that helps students to achieve their goals, develop soft skills and talents, and prepare them for college. Ruangguru also provides self-study materials containing animated videos and practice questions for students who can’t attend live online classes.

  1. EduAdvisor – Malaysia

Malaysia’s EduAdvisor, which has been active in the last four years, operates with a free application to aid upcoming university students to search for scholarships and assess which university is best suited for them. Through the app, students gain access to recommendations and counselling based on students’ needs and requirements.  

  1. Edukasyon.ph – Philippines

The largest Edtech company in the Philippines, Edukasyon.ph has amassed more than 600,000 students and 10 million annual visitors to date. Through the Edukasyon.ph platform, students gain access to courses, schools, scholarships, online education, and other resources that are relevant to their interests and personal goals. Edukasyon.ph features a gamified function where students can earn coins through quests. These coins can be redeemed for discount vouchers and eGifts from various partner F&B and service merchants.

  1. Tenopy – Singapore

    Tenopy is an interactive live online teaching platform for primary and secondary students in Singapore. Tenopy aims for students to be thinkers, creators, and leaders through self-discovery and personalized instruction and learning plans backed by data. Unlike other online education platforms, Tenopy has two teachers facilitating in-class. Tenopy also features a book club that aims to increase student knowledge and sharpen language skills.
  2. YOLA – Vietnam

    YOLA is a Vietnam-based Edtech firm that specializes in preparing students for tests such as IELTS, TOEFL, and SAT. Also known as Your Online Learning Assistant, YOLA’s students emerge with excellent exam results records, with the highest marks being 119/120 for TOEFL, 1590/1600 for SAT, and 8.5/9.0 for IELTS.

    Vietnam also recently attracted an Edtech partnership with Australia’s Edugrowth, an Australian education technology and innovation industry. Earlier this month, they launched a program funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade under the Australia-Vietnam Enhanced Economic Engagement Grant Program 2021. The program aims to connect and collaborate on key learnings of the Australian and Vietnamese EdTech ecosystems.

    “We look forward to this invaluable cross-cultural collaboration between participants. This is not a generalist program — this is really a deep dive into the Australian and Vietnamese EdTech ecosystems and provides an opportunity to gain the essential knowledge to be successful in each other’s markets. On behalf of EduGrowth, I would like to thank the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for choosing to support this important exchange.” said David Linke, managing director of EduGrowth.

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