Indonesian edutech startup Cakap recently announced that it has recorded “robust performance”, with its revenue doubling in the second quarter of 2023 compared to the same period last year (YoY), a positive outcome that the company said has been consistent since 2020.

According to Cakap CFO Jonathan Dharmasoeka, the company experiences robust growth from all segments, recording positive EBITDA. With this achievement, it is on track to meet the company’s annual budget.

“By staying relevant to evolve based on market demands, Cakap consistently broadens its offerings to benefit more Indonesian students, enhancing their language proficiency, vocational skills, and business acumen-—the main pillars of Cakap. Within the realm of languages, Cakap extends its reach across age groups, encompassing adults and children alike, while diversifying its course array,” he explains in an email to e27.

“Notably, the launch of Korean courses and the launch of blended classes at Cakap Kids Academy. In the arena of upskilling, our focus remains on courses that equip students with job-ready competencies, proving that the highest demand for the course is in the career and development category.”

Starting off as Squline, a platform to learn foreign languages, today, Cakap’s main revenue models are subscription-based and license-based models across its three business pillars: Language, upskill, and business.

The language pillar currently contributes the largest share of revenue to the company, with a growing percentage of students opting to learn Japanese, Korean, and Mandarin. The courses offer programmes ranging from three months to 12 months.

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As Dharmasoeka has explained, the popularity of Korean courses has surpassed Mandarin over the past six months.

Apart from that, Cakap also aims to solve the problem of learning loss, a phenomenon of elementary school students missing out on making progress in their learning as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The World Bank highlighted this issue in a report, and Cakap tackles it through the launch of their Cakap Kids Academy, an initiative that combines offline language learning with several facilities designed to enhance soft and motor skills. It aims to create a fun learning experience for children aged four to 12.

“The vision and goal of Cakap is to elevate people’s lives through quality education. This drives Cakap’s approach always to consider the holistic development of students, valuing both online and blended learning methodologies. Recognising the demand for offline engagement, Cakap has identified that certain types of development are more effectively carried out through in-person interactions. Therefore, the company strategically integrates offline components into its offerings,” Dharmasoeka explains when asked about the integration of offline elements in the company’s business.

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Cakap has also introduced the Cakap English Standardized Test (CEST), an English language testing system curated and developed by its internal education team that is the equivalent of other standardised tests such as TOEFL. Advantages of the test include the ability to be taken through a mobile device and the use of both human and AI supervision in its results. It is also marketed as being more flexible, affordable, and faster in giving results.

Since its launch at the end of Q1 2023, the company said that 14 institutions have adopted the CEST, and 5,000 students have been scheduled for the test.

Enabling lifelong learning

As a platform with the goal to enable lifelong learning for its users, the majority of Cakap’s students are in the 20-29 age group, followed by the 30-39 age group.

Demographically, its students are mostly located in the Greater Jakarta Area, followed by Medan and Bali in the top ten cities.

It has forged over 600 clients, spanning educational institutions, corporations, governmental bodies, and foundations.

Founded by Tomy Yunus and Yohan Limerta, Cakap’s most recent funding round is a Series C from MDI Ventures and Heritas Capital, which resulted in a US$100 million valuation.

Dharmasoeka shares the company’s up-and-coming plans for the remainder of 2023.

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“Expanding into second and third-tier cities across all core business areas, and broadening the reach of CEST test takers through AI adaptation, are focal points. Throughout the remainder of 2023, the company is dedicated to nurturing its core business with the aim of fostering a robust and more impactful educational enterprise,” he says.

“The primary focus for 2024 centres on elevating the personalised learning experience for our students and crafting comprehensive, specialised courses. On the business front, our goal is to establish an all-encompassing ecosystem that spans casual learning and certification programmes. This effort contributes to boosting the nation’s employability rate and places a heightened emphasis on advancing UNDP SDG’s point five, which pertains to gender equality, within our business processes.”

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Image Credit: Cakap

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