Compared to other edutech startups in Indonesia, which have been aggressively expanding their business, GREDU has been relatively under-the-radar, despite being founded in 2016. After receiving its Pre-Series A funding back in January from Vertex Ventures, we have started to hear more about the company and what it has to offer.

e27 talks to the four friends behind GREDU to understand how it differs from the rest, and how it represents a shareholder in the education ecosystem that is often overlooked –the parents.

Digitalisation is about mindset

The GREDU platform seeks to answer ongoing problems often found in conventional school settings, where schools are in need of a platform to connect and facilitate students better.

While existing edutech startups are more focussed on enabling students to learn remotely through content and platform, GREDU aims to take it further by working with every stakeholder in the education system.

“Pre-pandemic, the challenge lies in converting conventional, outdated mindset about how learnings should be conducted –and whether digitalisation is really necessary. Especially in local schools and parents, where they viewed online migration as more troublesome than helpful, and that the conventional is the best way. The pandemic forced them outside of their comfort zone as physical teaching becomes impossible,” explains Ricky Putra, Chief Creative & Operation of GREDU.

“But to fully embrace the online learning environment really takes time. In fact, because it’s all coming at a fast rate to these conventional parents, they tend to use all available online resources thinking that they should,” Arya Budi Nugraha, Chief Onboarding & Growth of GREDU, adds.

Also Read: Riding the tailwind: How COVID-19 accelerated the growth of edutech startups in Singapore

So it becomes their mission to declutter the mess caused by overload in information about edutech options in Indonesia.

“We want customers to be able to use GREDU as one platform, one solution for all stakeholders,” Nugraha adds.

The history of GREDU

Back in 2016, GREDU co-founders were working in different tech companies before they finally decided to take this side project more seriously.

“At that time, we were all still working on our own projects and in other tech companies. I was with Grab, Arya was with gojek, Ricky was having his own digital agency, and Kiki (Mohammad Rizky Anies, CEO of GREDU) was also developing his own startup,” Mohammad Fachri, Chief Technology Officer of GREDU, recalls.

“We wanted to be involved in the country’s education system, seeing how it still needed a lot of work to do. So we began with a research to the parents, students, and teachers to find out what they need, what is missing from the education system,” Fachri adds.

It took them a whole year of visiting schools before they could finally conclude that schools in Indonesia are in need of a convenient, all-purpose platform.

“What’s missing was the collaboration ecosystem that allows every shareholder to operate … with a common goal to further the education for the students,” Fachri continues.

Right now, the two-way conversation that GREDU envisioned at the start of the company has even grown to be a three-way conversation, as Nugraha emphasises.

Also Read: These Indonesian edutech startups are helping students cope and thrive during the COVID-19 crisis

“We have multiple stakeholders represented in GREDU, that’s how multiple-way communication can happen,” he concludes.

The GREDU platform is available for each stakeholder in the form of a mobile app and a web app.

To start using GREDU, interested schools can fill an online form available on the website. The GREDU team will get in touch with the school, follow up with training on how to use the software. After that, the school, teachers, students, and parents can start using the apps designated for them.

Apart from aiming to cater to all stakeholders, GREDU also aims to bring “the whole school” online, from its library to school counselling services.

“What we aim is to have all activities normally conducted in physical school to be available digitally. In this hard time, where students won’t see their teachers or schools, the sense of normalcy can be achieved in the digital ecosystem provided by GREDU. They don’t lose their school at all,” Fachri stresses.

What comes next

Taking a part in the big migration from physical to online learning due to COVID-19 pandemic, Nugraha says that GREDU experienced a 25 per cent increase in usage after releasing their services for free in March.

“Now, what we see is the need to refocus … to address the buying power of the schools we targeted, also of the parents. The demand is there because online learning is the way to go now, but the purchasing power is yet to catch up,” Nugraha says.

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GREDU expects to achieve that by adjusting to post-pandemic purchase power and educating the market on its platform’s capabilities. It can potentially fulfil their initial goal of having 600 schools on board, including less-fortunate schools in small cities.

“So far, we’re already active in 85 schools across the country, with 249 schools in the activation stage … With COVID-19 in the picture, it takes longer than expected, but we strive ahead,” says Nugraha.

Their newest product, that is launched as part of their COVID-19 mitigation strategy, is described as an interactive class where teachers and students can discuss lessons based on particular topics.

The competitive value of Indonesian education system

Mohammad Rizky Anies, CEO of GREDU, further emphasises the need for all edutech companies to band together.

“We view other edutech startups as partners, not competitors. Because, in the end, we serve the same goal to fix the education system in this country,” Anies says.

Anies add, “Unfortunately, many of us still focus on content and content delivery, while there are other elements that need extra attention … such as teaching skills and feedback-based learning. But with tech, we’re optimistic that Indonesia holds the potential to compete at the global stage.”

GREDU envisions how more schools can adopt technology, and to use it evenly among all stakeholders despite economic background.

“We tried to research how schools that are less fortunate … can also use GREDU, as long as they’re under internet coverage. We are moving towards transforming our apps to cover minimum internet quota that can be afforded by students and parents that aren’t in big cities,” Putra adds.

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Image Credit: GREDU

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