Zenius raises $20 million Series A led by Northstar Group

Indonesian online learning company Zenius Education announced on February 5, 2020, that it had raised US$20 million in a Series A round led by Northstar Group, a Singapore-based private equity firm. Kinesys Group and BeeNext also took part in the round.

Together with the funding, the company named Rohan Monga, previously chief operating officer at the ride-hailing group Gojek, as its chief executive. Co-founder Sabda PS moved from the top job to the role of chief education officer. Zenius said the capital would be used to speed up growth, develop its technology and extend its services to students in more parts of Indonesia. Local business media described the round as the first outside financing the company had taken.

At the time, Zenius offered a large library of video lessons for school students, and reports said more than 11 million students had accessed its content. Less than a year later, in January 2021, the company disclosed a further pre-Series B round of undisclosed size that brought in Alpha JWC Ventures and Openspace Ventures as new investors. By then it had added live classes and was describing AI-based features on its platform, including an automated tool that points students to concept videos and practice questions when they are stuck.