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Receiving outside investment isn’t necessarily a better way to build a business than bootstrapping, but it definitely has its own charm.
It’s got to be a real buzz for a founder to be able to share a funding announcement on LinkedIn and enjoy the dopamine hits as congratulations roll in.
Founders of bootstrapped firms may not have these flashy moments, but with smarts and grit, they can build sustainable businesses.
This appears to be the case with Indonesian edtech firm Sevima. Thanks to its “boring” approach, as described by one of its key leaders, the company is standing out while plenty of Southeast Asia’s VC-backed edtech firms struggle.
Today we look at:
- Sevima making millions and being unfazed by SEA’s edtech woes
- An Indonesian game studio being accused of employee abuse
- Other newsy highlights such as Indian fashion firm Zouk raising US$8 million in funding and TikTok having its day in court in the US
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Class is in session
Image credit: Timmy Loen
Southeast Asia’s edtech companies have faced some tough times since the boom days of the Covid-19 pandemic ended, but Indonesian firm Sevima is bucking that trend.
Despite being bootstrapped, the company claims to have been net profitable since day one – something not a lot of comparable firms can say about themselves.
- Business model: The company, which is headquartered in Surabaya, works with more than 1,200 of Indonesia’s roughly 4,400 active universities, offering them cloud-based solutions. Founder and CEO Sugianto Halim says the firm mostly works with institutions in the middle and lower tiers, as they lack the capacity to develop their own digital infrastructure for things like admin management systems or services that allow students to pay tuition fees via different channels.
- Pivot: Sevima began as a more traditional software house that took on clients on a per-project basis. Its clientele included government institutions and other businesses outside of the education sector. It pivoted to serving only universities in 2014. Then in 2017, it shifted to a software-as-a-service model.
- By the numbers: The firm declined to reveal its revenue figures to Tech in Asia, but an investor in the local edtech space estimated the company’s 2023 revenue to be around US$7 million. Andry Huzain, Sevima’s chief marketing officer, says revenue has grown at a steady 30% rate year on year for the past two years, with a gross margin of around 80%.
Read more: Bootstrapped ID firm makes millions defying edtech slump
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