Ruangguru acquires Vietnam live-teaching platform to widen SEA reach

Ruangguru executives (from left) Arman Wiratmoko, SVP of corporate strategy and finance, and Belva Devara, co-founder and CEO with Mclass co-founders Nguyen Minh Thang and Nguyen Van Khai / Photo credit: Ruangguru

Indonesia-based edtech firm Ruangguru has acquired Vietnamese online learning platform Mclass. The deal is aimed at growing Ruangguru’s reach and capabilities across Southeast Asia.

Founded in 2019 by Nguyen Van Khai and Nguyen Minh Thang, Mclass offers live teaching sessions in math, science, literature, and test preparation like IELTS. Teachers on the app have seen 85,000 learners join their live classes and gained over 10 million followers on their social networks.

Mclass is also the leading live-teaching platform in the high school education segment in Vietnam.

The acquisition will complement existing learning tools provided by Kien Guru, a Ruangguru unit that has served over 2.5 million students in Vietnam in the past four years through its live teaching, pre-recorded, and homework helper solutions.

Established in 2014 by Belva Devara and Iman Usman, Ruangguru has amassed over 40 million users across Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The company, which caters to both corporate and academic learners, snapped up several startups in 2022, including university-focused Schoters and coding-oriented Kalananti.

See also: Exclusive: Byju’s secures $2.4b financing to buy US edtech firm 2U

Note: This article was written with the help of AI. Don’t worry, humans were still involved in producing this story.