Indonesia’s top edtech apps aren’t the usual suspects

In Indonesia, edtech apps have thrived as students continue learning from home amid the pandemic. But while local players like Ruangguru and Zenius typically occupy headlines, the data tells a different story.

According to App Annie, neither Ruangguru nor Zenius is Indonesia’s top edtech app by downloads between June and August 2021. That accolade belongs to Google Classroom, which lets teachers connect virtually with students by creating classes, distributing assignments, and conducting other activities.

But the two high-profile startups don’t occupy the second or third positions, either. Filling those spots are Brainly and Qanda, learning platforms from Poland and South Korea, respectively.

Other third-party data on monthly active users appears to confirm the popularity of these foreign apps among Indonesians. To be clear, however, Ruangguru and Zenius outrank these competitors in consumer spending, a similarly important metric. Indeed, both companies have claimed a revenue surge during the pandemic.

That said, as offline learning resumes in the country, expect another shake-up. Some say edtech’s pandemic-era figures should perhaps be taken with a grain of salt. Unlike the digital payments or e-groceries industries – where adoption rates have also grown during the health crisis – the post-pandemic fortunes of Indonesia’s edtech firms are likely to be more complex.

“We may be putting too much of a premium on the effects of the pandemic,” says Yinglan Tan, founding managing partner of Insignia Ventures Partners, which has invested in edtech startups like homegrown Pahamify and Vietnam-based Edmicro. “Edtech startups can gain more by decoupling from these external market boosts, rather than depending on them.”

Edtech on the up and up

Brainly and Qanda both target students looking for solutions to homework questions and are present in several countries worldwide. Poland-based Brainly has been present in Indonesia for some time, while Qanda – a math solution engine from South Korea’s Mathpresso – only entered the country early in the pandemic.

The two companies also boast high-profile investors. Brainly is backed by South African media conglomerate Naspers as well as Silicon Valley’s General Catalyst. Mathpresso, on the other hand, counts SoftBank Ventures Asia and GGV Capital as investors in its series C round this year.

Brainly and Qanda’s advantages over Ruangguru and Zenius also extend to engagement. Third-party data shows that both foreign players have higher active user numbers than its two local competitors over the past year or so. Ruangguru and Zenius’ figures, on the other hand, peaked in the three-month period between January to March 2020 – the beginning of the pandemic. Meanwhile, Google Classroom is far ahead of its competitors in its active user count.

Rajesh Bysani, Brainly’s chief product officer / Photo credit: Brainly

Brainly’s metrics in Indonesia are nothing new – it gained traction as early as 2014 and also enjoyed steady numbers pre-pandemic. Rajesh Bysani, chief product officer at Brainly, ascribes the firm’s recent growth to new features like Math Solver, an AI-powered solution for instant and step-by-step guidance on complex mathematical problems.

Similarly, Qanda’s traffic increased year on year by over 3,000% in March 2021. Its number of monthly active users went from 70,000 in April last year to 3.8 million now, according to Steven Cho, business development manager at Mathpresso Indonesia.

Can they sustain success once Covid-19 subsides?

Bigger challenges ahead