This edtech startup goes glitzy with TV ads

The top articles for the week.  [View this email in your browser]( Top Stories This Week Hello {NAME} With billions of funding, it feels normal to see unicorns like Tokopedia and Shopee have a TV show that was broadcasted at nine national channels, on a prime time slot. However, it's an unprecedented move for Indonesian startups with less than US$1 billion valuation. That’s what I felt when Ruangguru, an online learning platform for K-12 students, started to use that strategy in 2019. Turns out the effort brings positive results for the education technology startup - its revenue quadrupled to US$16 million. While the budget for that aggressive marketing strategy also increased the company’s loss, it still has much cash in the bank. Interestingly, rough calculation from the revenue shows that Ruangguru’s paid users is only around 2% of Indonesian students who have internet access. The room of growth is still there for them, and for competitors like Zenius. -- Aditya Hadi Pratama, Journalist at Tech in Asia 1️⃣ [Examining the numbers behind Indonesia’s biggest edtech startup]( With its latest funding, Ruangguru can survive for more than two years before running out of cash considering its current burn rate. 2️⃣ [A history of Singtel’s successes and failures in reinventing itself]( From ecommerce, an e-magazine, a messaging service, a lifestyle site, to investing in a gaming startup - Singtel has done it all. 3️⃣ [Blanja.com, an Indonesian ecommerce pioneer, shuts down]( The ecommerce platform was founded in 2013 as a joint venture between eBay and Indonesia's Telkom. 4️⃣ [Unpacking Carousell’s 2019 financial numbers]( The merger with 701Search solidified Carousell’s hold over the general classifieds space in Southeast Asia, but profitability remains some distance away. 5️⃣ [Tokopedia rolls out fintech lending service amid data breach investigation]( Dhanapala provides MSMEs with working capital to develop their businesses and increase financial inclusion in Indonesia. 6️⃣ [Ex-Lazada execs’ startup bag pre-series B round to expand across Southeast Asia]( The round is led by Thakral Corporation and Sun SEA Capital, an existing investor backed by Sunway Group. 7️⃣ [PropertyGuru banks $220m from TPG, KKR]( The proptech major plans to ramp up investments into its data capabilities and its mortgage marketplace PropertyGuru Finance, among others. 8️⃣ [Insurtech startup PasarPolis banks $54m in series B funding]( Participating investors include LeapFrog Investments, SBI Investment, and Xiaomi. 9️⃣ [GoBear lays off 22 people to cut further costs amid Covid-19]( Looking ahead, the company said it'll focus on digital lending and digital insurance brokerage. 🔟 [SoftBank Vision Fund leads $100m funding round in Singapore healthtech firm Biofourmis]( This is the largest healthtech fundraising within Southeast Asia to date, a press release claims. Free Premium Read [Behind Sorabel’s shutdown: could it have been avoided?]( Now under administration, the Indonesian fashion startup had been on a path to profitability when Covid-19 broke out, according to its former CEO. Happening - [Creating A Successful Formula For eCommerce]( on September 9. How do you create a store that appeals to customers and grabs people’s attention? - [CMO Roundtable: How Asia’s Leading Brands Are Rebooting Growth]( on September 10. This is a private event for senior-level marketers to discuss what innovative methods they’re using to engage and retain customers. - [How Brands Can Win Customers in Today's Competitive Mobile App Market]( on September 16. The panel discussion is aimed at app creators and communities that want succeed in the competitive mobile app market. - [Blueprint for Success: Scaling Operations Across SEA]( on September 17. 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