It's ze end for Zenius

More: Microsoft lays off 1,900 staff and Malaysia’s Khazanah Nasional in talks to lead a US$400 million round in Oyo. [Read from your browser]( Daily Newsletter Welcome to Tech in Asia's free Daily Newsletter! Get full access to our subscribers-only Daily Newsletter and other insightful analysis on the big and messy topics of Asia’s tech and startup community by [registering here](.  --------------------------------------------------------------- IN FOCUS In today's newsletter, we spotlight: - [Why Zenius is shutting its doors]( - MoneyHero’s fantastic Q4 financials - Other newsy highlights such as Microsoft enacting layoffs in its gaming division and Malaysia’s Khazanah Nasional eyeing an investment in Oyo. --------------------------------------------------------------- Hello {NAME} When I was still in Primary 1, a wee lad of six years old, I distinctly remember a huge incident. One day, my teacher came into class and announced that school would be shutting down for a week or so. As a young kid, of course, I was overjoyed. Free holidays? Who wouldn’t be happy about that? For those living in Singapore, you’d know what this was about the SARS epidemic, which happened in 2003. The teachers gave us some homework to do over that period, but it was otherwise rather calm and peaceful - for us kids at least, given that we had no idea the severity of the virus at the time. Looking back, however, I’m sure our teachers had to be stressed out about falling behind on an entire week’s worth of lessons. It underscored the need for an alternative should similar outbreaks happen again - which we now know was not unfounded. Either the following year or the year after that (my memory is a little fuzzy on this one), the Ministry of Education introduced online learning, and schools in the country would dedicate one day a year to practice executing it. It’s extremely interesting to me because today’s premium story concerns an online learning platform that was founded right around this time. The startup, Zenius, launched in 2004, which would make a lot of sense given the SARS outbreak the year before. Unfortunately, two decades’ worth of experience hasn’t been enough to stave off the difficulties it’s been facing, and the firm officially shut down earlier this month. Our premium story today talks more about the closure and the reasons behind it. -- Jonathan  ---------------------------------------------------------------  THE BIG STORY [Misfires and failed bets: why school’s out for Zenius after 20 years]( The Indonesian edtech firm’s financial condition has worsened since mid-2023, to the extent that only a merger or acquisition could have saved it. --------------------------------------------------------------- TRENDING NEWS [Ola founder’s AI startup hits unicorn status with $50m round]( Krutrim said in a statement that it is India’s first AI unicorn and the fastest local startup to reach this status. [InnoVen Capital launches second China fund, aiming for $250m]( Since 2017, the venture debt firm has invested in over 100 startups in the country, disbursing over US$400 million in total. ---------------------------------------------------------------  VISUAL STORY OF THE DAY [Tracking startup closures across Southeast Asia]( There are several reasons why startups in Southeast Asia go bust, but we lack data about it. 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