Indonesia’s Zenius Announce Brief Halt in Operations Amidst Financial Headwinds

Indonesian ed-tech company Zenius has officially announced its temporary shutdown due to operational challenges, as revealed by its co-founder and CEO, Sabda Putra Subekti. Expressing regret for any inconvenience caused, Subekti apologized and thanked users and partners for their trust in a statement.

The suspension of operations by Zenius Education, one of Indonesia’s prominent ed-tech startups, was confirmed in an official announcement on Thursday. Amid circulating rumors of financial difficulties, the educational technology platform clarified that operational challenges prompted the decision. With a history spanning two decades, Zenius, in its statement, acknowledged facing difficulties and expressed deep regret for any inconvenience caused to its user base.

Zenius, the edutech startup, has left details of the duration of service suspension undisclosed, leaving uncertainty around the timeline for the unavailability of its services. Additionally, the fate of Zenius’ extensive workforce, listed at over 500 employees on its LinkedIn page, remains unspecified. 

The company’s announcement on January 4 emphasized strategic measures to temporarily halt operations, expressing awareness that the decision would disappoint many, especially loyal users who have supported and trusted the platform.

Over the last two years, Zenius exhibited signs of financial strain, marked by three successive rounds of job cuts. Commencing with the first set of layoffs affecting over 200 employees in May 2022, the company underwent a second round in August 2022 and a third in February 2023. 

Despite the challenges, Zenius, an online education platform that has been operating for almost two decades, has played a key role in assisting millions of students in pursuing admissions to their desired state universities.

After undergoing the third round of job cuts, Zenius witnessed a leadership shift with CEO Rohan Monga assuming the role of President, while the co-founder, Sabda Putra Subekti, was reinstated as the company’s CEO. Subekti, who initially co-founded Zenius and led the company before Monga took over in 2019, expressed stability post-layoffs and outlined plans to strengthen the company’s position through an increased focus on offline education.

Founded in 2004 by Sabda Putra Subekti and Medy Suharta, Zenius has secured $20 million in disclosed funding from notable investors, including Northstar Group, Openspace, MDI Ventures, and Alpha JWC Ventures. 

The most recent funding round occurred in March 2022, with MDI Ventures contributing to the company’s total funding of $40 million since its establishment. The support from investors such as Telkom’s MDI Ventures, Patrick Walujo’s Northstar Group, Alpha JWC, Openspace Ventures, and Beacon Venture Capital shows the importance of Zenius in the online education landscape in Indonesia.

Notably, the platform’s educational reach expanded in early 2022 with the acquisition of Primagama, a private tutoring institution specializing in supplementary education services. As of December 2022, Zenius has a user base exceeding 16 million. 

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