Binar Academy with Its Mission to Advance Indonesian Digital Talents

One of the sectors that was rapidly growing during the pandemic was edtech. More Indonesian from various backgrounds are adapting to online learning.

As a platform that focuses on developing digital abilities and talents, Binar Academy claims to have successfully educated more than 8 thousand students in 2020 and generated an 80% increase in income.

Was founded in 2017, this startup was developed by Alamanda Shantika who was Gojek's former VP of Technology and Products along with two other Gojek alumni, Dita Aisyah and Seto Lareno.

"The Covid-19 pandemic has encouraged educational institutions, teachers, students, and also parents in Indonesia to adapt to online learning. It is time for us to innovate in presenting education and create learning experiences that are both interesting and enjoyable. I believe that a combination of experiences contemporary learning, technology, and community will produce it all, "said Founder & CEO of Binar Academy Alamanda Shantika.

Binar Academy offers two main educational programs. Among these are Binar Bootcamp and Binar Insight. The Binar Bootcamp Program, an intensive course for beginners, has four classes of 4 to 6 months, including Product Management, UI / UX Design and Research, Android Engineering, and Fullstack Web Development.

Aslo, Binar Insight, a series of interactive webinars of 1.5 to 2 hours, with more diverse classes such as Product Management, Digital Marketing, and Data Science. The most popular classes are Product Management for Bootcamp Binars and Binar Insights.

In terms of demography, most Binar Academy users are high school graduates, students, and career shifter. This year, the company plans to increase collaboration with educational institutions including the government, universities and vocational schools. In addition, Binar Academy will also collaborate with companies affected by digitalization to upskilling employees to remain relevant.

In Indonesia, the bootcamp program becomes an alternative to non-formal education, especially for those who want to pursue a career in technology and programming. Apart from Binar, there are several other startups that offer similar services, including Hacktiv8, Impact Byte, and Skilvul. One of the unique options they offer is the "Income Share Agreement", which allows students to gain knowledge first and pay accommodation fees later as they started to earn income.

Seed funding

Binar Academy's Bootcamp class

In mid-April 2020, Binar Academy received seed funding led by Teja Ventures with the participation of several investors such as the Indonesia Women Empowerment Fund (IWEF - a fund that aims to create social impact, managed by Moonshot Ventures and YCAB Ventures), Eduspaze, The Savearth Fund, as well as several angel investors from ANGIN.

The fresh funds will be used to increase tech-education growth, as well as recruit experts in the fields of education and technology to provide digitalization of content and curricula to continuously train digital talents.

Binar Academy also targetimg to increase the growth of technology education products, as well as to recruit more experts in the fields of education and technology so that they can digitize content and curriculum for 45 thousand students in Indonesia.

"In the last three years, we have continued to develop our main product, namely Binar Bootcamp to meet the learning experience of our students and the market demand for digital talents. Inspiring Indonesian youth and helping them to discover their true potential will always be my mission," said Alamanda.

–Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian