goKampus Raises Pre-Series A Funding The startup aims to rocket-fuel its business in strengthening the tech products by utilizing AI and machine learning to enhance the learning experience
By Prabhjeet Bhatla •
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Indonesia-based digital college ecosystem and enabler goKampus announced on Thursday to have raised an oversubscribed pre-series A funding co-led by Sovereign's Capital and
SALT Ventures. Azure Ventures and other angel investors from around the region also participated in this round.
With the newly acquired capital, goKampus aims to rocket-fuel its business in strengthening the tech products by utilizing AI and machine learning to enhance learning experience, e.g., Cloud University courses, students' academic screening, study program matching, and counseling; doubling the team size to better serve the growing number of students in the platform; and ramping up the student and university partnership acquisition efforts.
"We are very excited and honored to be able to secure this funding from our amazing investors. They bring the capacity and network for goKampus to grow faster. Sovereign's Capital provides connections and facilitates accelerated growth in Indonesia, as well as in the US; whereas SALT Ventures' strong media presence in Indonesia provides a great advantage for student acquisitions. Together, we will enable millions of Indonesian students to access high-quality tertiary education," said Nathanael Santoso, co-founder, and chief executive officer, goKampus.
goKampus digitizes college students' lives by providing all-in-one access to college services in one app - from enrolling to hundreds of college programs, taking college courses virtually, to getting scholarships and loans from its marketplace, and even securing internships and jobs for college graduates. Through goKampus, students can apply to universities by simply taking a photo of their transcripts, and receive instant approvals to goKampus' partner universities, the platform shared.
"More than 70 per cent of high school students in Indonesia cannot proceed to higher education because the available options are too expensive. Traditional college experience and processes are often inefficient, expensive, and mostly low quality. goKampus is revolutionary because it digitizes the end-to-end experience from enrollment through graduation and securing jobs. They are the one and only platform in Southeast Asia to be doing this," explained David Tjokrorahardjo, partner, Sovereign's Capital.
The edtech startup has built a highly scalable platform to accommodate the growth spurt during the pandemic period. Currently, goKampus has more than 250,000 active student users, along with 400 university partners from across the globe, including Australia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Indonesia. In 2021, student placement through goKampus' instant approval feature has grown 30x on a quarterly basis compared to 2020.
"Founder's capacity is the most important aspect when considering our investment in goKampus. Looking at Santoso's vast experience in the education sector, he is surely the right person to execute this game-changing industry to transform the higher education system in
Indonesia. His noble mission to revolutionize the higher education sector in Indonesia has started to be manifested. For the past months, goKampus received thousands of highschool graduates' applications to apply to goKampus global university partners. It is not even scratching the surface yet. We are excited to see goKampus' amazing growth trajectory going forward," added Danny Sutradewa, managing partner, SALT Ventures.
goKampus' digital platform aims to provide more inclusive access to higher education for all Indonesians. Indonesian students are currently spending about $40 billion per year on higher education programs, yet the sector is still largely non-digitized and inaccessible. As of now, the country is struggling to distribute high-quality tertiary education to its residents. According to the World Bank, less than 9 per cent of Indonesians over the age of 25 have attained a bachelor's degree in 2016, the lowest among all member states in Southeast Asia, the platform further shared.
