The startup will use the new funding to continue running its Ruangguru Digital Bootcamp programme

Indonesian edutech startup Ruangguru is back with another grant announcement. This time the startup has received it from SOLVE programme, a global inititiative from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to support innovation. Grant recipients are shortlisted from the SOLVE Challenge event. The grant itself originated from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade dan Atlassian Foundation International.

The funding is a continuation of the first round given last year in New York. Ruangguru received the grants due to its Ruangguru Digital Bootcamp programme, which aims to help children who had dropped out of school to get supplementary education and get a decent job. At the announcement, Atlassian Foundation Head Mark Reading said that the second round was given to teams that the institution felt have been able to execute their plans and perform high scalability.

In the same month last year, Ruangguru also announced that it has received grants from Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund. By the time Ruangguru was one of the startups in Africa and Asia to receive a number of grants, technical assistance, and opportunity to partner with Groupe Speciale Mobile Association cellular operator partners.

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“We are very happy to regain the confidence from MIT SOLVE and Atlassian Foundation to receive grant and mentorship support for the next one year. We have utilised the first round of the grant to start a pilot programme with 600 students. We are now evaluating the results of the pilot project,” said Ruangguru Co-Founder Iman Usman.

Usman explained that the second round of the grant will be used to develop contents related to basic employability skills and workplace readiness. The startup hopes that the contents will be useful for Ruangguru users and the general public to increase their chances in securing decent jobs.

Ruangguru said that the startup has secured more than eight million users. Its services have also grown from providing an online marketplace for private tutors to providing learning contents.

In Ruangguru, grants are being allocated to support its social services related to digital transformation of the Indonesian education sector. For the commercial side of its operations, in mid-2017 the startup raised a Series B funding round from UOB Venture Management.

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The article Ruangguru Dapatkan Pendanaan Hibah dari Program MIT SOLVE was written in Bahasa Indonesia by Randi Eka Yonida for DailySocial. English translation and editing by e27.

Image Credit: Ruangguru

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