At a glance
- Client: A foreign education entrepreneur planning an online learning or education agency business in Indonesia
- Sector: Education technology
- Region: Indonesia (Jakarta focus)
- Service: Feasibility and market entry research
The challenge
The client wanted to start a digital education service in Indonesia aimed at middle and upper-middle-class families in Jakarta. Ideas included online language classes for children, K-12 tutoring and adult skills classes. Before committing, they needed to know how big the online learning market is, who already serves these families and at what price, what parents actually look for, and what licences a language course needs. They also wanted to understand why a well-funded local edtech company had stopped operating, so they could avoid the same mistakes.
What we did
- Desk research on Indonesia's education and edtech market using government statistics, Statista, McKinsey and other published sources.
- Profiled six online learning platforms serving children in Jakarta, covering products, unique selling points, pricing, payment methods and app-store reviews.
- Profiled a second set of six K-12 one-to-one and small-group online providers, with pricing and target segments for each.
- Estimated market shares from app downloads and SimilarWeb web traffic against a projected 16.6 million online learning users in 2024.
- Reviewed adult online job-skills and English classes, including the role of the government's Prakerja training subsidy.
- Mapped the licensing route for a private language course (non-formal education permit, business identification number and business classification code).
- Wrote a case study of a well-known Indonesian edtech company's expansion, layoffs and suspension of operations in January 2024.
Topics covered
- Market size, demand drivers and challenges for online learning
- Competitor products, pricing and payment options
- Parent and student needs, pain points and app reviews
- Marketing, distribution and partnerships (telcos, device makers)
- Regulation for language courses and data-privacy risks
- Lessons from a failed local edtech
What we delivered
We delivered two written reports and a supporting market-share sheet. The first is an in-depth analysis of children's language learning platforms in Jakarta, from market overview to regulation. The second covers adult online classes, K-12 online tutoring competitors and the edtech case study.
In-depth analysis: eLearning platforms in Indonesia
Report (Google Doc) · 10 chapters
- Market size and growth drivers
- Six competitor profiles with USPs
- Estimated market shares
- Customer profiles and reviews
- Marketing, distribution and pricing comparison
- Technology and innovation
- Licensing and legal issues
E-learning platform business: market and competitor analysis
Report (Google Doc) · About 15 pages
- Adult online job and language classes
- Six K-12 online tutoring competitors with pricing
- Strengths and weaknesses table
- Market-share estimate and recommendations
- Case study of a failed edtech company
K-12 market-share sheet
Google Sheets · 1 sheet
- Visitors or downloads per competitor
- Share of estimated online learning users
What we found
- Parents mostly choose platforms that help school grades; an unusual curriculum (coding, STEAM) can look like a distraction, so new entrants should stay close to the school syllabus.
- Brand familiarity drives share: by our download and traffic estimate, the largest local platform held around 60% of children's online learning users, far ahead of the rest.
- We recommended a freemium entry with tiered paid packages and many payment options (e-wallets, bank transfer, minimarket payment), because card ownership is low.
- A foreign language course is licensed as non-formal education by the regional education office, not through the risk-based OSS licence, but still needs a business identification number (NIB) under code KBLI 85493.
- The failed edtech case pointed to fast expansion and costly acquisitions without enough product innovation; we advised scaling at a steady pace.
In numbers
- 12.94 million users on online learning platforms in Indonesia in 2022, projected at about 16.6 million in 2024 (Statista, as cited in our report)
- About 53% of Indonesian teachers are not certified (cited in our report)
- About 66% of Indonesians are unbanked, which limits card payments (cited in our report)
Key takeaway
In Indonesian education, parents buy grades and trust; a new platform has to fit the school curriculum and the family's payment habits before it can stand out.