The problem
Today’s Indonesian children grow up soaked in technology, yet most screen time is passive consumption. Parents — the founders among them — saw kids spending hours on games and videos that teach nothing, while formal education stayed fixated on memorisation rather than the skills and values a tech-driven society rewards.
How it works
Founded in 2022 by CEO Jonathan Prathama and COO Adhi Paisoseputra, SoLeLands applies a game-first approach to learning: immersive edu-games that develop life skills, virtues, intelligence and competencies in digestible formats. A talent-manager tool brings parents into the loop, giving them visibility into their child’s passions and talents and connecting game achievements to real-life application. Funding announced in July 2023 was earmarked for capacity building and product development ahead of a soft launch in Q4 2023.
Pain points
Guilt-inducing passive screen time, parents with no window into their children’s aptitudes, and tutoring products that drill academics while ignoring curiosity and character.
Business model
Parent-paid access to the games and talent-manager platform, with schools and educators as a future distribution channel.
Challenges
Pre-launch and pre-revenue, so every content cycle burns investor capital; must demonstrate measurable learning gains, not just playtime, to win sceptical parents; and competes for kids’ attention against the entire free-to-play games industry.
Funding
- Raised: funding led by East Ventures with SMDV participation announced July 2023; amount undisclosed (amountSource: MISSING).
- Valuation: no citable valuation disclosed.
Latest — July 2023
SoLeLands announced funding led by East Ventures with SMDV participating, to build team capacity and finish the product for a planned Q4 2023 soft launch — with East Ventures calling the game-first model an unprecedented approach to life skills and love of learning.