FigureAsia 35 Under 35 · Business
Iman Usman
Age 34 · Education technology and workforce learning · Indonesia
Scaled a local learning marketplace into one of Southeast Asia's largest education platforms
- Approximate age at the edition boundary
- 34
- Field
- Business
- Country or region
- Indonesia
- FigureAsia U35 Assessment
- 84.5 / 100
Profile
Career and operating record
Iman Usman co-founded Ruangguru to connect Indonesian students with teachers and learning resources in a country where geography and household income sharply affect access. As chief operating officer, he has helped turn that marketplace into a broad education company spanning tutoring, test preparation, vocational learning and enterprise training.
The platform reports more than 40 million users and operations in Thailand and Vietnam, following earlier partnerships with provincial governments and a teacher network counted in the hundreds of thousands. These are organisational measures. Usman's attributable record is the operating architecture and regional execution that allowed a local education start-up to serve households and institutions across several markets.
FigureAsia selection
Why Iman Usman is on the list
Usman is selected for building reach in a field where distribution is itself an educational constraint. Ruangguru has combined consumer subscriptions, teacher supply and institutional partnerships rather than relying on one viral course or celebrity instructor.
User totals do not prove learning outcomes, and the company must still be judged by completion, affordability and educational quality. The commercial achievement remains substantial: a durable regional organisation serving tens of millions in a fragmented market.
Verified work
The 2025–26 business record
Regional platform
Continued Ruangguru's operations across Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.
Mass reach
Helped operate a learning business reporting more than 40 million users.
Institutional delivery
Maintained a model combining teachers, consumer learning products and public-sector partnerships.
Market context
The work in its market
Education technology often scales attention faster than outcomes. Usman's case is strongest where operating infrastructure is visible—teachers, local curricula, government partnerships and multi-country delivery—and deliberately avoids treating registrations as a complete measure of impact.
FigureAsia U35 Assessment
Assessment breakdown
84.5out of 100
Operating execution
25.4 / 30
Continued Ruangguru's operations across Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. The result is completed and operational rather than announced.
Commercial consequence
21.1 / 25
The record produced measurable consequence in education technology and workforce learning, with company-wide outcomes kept distinct from personal credit.
Individual agency
16.9 / 20
As Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, Iman Usman held an identifiable decision-making and execution remit.
Industry influence
12.7 / 15
Scaled a local learning marketplace into one of Southeast Asia's largest education platforms. The work established a reference point beyond one financing or publicity cycle.
Asian and global relevance
8.4 / 10
An Indonesian founder who built a regional learning platform from Jakarta and extended it into Thailand and Vietnam. The work also carries consequence beyond one immediate market.