Pasca “Rebranding”, Sorabel Fokus Pembaruan Konten

Sorabel (sebelumnya bernama Sale Stock), mengumumkan pembaruan situs yang lebih up-to-date dan fokus pada teknologi yang memberikan pengalaman belanja lebih baik bagi pengguna. Salah satunya adalah mengubah aplikasi, yang sebelumnya hanya menampilkan pilihan baju, menjadi konten editorial yang bisa menyajikan contoh nyata dalam setting sehari-hari.

CEO dan Co-Founder Sorabel Lingga Madu menyatakan, “Kami memulai Sale Stock dengan misi ingin memberi akses fesyen yang terjangkau. Selama ini kami bangga dengan pencapaian yang vertikal di fesyen wanita. Semua yang kita berikan lewat Sale Stock lebih fungsional dengan fesyen berkualitas, tapi bicara fesyen bukan sekadar fungsi tetapi juga emosi. Inilah yang ingin kami capai dengan harapan bisa terus memberdayakan dan menginspirasi konsumen.”

Selama empat tahun menjalankan bisnis, Sorabel telah hadir di 34 provinsi, 370 kota, dan 4.700 kecamatan di Indonesia. Salah satu gudang mereka terletak di Cawang, Jakarta.

Di tahun 2018, Sorabel berhasil menjual 10 ribu desain per bulan, 70-80% di antaranya terjual dalam 30 hari dengan target market remaja hingga ibu rumah tangga berusia 16-45 tahun. Dibanding tahun sebelumnya, mereka mengklaim peningkatan total pengguna mencapai 60% dan peningkatan pengunjung yang melanjutkan pembelian sebesar 12%.

Meskipun demikian, Lingga menolak menjelaskan lebih detail mengenai total transaksi tahun lalu serta target yang ingin dicapai.

Dari segi diferensiasi produk, Sorabel berencana meluncurkan lebih banyak varian label, seperti hijab fashion, Korean fashion, office wear, street wear, dan creative life. Sorabel juga merangkul UKM untuk memproduksi produk yang 100% lokal.

“Kita beri pengalaman baru, misalnya mengubah desain lebih up-to-date, memberi banyak pilihan dan jenis fesyen untuk menjangkau semua perempuan. Di samping itu, melipattigakan proses quality control dengan menambah 20 personel, memastikan agar tidak hanya kualitas umum saja tapi secara keseluruhan bisa jauh lebih memuaskan” jelas Lingga.

Selain fesyen, Sorabel juga menawarkan produk-produk kecantikan yang diklaim memiliki pertumbuhan 13 kali lipat di rentang Juni 2017 sampai Desember 2018.

Lingga menyatakan juga akan terus mengembangkan teknologi yang sudah dimiliki sebelumnya, seperti chatbot, teknologi logistik, merchandising, dan platform.

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IPO is Postponed, Bhinneka Aims for Series C Funding This Year

Bhinneka is preparing Series C funding to support business development in B2B segment. It’s to be finalized in the middle of this year.

Hendrik Tio, Bhinneka’s CEO and Founder avoid to mention the funds needed in this round. He said the funds will be used to support the whole business growth, especially in the B2B segment, not only the IT.

He considers B2B segment to have better prospect in the future, it means an opportunity for Bhinneka to win this segment.

“We’ll keep doing it [external funding]. Hopefully, to make another one this year, [now] on progress. The final, should be in the first semester [this year],” he said, Tuesday (1/8).

In Bhinneka’s business plan, they’re building an integrated system to connect all of Bhinneka’s core business from upstream to downstream. It’s a part of company’s big plan to put omni channel strategy first.

He gave an example when a consumer cancelled a transaction at Bhinneka for some reasons. Data will be stored in a system to support their transaction in the nearest outlets by adding interesting gimmicks.

“It’s why we keep using offline and online strategy, not only one sided, because the multi channel supports our whole strategy. The key is to stay consistent and innovative in developing technology.”

The company has also completed the Bhinneka app with better UI / UX to adjust to the target consumers. This app is made for B2C market.

He commented on the same occasion related to Bhinneka’s plan for IPO. He said this year was not the right moment to make a corporate action considering the political situation, it had to be postponed for the next two to three years.

In fact, based on company’s readiness, he claimed to have met all the requirements by IDX long time ago. The company has tried to register and get approval.

“We actually have passed the trial and ready to go ublic. However, we’re waiting for the moment, due to this year’s political condition, it’s not the right time, maybe two to three years later.”

Bhinneka business accomplishment

In 2018, Bhinneka claimed an increased revenue by 40% in the past five years. It’s B2G segment contribution with nearly 50% percentage, followed by B2B (30%) and other from B2C (20%).

In terms of online and offline sales, B2C segment only, is quite equal at 10% for each channel.

“This year, it [revenue] should’ve at least same with last year, at 40%.”

In order to support the omni channel strategy, Bhinneka will continue to open new offline outlets, not as massive as others. The plan is to add five more outlets in Bandung, Yogyakarta, and Jakarta.

Bhinneka currently has eight outlets, seven are located in Jakarta, and the rest is in Surabaya. Including 33 representative offices in all provinces in Indonesia to handle B2B and B2G segments.

Bhinneka has partnered with 3 thousand brands, more than 9 thousand supplier vendors, and 40 thousand consumers from B2B and B2G segments.

Since it was founded in 1993, Bhinneka’s business started from Digital Printing Solution. In 1995, it expanded to IT product sales, and four years later they entered e-commerce industry with Bhinneka.com site.

In 2001, they try to enter offline business as the company’s mission to gain consumer’s trust. B2B segment is started to be in demand 10 years later, by releasing Bhinneka Business.

B2G segment was started a year later, and officially operating in 2015 through e-procurement and e-catalog launching. Within the same year, Bhinneka’s revenue has reached Rp1 trillion.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

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Finmas Fintech Lending Parent Company Raises $105 Million Funding

Hong Kong-based fintech developer company Oriente, a parent company of Finmas fintech lending, today announced a $105 million (equal to 1.5 trillion Rupiah) Series A funding. Sinar Mas (Indonesia), Berjaya (Malaysia), and JG Summit (Philippines) are involved as investors. This funding has set a record as the biggest Series A funding in Asia.

We’ve tried contacting relevant parties, whether funding from Sinar Mas is delivered through its investment arm, SMDV or LVP, but until this article is published, it’s left unanswered. Recently, through SMDV, Sinar Mas Group also invested in an overseas startup named Eko.

Funding for Oriente will be focused on improving technology and product development. In addition, build-up the current services and further expansion in Southeast Asia will have its part of the fresh fund. Oriente currently operates two fintech lending platforms, Finmas in Indonesia and Cashalo in the Philippines. Oriente services target the unbankable and capital for SME.

Geoffrey Prentice, one of Oriente’s Co-Founder, who’s also the Co-Founder of Skype, said in its release that Oriente was founded based on inclusion and innovation principal. Its vision is to open financial access, freedom, and opportunity for those underserved by banking. Thus, they (the unbankable) can participate in the global economic growth.

Since was founded in 2017, Oriente currently has representative offices in some regions for business development and expansion preparation, including Hong Kong (HQ), Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei, Manila, Jakarta, and Ho Chi Minh. In Indonesia, Finmas is working under PT Oriente Mas Sejahtera. It’s registered and supervised by OJK and has acquired legal license to run fintech lending. Sinar Mas is also a strategic partner of Finmas services.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

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Crowde Announces Fresh Funding From GREE Ventures

An agritech startup engaged in Crowde’s investment segment announced fresh funding from GREE Ventures. There’s no value mentioned on the secured funding in this round. The fresh funding is planned to be used for broader reach of farmers having capital issues to develop business and to turn farmers into agropreneur in order to create an efficient agricultural ecosystem. It’s part of Crowde’s objective.

Yohanes Sugihtononugroho, Crowde’s CEO said the additional funding is GREE Venture’s form of trust with other investors to the agritech startup.

Earlier this year, Crowde has launched a special app to facilitate investors in providing loans. It allows investors to select a project to invest in and to monitor the investment output.

“The fresh funding is to be used to acquire more farmers using additional capital. We’re aware of many farmers with capital issues, it’s often hard for them to get loans from financial institutions,” he explained.

As a platform running the business in the agriculture sector, Crowde strives to understand farmers deeper. They want to make a sustainable agriculture ecosystem by gathering farmers with various parties to facilitate a better project. During 2018, Crowde has succeeded in distributing funds worth Rp30 billion raised from 24,000 investors to 10,00 farmers in 276 villages in Indonesia focused on agriculture, livestock, and fishing projects.

“We expect with the additional capital to be distributed to farmers, they can improve the agricultural products quality, therefore, capable to earn more,” he added.

In its attempts to build a sustainable ecosystem, Crowde focuses and prioritizes education to farmers in terms of technology and financial management. It is also the main issue for farmers to develop business. Crowde also partners with farm shops and off-taker (in all over Indonesia) to perceive zero cash society for farmers no longer have to accept capital in cash.

“We determine to facilitate up to 100 thousand farmers with Rp70 billion worth of capital distribution in 2018, we’ll keep trying to be the agricultural capital platform with trust and cooperative spirit,” he concluded.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

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Kredivo Secures Series B Funding Worth Over Rp435 Billion, Ready for Regional Expansion

Fintech startup engaged in online lending service FinAccel (using Kredivo brand) announces Series B funding worth US$30 million (over Rp435 billion) led by Square Peg Capital, with the new investor MDI Ventures and Atami Capital. Existing investors, such as Jungle Ventures, OpenSpace Ventures, GMO Ventures, AlphaJWC, and 500 Startups also participated in this round.

Akshay Garg, Kredivo’s CEO said it’ll be used for new service development outside the loan via e-commerce, regional expansion, and recruiting more talents in engineer and data scientists.

Regarding the target countries, it’s still in evaluation. The three countries in consideration are Thailand, Philippines, and Singapore. In the next six months, FinAccel will announce one of the countries ready for expansion.

“In the next six months, we’ll decide a country for expansion. It’s now being evaluated,” Garg said on Wed (7/25).

He continued that the new product in development will be targeting outside the e-commerce ecosystem, like loan for study, medical, emergency cost, house renovation, and others.

Tushar Roy, Square Peg Capital’s Partner commented in the official release that Kredivo is an institutional-class business in all aspects, through the automation of very complex loan elements, and trusted by Indonesia’s best merchants. Kredivo has a bank-class risk metric and already draw institutional debts.

Kredivo is claimed to have teams with integrity and high experience to be motivated in solving big problems for sellers and consumers in Indonesia, therefore, it’ll support the whole economic growth.

“We’re very proud to support Kredivo’s team vision in allowing a better financial service for the young generation in Indonesia and SEA,” he explained.

Nicko Widjaja, MDI Ventures’ CEO added, Kredivo is a market leader in consumer loan service with an advanced credit scoring process in the industry. Investment in Kredivo will mark MDI Ventures’ first portfolio in fintech lending segment.

“With our participation, we expect to support more underserved segments in this market, where we can access various kinds of credit sources that can use Kredivo technology to fasten the disbursement process,” he said.

Business performance and next plans

Garg said, the company will increase the marketing activities for new customer’s acquisition by setting up some billboards in public. They also raised some initiatives for strategic partnerships with Telkom Group that now involved as Kredivo investors network.

“We choose the leading strategic investors for the next time we can make partnership synergy. There will be many new initiatives to do with Telkom Group, particularly Telkomsel.”

After dua years establishment, Kredivo has become one of the most adopted alternative method for digital credit card by Indonesia’s marketplace. It is claimed to be the only online payday loan that has collaborated with almost 10 e-commerce sites, including Tokopedia, Shopee, Bukalapak, Lazada, and more than 200 others.

Kredivo’s business growth in GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) reaches 5 times up without any detailed number. The company has evaluated more than 2 million of Indonesia’s consumers and help the online merchants for significant customer retention and revenue.

Around 80% of the transaction every month comes from Kredivo loyal customers with more than 500,000 people in total. In fact, the bad loans ratio is kept under 5% according to the financial industry.

It has 15 companies as lenders that are multi finance and credit funds. Credit funds come from Hong Kong and SEA countries. BFI is still one of the exclusive lenders in Kredivo.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

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Pegadaian Setups Rp1.2 Trillion Budget to Become Fintech Company

Pegadaian (state-owned fiduciary company) setups Rp1.2 trillion budget to support its ambition to be fintech company this year. Majority will be used for Pegadaian Digital Services (PDS) app development, acquire 600 new agents, expanding services, and going global.

“We’ll run farther, therefore, this year’s capex will be bigger [to help] for going global. Pegadaian finally will have fintech, fiduciary, and pawn service,” Sunarso, Pegadaian’s President Director, said in an official release.

Sunarso continued, to become a fintech company, the corporate transformation has passed “dreaming stage” after going through “diagnosis stage”. Later, it will get into “design” and “delivery stage” to support go public effort in 2020. Corporate will keep digitizing business, improving outlet service, revitalizing warehouse and logistics, and maintain excellent service.

PDS becomes Pegadaian’s new ammo to enter fintech, serving loyal and potential young customers. Customers can apply for pawn or microcredit in need, pay instalments, accommodate customers in opening new accounts and top-up gold savings.

Pegadaian targets to acquire two million new customers through the app by the end of this year. At that time, total customers are expected to reach 11.5 million.

Fiducia industry generally consists of a small number of players. Other player, Pinjam, is focused on providing online services.

Opening coffee shop

To engage with millennials, Sunarso said the company is using “direct-to-consumer” strategy by opening “The Gade” coffee shop which located in Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta. Potential customer are able to have access to all Pegadaian services, including applying for capital, fiduciary, and so on.

There will be more branches in other locations throughout Indonesia. The coffee shop is to attract male customers which currently not optimally engaged.

The 72% of Pegadaian’s current active customers are women and 68% are under 45 years old.

“Men usually resist to access Pegadaian. Therefore, we open The Gade to attract them.”

Pegadaian also launched a fiduciary product with no interest to reach millennials, particularly students. With this product, customers can apply for a loan up to Rp500 thousand for two months period. It is targeted to acquire one million customers.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

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TCash Starts Shifting from NFC by Introducing Snap QR Code

Telkomsel’s e-money service TCash introduces QR Code payment feature after receiving Bank Indonesia’s approval. This feature, at the same time, indicates the shifting of company’s strategy that has been carrying NFC technology (Near Field Communication) for quite some time.

Danu Wicaksana, TCash’s CEO, said that EDC machine for NFC is considered too expensive and less efficient for the company’s business and should be distributed to merchants. The company is in need of a technology more efficient and effective to acquire more users and merchants. Hence the QR code is considered as the better payment method.

TCash has partnered with more than 5,000 merchants, 70% of which use EDC machines to capture transactions from NFC stickers embedded in user’s smartphones. The number of users has reached more than 20 million and it has processed more than 10 million monthly transactions on average.

“This year’s target is 8-10 thousand merchants to join TCash. Most of those will be for the QR Code implementation because it is the most efficient method to acquire merchants and users,” Wicaksono said, Tue (3/27).

The QR Code was first implemented in Pasar Modern Bintaro, then proceed to Pasar Mayestik by the beginning of this year. Of the two locations, TCash has been working with 300 merchants, mostly are SME players.

Furthermore, T-Cash will be massively targeting similar places in other locations along with partnerships between companies and the Jakarta Government to digitize the market using safer and easier digital payment methods.

“Therefore, if you went to Pasar Mayestik paying with TCash, now you can pay using QR Code. This is a form of our commitment to market digitization, later, we will invite small shops to join TCash merchants.”

Other than targeting retails and F&B, TCash also collaborates with transportation services. One of which is Trans Semarang for bus tickets payment with QR Code. The realization will begin next month.

TCash is claimed to be the first fintech company, along with two banks, that have acquired approval from Bank Indonesia (BI) for QR technology implementation. Until recently, QR Code standardization is yet to be available. T-ash joined as a member of the preparation and development team of standardized QR Code for fintech and banking companies in Indonesia.

Provide e-KYC for migration to full service

Along with this announcement, TCash now accommodates e-KYC service that comes with face-to-face validation through a video call. Users only have to fill in the bio, upload ID, take a selfie with the ID (KTP), and make a video call with TCash agent through the app. This service will be officially launched on April 1st, 2018.

Previously, user is required to come to Grapari and fill out documents to upgrade, then wait for at least one day before enjoying the full service.

“Users can now choose to make a video call or come to Grapari for upgrading into full service.”

By upgrading, customers can enjoy T-Cash’s main features of sharing funds (P2P), receiving, and withdrawing cash. The number of cash stored in any application must not over Rp10 million (full user) and Rp1 million for basic users.

TCash provides a variety of bill payment options for TV, internet, BPJS, PLN, PDAM, Halo postpaid, online game voucher purchase, and Telkomsel’s data and balance top-up.

There will be financial products available in the near future, including insurance, loans, and others. It will boost Tcash mission to be a one-stop service for all types of bill payments and non-cash purchases through mobile phones.

“To pamper our customers, we apply zero rates for the app usage. Means customers will be charged of zero data usage for all activities within the app. They only get charged for downloading the app. It’s free afterward,” Wicaksana said.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

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Uber XL is Now Available in Surabaya

Uber is officially launched UberXL in Surabaya, East Java. A service which given larger-size car options for uber customers, is expected to be the latest innovation for online transportation users in Surabaya.

Previously, uberX has been available in Surabaya area as an economic and convenient way to travel with 4-people capacity, uberMOTOR to reach a destination safer and faster also uberDELIVER for delivery service in the city.

As mentioned in the release, six-passengers using uberXL service will get insurance for injury, permanent disability or accidental death risk with the value up to Rp100 thousand. The insurance will be valid since the pick-up until the trip ended.

UberXL was launched first in Jakarta and Bandung, given more choice for Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MVP) such as Avanza, Xenia, Ertiga, Innova, and others.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

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