iPrice’s CEO Reveals Strategic Plans, Including Series C Fundraising

The e-commerce aggregator platform iPrice Group received another funding worth $1.5 million or equivalent to 21.5 billion Rupiah, led by South Korean food-tech company Woowa Brothers. iPrice Group’s CEO Paul Brown-Kenyon said to DailySocial that this fresh fund strengthens the company’s position as a support role of e-commerce services in Southeast Asia. This funding is also projected to smooth the company’s plan to continue raising series C funds.

“Our long-term vision is to become an e-commerce companion for the Southeast Asia region. Our target for this funding is that iPrice is moving towards a series C funding round; also to refine products and accelerate partnerships. Under current plans, we want to achieve profitability within 2-3 years ahead.”

iPrice is on a mission to bring a higher level of transparency, convenience and trust to consumers in Southeast Asia to help them save money when shopping online. Utilizing the web platform, users can immediately access 6 billion offers on more than 2 million sellers on one channel.

Previously, in March 2020 the iPrice Group secured funding worth $10 million, equivalent to Rp141 billion. Meanwhile, in September of the same year, iPrice received another fresh funds with an undisclosed amount. This funding is a continuation/addition to the series B funding received last March. The investor involved in this funding is JG Digital Equity Ventures, Inc.

Business plan in Indonesia

Regarding the iPrice Group plans in Indonesia, Paul emphasized that this has become the most important market for them. The company already made a product discovery, price comparison and coupon business that helps millions of consumers find the best deals online every month.

In the future, the company has bigger aspirations and a clear roadmap to improve its products in Indonesia. Starting from the quality of the product catalog, the information presented to users, and developing additional services to help users.

“The funds will help us carry out our roadmap execution faster, as well as launch new partnerships to expand our product range,” Paul said.

The disruption due to pandemic happened to iPrice. However, in many ways, iPrice claims to be in a lucky position during the pandemic. It is including the PSBB and WFH regulations which have encouraged more online shopping activities.

“We’ve seen strong growth since the series B fundraising at the end of last year. In addition to a 60% increase in website traffic on the platform, we are also seeing higher interest from media partners, e-wallets, telecommunications companies, super apps, and other companies. who want to bring the convenience of online shopping for their users,” Paul concluded.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

Bareksa Officially Launches “BaTaRA” Robo Advisor Licensed by OJK

Bareksa, a mutual fund investment marketplace platform, officially launches BaTaRA robo advisor (Bareksa Tactical Robo Advisor) after obtaining an “Investment Advisor” license from OJK dated April 21, 2021. The trial has been conducted for nine months, since August 2020, attended by 1000 customers .

In an official statement, Robo Advisor Bareksa provides guidance and tactical assistance for investors based on algorithms and artificial intelligence features. This is combined with the investment strategy formulated by Bareksa’s team of analysts with expertise in the subject.

“We are very grateful and appreciate the support of OJK to grant permission for the first investment advisor to robo advisors in Indonesia. God willing, we will protect this mandate as well, therefore, Bareksa’s Robo Advisor will likely to be safe, more reliable, independent, and can provide maximum investment results to the wider community,” Bareksa’s Co-Founder & CEO, Karaniya Dharmasaputra said, Monday (5/24).

During the trial, Bareksa’s analyst team keep testing the real performance and compare it to other robo advisors. It is said that the investment returns based on BaTaRA’s recommendations are more optimal, and can even outperform the Jakarta Composite Index (IHSG).

He ensured that BaTaRA was fully independent and in favor of customers’ interests. The methodology applied is made transparent, independent, and regularly reported to OJK as required by existing regulations. “We ensure that the investment recommendation from Bareksa’s Robo Advisor is not based on any promotional and marketing interests.”

BaTaRA recommendations are personalized based on the customer’s risk profile, formulating investment strategies and recommendations not only statically based on a risk profile, but also providing recommendations on the allocation of mutual funds needed to maximize investment returns.

The recommendations are made dynamic, not static, by incorporating parameters of changing capital market conditions and macroeconomic conditions. In addition, to mitigate risk and maximize investment returns, the recommended products are made very selective, only selected mutual funds from the best 15 investment managers.

In separate interview with DailySocial, Karaniya said that the robo advisor was created due to the rapid growth of retail investors during the pandemic. “Most of them are new investors with zero experience and in need of guidance. Since the numbers is large, it was impossible to use the manual method. It requires a robo to guide their investment to optimize their investment returns.”

Bareksa currently has 1.8 million customers, selling more than 120 mutual fund products from 33 investment managers in Indonesia.

“We expect Bareksa’s Robo Advisor can provde investors with safer services and maximum investment returns. Customers can also have easy access to Investment Advisory services, which considered quite expensive for most people.”

Aside from Bareksa’s Robo Advisor, there is also Bibit which put robo advisor as its main proposition in capturing new customers.

OJK also stipulates Investment Advisors and Investment Managers as regulated in Law Number 8 of 1995 Concerning Capital Markets (Capital Market Law). In its derivative regulations, a requirement to be fulfilled as an Investment Advisor is to have an employee with an individual license to represent the Investment Manager. Investment Manager representative licensing is regulated in POJK Number 31 of 2018.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

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Kredivo to Consider SPAC; Expecting “Go-Public” Testimony from Indonesian Tech Giants

The fintech paylater company, Kredivo, is reportedly considering an option to go public on the New York stock exchange through SPAC. The company plans to partner with Victory Park Capital’s unit, an investment company that also provided debt funding facilities to Kredivo worth $100 million in November 2020.

This news was first reported by DealStreetAsia. As we continue to follow up, Kredivo executives were reluctant to comment on the rumors.

From the existing funding rounds, Kredivo’s current estimated valuation has reached $500 million. The ranks of investors include Singtel Innov8, Telkomsel Mitra Inovasi, MDI Ventures, Cathay Innovation, DST Partners, and Kejora Intervest.

Meanwhile, the value of the blank check company to be partnered with is estimated at $255 million.

Go-public plans

Recently, Tiket.com’s plan to go-public resurfaced. The company, which has now valued more than $1 billion, is reportedly considering SPAC as its vehicle to go-public on the stock exchange. Rumor has it that they will collaborate with a blank check company COVA Acquisition Corp. (COVA), forming a unity valued at more than $2 billion.

In addition, as quoted by Kumparan, GoTo’s CEO, Andre Soelistyo said the Gojek-Tokopedia joint venture also plans to go-public on the stock exchange before the end of 2021.

In a general note, other unicorns, including Traveloka and Bukalapak have reportedly begun exploring the option of going public with SPAC.

The SPAC popularity arises as the conventional IPO process is considered more complicated, expensive, and time-consuming for technology startups. In the United States, 2020 is a significant momentum for go-public through blank check scheme. There are more than 200 SPACs raising an estimated $799 billion.

However, there has been a decline in SPAC prices and interest in institutional investors to enter the PIPE; it is possible for startups to rethink about going public through this mechanism.

Withersworldwide’s partner, Joel Shen argues, SPAC’s resurgence can be attributed to low interest rates, abundant liquidity in the market due to the stimulus of the US central bank system, and an increase in the number of acquisition targets, especially in technology.

Expecting testimony

The plan remains, even the companies above avoid to openly discuss or admit about the SPAC. Some have already given the signal to immediately conduct an IPO.

If these market-leading startups can succeed with SPAC, it will be both a measure and a good benchmark for the ecosystem. One of them is related to the company’s acceptance on foreign exchanges, even though its business is focused on local [regional] markets.

In his analysis, Gabriel Li as an expert from Withers KhattarWong Singapore said that the [global] public market has currently showing interest to invest in Southeast Asian technology startups. The success of Sea Group in bringing e-commerce, video games and payments businesses is said to be one of the early triggers. Investments in Southeast Asian or Indonesian companies are seen to be complementary for most investors.

Investors in the capital market, the government, and even the general public are now waiting for concrete steps of the tech-giants to go-public on the stock exchange. It is expected with careful steps, local startups can really give their best performance, therefore, it turns out to be extraordinary examples for innovators following in the same direction.

Indonesian capital market

All the news about unicorns planning to go-public, the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) did not sit still. Various adjustments were made as “inducements” to local technology companies to consider domestic IPOs.

IDX’s Development Director, Hasan Fawzi said some adjustment points compiled through conversations with industry players. It is related to the listing option on the main board, expand the classification of sub-sectors, and to the rights of the founder to do a dual class share.

Dual listing is predicted to be an option for startups, as it is undeniable that investors from the United States stock exchange are connecting companies to embrace a wider circle of investors. On the other hand, an IPO on a local stock exchange will spice up the Indonesian market, while being a manifestation of nationalism.

IDX’ Commissioner, Pandu Sjahrir’s also said, as quoted by Tempo, currently three unicorns have registered to the local stock exchange, although no further details have been identified.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian
Gambar Header: Depositphotos.com

TaniHub to Secure Series B Funding Worth Nearly 1 Trillion Rupiah

The agritech startup TaniHub Group reportedly secured $65.5 million (over 940 billion Rupiah) Series B funding led by MDI Ventures. According to DailySocial’s source, participated also in this round, UOB Global Capital, Vertex Ventures, Telkomsel Mitra Inovasi, BRI Ventures, Add Ventures, Flourish Ventures, Intudo Ventures, Openspace Ventures, Tenaya Capital, and others.

This round has brought TaniHub’s valuation up to over $200 million.

One of the investors showed the “green signal” on the news and mentioned this investment is the company’s commitment to advancing the agricultural industry in Indonesia with a technological approach.

Previously, TaniHub management had boasted about the investment round the company was raising earlier this year. TaniHub Group’s Co-Founder & CEO, Pamitra Wineka said that investors in this round was very enthusiast, the value even oversubscribed from the initial target.

“We want to give this fund back to Indonesian farmers. We want to expand where we can reach more farmers, hopefully further to Papua,” he said.

TaniHub announced the Series A round in April 2020 worth of $17 million led by Openspace Ventures and Intudo Ventures.

In an official statement the company anounced today (5/21), Pamitra said, “[..] Furthermore, we plan to strengthen our role in every region in Indonesia to be closer to farmers and the community. Therefore, what we do at least to reduce the price disparity between farmers and consumers.”

MDI Ventures’ Portfolio Director, Sandhy Widyasthana added, “[..] MDI will continue to focus on investing in technology startups with big role in various sectors that influence people’s lives and can make a big difference in Indonesia. MDI considers TaniHub Group as having a big role in agriculture and has proven that its existence can have a positive impact on improving the quality of life for Indonesian farmers [..]” he said.

This year, TaniHub Group is increasingly expanding, also through the launching of the NFC (National Fulfillment Center) in Cikarang to provide agricultural supply chain infrastructure that can support national and global market demands. The NFC is ready to serve inbound and outbound to other islands outside Java and Bali as well as foreign markets.

On an area of 12,000 square meters, there’s a large capacity for cold storage and it accommodates non-fresh products such as groceries and processed food from various brands. In addition, the company is building more regional distribution facilities (DC), processing and product packaging centers (PPC), poultry processing centers (PPC), and rice mills at various points.

It is located in some areas, including North Sumatra, Riau, Palembang, Lampung, Banjarmasin, Banjarmasin, Manado and Makassar. Currently, the fully-operated PPC location is in Malang, which supports the supply chain of various regional distribution facilities spread across five cities, including Bogor, Bandung, Kartasura, Surabaya and Denpasar.

Last April, the company exported 14.5 tons of watermelon from its farming partners in Lampung to the United Arab Emirates. In this country, it is predicted that the potential for sustainable demand from the UAE market will reach 156 tons per month.

They also target other countries to export fruits, such as pineapples, bananas, mangoes and oranges, including Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea and Malaysia with a capacity of 1,000 tons per month with an export value of IDR 15.31 billion this year.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

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SIRCLO Reportedly Bags Funding Worth Over 430 Billion Rupiah

According to a trusted source, SIRCLO, an e-commerce enabler startup is reportedly to have secured an estimated $45 million in Series B3 funding led by SMDV. East Ventures is one of the earliest investors participated in this round.

DailySocial asked confirmation from Sirclo team and received no response. We also tried to contact the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of East Ventures Willson Cuaca, he said that the information was actually part of Sirclo’s acquisition of Orami. “Let’s say it’s a part of the acquisition process,” he said, Wednesday (5/19).

Referring to Willson’s statement, in the acquisition process, investors from Orami made a top up. East Ventures also joined the top up for SIRCLO. EV is actually an SIRCLO’s early investor.

SMDV first invested in Orami in 2016, when Orami used to be a new brand entity after the merger between Bilna and Moxy. Then, Orami secured $15 million in funding from ranks of investors, including Gobi Partners, Ardent Capital, Velos Partners, and Co-Founder Founder Eduardo Saverin.

SIRCLO has announced Series B funding worth $6 million on Agustuts 2020. Investors participated in this round are EV, OCBC NISP Ventura, Skystar Capital, and Sinar Mas Land.

The acquisition of Orami by SIRCLO was announced in early April 2021. The objective is none other than to develop the strengths of the two companies’ businesses in providing end-to-end digital services to principal brands. In total, both companies have served more than 100 thousand brands from the MSME scale to corporations that reach millions of consumers.

Post-acquisition, Orami will continue to operate as an independent entity integrated with the SIRCLO service. Ferry Tenka (Orami’s CEO) currently serves as SIRCLO’s Chief Marketing Officer and Hendrawan Kartika (Orami’s President) as SIRCLO’s Chief Financial Officer.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

Transfez Secures Seed Funding Led by East Ventures and BEENEXT

After announcing fundraising plan last year, the fintech platform Transfez that offers digital remittance services today (5/19) just finalized its seed round. This round was led by East Ventures and BEENEXT.

“We are very pleased to have two well-known investors supporting Transfez’s mission. Currently, cross-border payments are complex due to different terms and payment channels in each country. As a result, transactions are expensive and time-consuming. Our goal is to simplify the complex process,” Transfez’ CEO, Edo Windratno said.

The company plans to use the fresh money for product development and market penetration. Currently, Transfez serves the B2C sector offering money transfer services to 26 foreign currencies in more than 50 countries. In addition, Transfez will also expand its services to the B2B payment sector in the near future.

Was founded in early 2020, Transfez has processed a total of IDR1.5 trillion ($105 million) transactions. Apart from the Covid-19 pandemic, they also claim to have experienced a 30 times growth of transactions processed in the past year.

Transfez offers international money transfer services cost up to 10 times lower than conventional banks with an all-digital and real-time process. Customers can send and receive their money in minutes because Transfez has liquidity in every country where the company operates.

“We believe that the Transfez team has the ability to serve millions of Indonesians to send and receive money digitally around the world in a more cost-effective, seamless and secure way,” East Ventures’ Partner, Melisa Irene said.

The rise of remmittance players in Indonesia

Since 2015, there are many remittance services provided by foreign to local platforms in Indonesia. One of the main reasons is to cater for the large number of migrant workers abroad in terms of sending money to their families back home.

The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) reports that there are around 276,553 migrant workers abroad. Taiwan, Malaysia and Hong Kong are three most favorite harbor for our workers. Meanwhile, the number of Indonesian students studying in other countries is 20,225 people. Both students and the workforce are the foundation of the remittance business, but the market might continue to widen.

Aside from fintech platforms such as Transfree, Xendit, TransferWise, Wallex, Zendmoney, OY!, TrueMoney, RemitPro which try to offer similar services, banking services like BNI have started to actively develop their technology by establishing strategic collaborations with related parties to strengthen remittance services.

Meanwhile, BRI Ventures is involved in funding Nium, a remittance startup from Singapore.

Yusuf Rendy Manilet, an economist from the Center of Reform on Economics (CORE), said that the popularity of remittances this year cannot be separated from its huge potential. The opportunity remains as digital players are yet to reach all layers put remittances as the next most promising fintech service derivation.

One of the factors driving the large potential for remittances is the number of Indonesian workers and students abroad. Moreover, Yusuf said, Indonesia will experience a demographic bonus. The growth of the productive age will pick up – something he considers reassuring investors of the prospects for the remittance business.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

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What Later-Stage Startups Expect When They’re Expecting Investors

Aside from capital, there are many other inquiries and criteria that startup founders look for in investors. It particularly happens for later-stage startups in Series A, B, and C. This is the finding that DailySocial obtained from a mini survey of some startup founders in the particular stage. We also conduct short polls on this topic on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Why do we narrow it down to Series A, B, and C startups? It is because the startups in this phase have gained traction, secured customer base, and are starting to plan for scale-up or business expansion. It means that they will have more complex criteria along with business growth, and are no longer glued to capital alone.

A different hypothesis might arose as it is compared to the early-stage startups, where capital is necessary to develop products/services. The goal is to get customers and find out whether the product/service has been accepted by the market (market-fit).

The following are the summarized results of our mini survey.

Global investment network

Some startup founders participated in our mini survey, including those engaged in e-logistics, edtech, agritech, and musictech. Apart from capital, their expectations lie down for access to global network (85.7%), technology advisory (42.9%), business advisory (28.6%), and mentoring for founders (14.3 %).

In line with the above statement, as many as 48% have high expectations for access to global investor networks, followed by business advisory (40%), technology advisory (7%), as well as VC brand name and experience (4%)

LinkedIn polling regarding startup expectations towards investors / DailySocial

Polling Twitter mengenai ekspektasi startup mencari investor / DailySocial — Twitter polling regarding startup expectations towards investors / DailySocial

In this survey, Shipper‘s Co-founder, Budi Handoko said that investors already have a lot of experience in managing a business. The role of investors is very important in providing input regarding trends and business models to be explored in the future.

In the context of VC as an investor, eFishery‘s Founder, Gibran Huzaifah added that they can help with the access to global investor network, especially for funding in the next round with a bigger size check.

Track record as the main factor

Next, what are the criteria that respondents looking for in investors? The partners’ track record is at the top of 85.7%, followed by personalities and portfolio ranks with 57.1% respectively, managed funds 42.9%, also portfolio feedback and aligned vision and mission 14.3%.

Budi said, it is important to know the track record and positive feedback of the portfolio before accepting an investment. This is because some investors may act persuasive during the ‘approach’, then turn into controlling moed as they made the investment.

Gibran agreed to the statement, it is important to know how investors work ethic and how they determine the funding hypothesis. These criteria can be the key to considering whether investors and startups can collaborate together.

“Another important consideration is the track record of investors’ managed funds, regarding the fund cycle in what year and the total fund size in particular. This will affect their exit expectations and how strong they can continue in the next funding round,” Gibran said.

For Zenius’ Co-founder, Sabda PS, another equally important criterion is finding investors who have an understanding of how to sustainably create a deep and broad impact. This point becomes very relevant to the extend of the Indonesian education with all the great challenges.

Struggling for investors

All respondents stated that it is difficult to find investors who understand the startup business in certain sectors, the intricacies of the Indonesian market, along with work ethics. According to respondents, it is not easy to find investors with the same value and believe that there are lots of other things besides numbers.

“We believe that good product sells itself. The agreement of time to pocket a return on investment (ROI) is tough if it is forced. This is as long as we prefer to [seek funding] through bootstrapping,” told one respondent.

Gibran added that it was difficult for him to find investors as few people understood the business model he was running in the agritech sector. Due to this condition, he admitted that he had experienced difficulties in convincing investors, especially in appreciating progress. The benchmarks in the agritech sector was not really build then, therefore, it was difficult to find a round size comparison and valuation.

VCs set more focus on managing business growth

Regarding startup funding sources, Venture Capital (VC) is the investor category most chosen by respondents at 71.4%, followed by Corporate Venture Capital/0CVC, private equity, corporations with 28.6% each, and the rest was angel funds at 14.3%.

One respondent said, corporations are considered to be more mature, calm and stable in terms of business. However, there are also respondents who think that VC is more suitable for long-term, lighter, and generic investments.

On the other hand, Gibran believed that VC is more focused on business growth, there is no takeover and strategic collaboration efforts like CVC. In addition, VCs with experience and a strong team can provide insight into strategy, organizational design, and business models.

“From technology support, some VCs provide channels to tech talent and best practices. Some also have internal teams that can support development. As a startup, technology becomes defensibility. VCs who can provide this support will bring a lot of value to the company,” Gibran explained.

Most of our respondents also have a high tendency to seek foreign investors (42.9%), especially investors who have networks or specific interests in more niche industries, such as sustainable innovation. There are also those who are interested in trying to invest through crowdfunding (14.3%).

When you get investors, founders has other expectations include business advisory by 85.7%, then participation for the next round and to be linked to a global investor network of 57.1% respectively, and for investors get into the advisory ranks of 14.3%.

“I don’t think there is a ‘certain type’ of investor that is sought after, it’s rather the person and what is the best funding strategy for the startup. Therefore, it can be a match between goals and long-term relationships as a whole. For example, SME enabler startups will be very strategic to join Sembrani and received investment from BRI Ventures,” Kuassa’s Co-Founder, Grahadea Kusuf said.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

Tiket.com Confirms the Unicorn Status, Considering IPO through SPAC on the NYSE

Tiket.com is exploring the potential to go public on the New York stock exchange through SPAC. According to a Bloomberg report, the company is in discussions with COVA Acquisition Corp. (COVA), with an estimated of $2 billion combined value of the companies. The company is also said to consider raising an additional $200 million through the PIPE scheme.

The representative of Tiket.com has confirmed the unicorn status. He ensured that the company is exploring the potential to go public.

“Regarding that, we can now confirm that Tiket.com is now a unicorn, and Tiket.com plans for an IPO in the future,” a spokesperson for Tiket.com said.

Tiket.com was founded in 2011 and acquired by the Djarum Group through Blibli in 2017. Currently, both are operating as separate legal entities (PT), therefore, it is possible whether Tiket.com run for an IPO first.

Tiket.com founders are Mikhael Gaery Undarsa (CMO), Wenas Agusetiawan, Dimas Surya Yaputra (CCO), and Natali Ardianto (CTO – already exited). George Hendrata currently serves as Tiket.com’s CEO.

In April 2021, Tiket.com’s Co-Founder & CMO Gaery Undarsa stated at the media gathering that airline ticket sales has increased by 331%, while hotel reservations increased by 321%.

The positive result was obtained amidst various restrictions due to the pandemic.

Previously, several unicorn startups had planned to go public through SPAC, including Traveloka, which is Tiket.com’s closest competitor. Other unicorns also rumored to conduct an IPO, including GoTo (Gojek and Tokopedia) and Bukalapak. In addition, the MNC conglomerate’s OTT business unit has chosen a similar step.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

Bukalapak Acquires itemku, a Synergy to Boost Digital Asset Sales in the Game Industry

Bukalapak is acquiring itemku, an online platform marketplace for game-related digital products. This news was first confirmed by Khailee Ng, Managing Partner of 500 Startups, through uploads on his personal LinkedIn – it is known that 500 Startups are investing in both Bukalapak and itemku. Not long afterm, itemku team has also confirmed directly.

Previously, on May 11, 2021, Bukalapak also announced its strategic partnership with itemku, with a mission to facilitate access to the video game industry in Indonesia. Bukalapak’s COO, Willix Halim said, “I realize that the need for home entertainment has increased during the pandemic, and itemku are doing a great job of understanding those needs. I hope that with our shared strength, we can help catalyze the need for digital gaming in Indonesia.”

Meanwhile, itemku’s Founder & CEO Denis Kim said, “Millions of Indonesians have used itemku for years. However, we want to go beyond just making digital entertainment inclusive. I fully agree with Bukalapak’s vision to build an economy that is fair for all, and that’s why we decided to collaborate with them. We want to have a big impact on hundreds of millions of Indonesians, just as they have done. Along with the social impact, I hope this collaboration can bring rapid development in this industry.”

In this partnership, both itemku and Bukalapak will have a strong strategic collaboration commitment, including:

Synergize the team: Bukalapak and itemku work together as a team.
Reach more users throughout Indonesia: itemku products are widely distributed through the Bukalapak network including in rural areas.
Doing new project development together: many types of new projects will be developed together.

itemku representative said, for now and in the future itemku will still stand as a separate entity. There is no plan to merge with the Bukalapak’s marketplace. In a general note, itemku provides a marketplace service that allows users to buy and sell digital game assets. They also sell various vouchers for premium access to a game.

itemku is part of Five Jack, founded in 2014. In addition to 500 Startups, they also received funding from Bon Angels Venture Partners.

In our previous interview, itemku’s CPO, Virdienash Haqmal said, the company’s GMV per month had increased by 15-20%, as well as revenue during 2020. Customer growth also increased by 60% from January to June 2020. Meanwhile, for marketing activities, the company reduced its budget by 80%.

Game industry market landscape

According to a report from Verizon, mobile game usage rose 75% during the first phase of lockdown in 2020, compared to the pre-pandemic period, and there were more than 2.3 billion mobile game downloads between March 5 and April 5, up 60% at the same time the previous year. Based on data presented by Nielsen, spending on video games increased by 11% in March 2020.

IDC analysts predict that there will be a 20% increase in global video game revenue in 2020 to $179.7 billion, higher than the film sector. The data shows that a large number of people were acquainted with and tried video games for the first time during the pandemic and that many of them will continue to play games in the future. This prediction is reinforced by a survey conducted by Google and Savanta in May 2020 of 7,611 people, the fact is that 40% of new players will tend to continue playing when this pandemic situation is over, and as many as 65% say they will play the game longer each session than previous.

Another study released in November 2020, conducted by NPD, found that people between the ages of 45 and 54 saw a 59% increase in spending their time playing games over the past year, while the amount of money they spent on or playing games games increased by 76%. For those between the ages of 55 and 64, the time spent playing games increased by 48%, while the amount of money they spent playing games increased by 73%.

Also, another fact shows that out of 5,000 people surveyed, 79% said they had played video games in the previous six months, up 6% from the previous year. These studies and research show that video games are not only attractive to children and adolescents, but for those who are older, video games are a solution for them in distracting boredom during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

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BukuKas Bags 709 Billion Rupiah Funding, Joining the Centaur Club

BukuKas, a bookeeping app startup for MSMEs, announced $50 million (equivalent to 709 billion Rupiah) Series B funding led by Sequioa Capital India. Also participated in this round some of well-known angel investors, such as Gokul Rajaram and Taavet Hinrikus, one of TransferWise’s founders.

Sequioa Capital India previously led the Series A round for BukuKas four months ago worth of $10 million (equivalent to 141 billion Rupiah).

BukuKas will use the fund to build up the engineering and product teams in its two offices, Jakarta and Bangalore. The company is to expand the services for business people in line with the company’s vision of providing comprehensive software solutions for MSMEs in Indonesia.

“This new investment round will boost our growth as efforts are being made to build a complete financial solution for small businesses that we believe are the bread and butter of the Indonesian economy,” BukuKas’ Co-Founder & CEO, Krishnan Menon said in an official statement, Tuesday (5/18).

The announcement, he continued, is in time with the launch of the new payment feature of BukuKasPay last month. This feature allows businesses to pay to their suppliers on time and to collect debts from their customers digitally, through various digital payment methods, such as Virtual Bank Accounts, QRIS, and popular e-wallets.

Within a month of its release, BukuKas is said to recorded tens of millions US dollars monthly payment transactions on its platform.

As of April 2021, BukuKas has succeeded in reaching 6.3 million shop owners and small businesses, of which nearly half or as many as 3 million of them are monthly active users. BukuKas recorded an accumulated transaction value of nearly $25.9 million, or equivalent to 2.2% of Indonesia’s GDP.

Krishnan targets the company to grow users up to 20 million MSMEs by 2022.

BukuKas was first launched in December 2019 under the incubation of Whiteboard Capital. Companies are evolving to meet the transformation of MSMEs, evolving from simple digital financial records applications that allow small business owners to better record and manage sales and expenses.

Currently, BukuKas is an application that provide inventory management, create invoices, and perform analytics.

“BukuKas wants to be the first choice for business ecosystem partners to help small business owners develop and grow in this digital era. In line with the launch of BukuKasPay, we will continue to build the trust of BukuKas users and support them with comprehensive banking and trading solutions in the near future,” BukuKas’ Co-Founder and COO, Lorenzo Peracchione added.

Confirmed as Centaur

In Bukukas’ funding journey, prior to entering series A and B, the company has secured $9 million in early stage funding led by Speedinvest. In total, BukuKas has raised $69 million and with the math’s done, this is likely to sent the company into the ranks of centaur startups or aspiring unicorns.

This is a term for startups that have reached a valuation of over $100 million and under $1 billion. The valuation referred to here is measured based on the funding raised from investors.

As we tried to confirmed with the CEO about the centaur status and asked for an estimated valuation, he prefers not to comment.

According to the 2020 Startup Report, there are at least 43 centaur startups in the Indonesian ecosystem by 2020. Six of them already have a valuation of over $500 million.

In addition, the startup industry enthusiasm for similar business like BukuKas has skyrocketed. It is marked by the various disbursement of funding provided to BukuWarung and Credibook throughout this pandemic. Apart from them, there are other players who have joined, including Moodah, Teman Bisnis, Akuntansiku, Lababook, Akuntansi UKM, and many more.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

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