Finantier Obtains Seed Funding, to Offer API service for Financial Business

Finantier is an open finance service developer startup, enabling financial companies to use an API (Application Programming Interface) connection to streamline multiple processes. In the Finantier service, there are three main features, verification of identity through data owned by users or bank data; help businesses manage raw data with machine learning; and provides features to accommodate regular payments or subscriptions.

The startup founded by Diego Rojas, Keng Low, and Edwin Kusuma, today (23/11) announced its pre-seed funding led by East Ventures with the participation of AC Ventures, Genesia Ventures, and several other investors. There is no further detail of the nominal funding obtained. The investment fund will be focused on strengthening the team and accelerating the development of their API technology, including preparing services to expand in various countries in Southeast Asia.

Co-Founder Finantier: Diego Rojas & Keng Low — Finantier’s Co-Founders : Diego Rojas & Keng Low

“Open finance is a framework built on the principles of open banking that gives consumers the flexibility to access their data securely and use it optimally across multiple platforms,” Finantier Co-Founder & CEO Diego Rojas said.

In Indonesia, open banking regulation is the responsibility of Bank Indonesia. Until now, the Open API standard is in its developing stage. Since last July 2020, BI has announced the release of the Open API standard, enabling collaboration between banks and fintechs to create an inclusive financial services ecosystem. Open API is an application program that allows companies to be integrated between systems.

In Indonesia, there are several API service startups to accommodate various payments. One of the most comprehensive is Ayoconnect, which offers an API for transactions, payments, and even transaction data management. With a different approach, there is also an API-based open banking solution provided by Brankas, enabling developers to facilitate various transactions from user to bank.

“We are leveraging the digital footprint of consumers and businesses to provide them with safe access in Southeast Asia to customized financial services, which in turn help improve consumers’ financial well-being,” Co-Founder & CPO Finantier, Keng Low added.

Meanwhile, Finantier’s Co-Founder & COO Edwin Kusuma outlined one of the issues that fintech players in Indonesia have often encountered. “P2P lending companies often have difficulty channeling loans to individuals and SMEs. Usually, this is due to a lack of information or because fintech companies are unable to get a complete financial picture of prospective borrowers, even though this data is needed to reduce loan risk and reduce costs.”

Finantier was founded in the middle of this year aiming to provide the infrastructure and data needed by businesses to build the next generation of financial products. Finantier enables fintech platforms and financial institutions to collaborate securely to provide consumers with flexibility, convenience and security in utilizing their financial data.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

Alpha JWC to Invest 29 Billion Rupiah into Culinary Startup “Mangkokku”

Culinary startup Mangkokku announced its seed funding worth of $2 million (nearly 29 billion Rupiah) from Alpha JWC Ventures. The fresh funds will be used for outlet expansion until next year.

For the record, Alpha JWC also invested in another culinary startup by Gibran, Goola, last year. In addition, other culinary startups that have listed in Alpha JWC’s portfolio are Kopi Kenangan, Hangry, and Lemonilo.

Mangkokku was founded last year by celebrity chef Arnold Poernomo, culinary entrepreneur Randy Kartadinata, and two children of the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Gibran Rakabuming and Kaesang Pangarep. Gibran and Kaesang serve as advisors for the day-to-day operations of the company.

Meanwhile, Arnold heads up culinary production and innovation, and Randy acts as CEO responsible for Mangkokku’s daily business and expansion. Before pioneering Mangkokku, the four founders had established at least 12 culinary companies in Indonesia and Australia, including Gioi, KOI Dessert Bart Sydney, and Markobar martabak outlets.

Mangkokku offers dishes in the form of a rice bowl or rice with side dishes served in a bowl with the taste of typical Indonesian food. There are 12 menus that are sold with prices ranging from Rp19 thousand to Rp54 thousand per portion.

Para founder Mangkokku / Mangkokku — Mangkokku Founders / Mangkokku

In an official statement, Arnold Poernomo said that his team adopted a global business perspective. He believes that to grow rapidly and sustainably, you must provide superior products at affordable prices and maintain the standard of every bowl served.

“Therefore, we operate all branches ourselves and use high-tech equipment in the main kitchen to maintain product quality and consistency,” he explained, Monday (23/11).

Randy Kartadinata added that during the pandemic, the company managed to adapt quickly to respond to changes in consumer demand, which are now moving higher. It is claimed, each Mangkokku branch can sell 400 to 600 bowls every day.

“Our big dream is to become the largest mass-market culinary group in Indonesia and build its own ecosystem consisting of various culinary brands and institutions. Not only that, we also want to be the best culinary company in terms of local and regional expansion and technical operations. That’s why we took this startup route and collaborated with Alpha JWC Ventures,” Randy continued.

Currently, Mangkokku has 22 branches in Jabodetabek and will expand to Surabaya in the near future. The company will add up to 30 store locations by the end of this year and 75 branches next year.

Also, next year they will start developing food menus outside the rice bowl concept, starting from drinks, desserts, and packaged chili sauce series. Thus, Mangkokku’s ambition as a complete culinary solution can be realized.

Alpha JWC Ventures partner Eko Kurniadi said that his team sees the culinary business as a sector that can benefit from venture funding and the use of technology. Mangkokku has performed brilliantly even during the pandemic.

“This proves that their products have been well received by the community. Our financial and business support as well as our previous experience will help Mangkokku develop into a large company faster,” he said.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

Gojek to Reshuffle Management for Financial Business Effectivity

Yesterday (18/11), Gojek announced the reshuffle of the C-level management structure to strengthen the company’s two main portfolios, namely services under Gojek and financial which will be effective as of January 2020.

Co-CEO Gojek will share the tasks. Kevin Aluwi will lead the Gojek service, while Andre Soelistyo will lead the digital and financial payment line. They both remain as Co-CEOs of Gojek Group. Changes only occur at the operational level of the company, so they do not have an impact on the organizational structure as a group.

“We will continue our role as Co-CEO of the Gojek Group, but each of us will have a more specific scope and responsibilities going forward,” said Kevin and Andre in an official statement.

Andre will lead three business units, digital payments (Gopay), financial services such as PayLater, and B2B and merchant solutions.

Both of them explained that in the development of two large business portfolios under the Gojek Group, namely services under the Gojek brand and digital & financial payment services, they have grown bigger. Each portfolio requires different skills and focus.

The management focus on strengthening these two portfolios was carried out due to the stronger corporate fundamentals this year. Total GTV on the Gojek group platform reached $12 billion, increased by 10% from the previous year. Meanwhile, GTV Gopay grew to exceed the total transaction value in the pre-pandemic period.

“Therefore, we must optimize our team to maximize the growth of each of these big businesses. [..] Now is the right time to look back at our business and ensure that Gojek can run optimally, therefore, it will be even more successful in the future. ”

Another line shifting of management is that Hans Patuwo will head the payments business, previously he served as COO of Gojek for nearly three years. Moreover, Ryu Suliawan will lead the B2B and merchant solutions. He previously held the position of Head of Merchants Gojek and also Founder of Midtrans, a payment gateway company that was acquired by Gojek in 2017.

Andre, Hans, and Ryu will develop payment lines next year, Gojek’s current financial business is led by Aldi Haryopratomo as CEO of Gopay who has served for three years. Aldi will step down next year, it was not clear about his next venture.

“Under Aldi’s leadership, Gopay has grown rapidly and has become an important part of the way Indonesians transact. Gojek will always be grateful for Aldi’s services and contributions [..] Aldi will continue to be a friend and advisor who is trusted and respected by everyone in the Gojek Group,” Andre added.

Aldi also said, “I am very grateful to be able to be a part of the development of Gopay and with the team that has helped build the company into what it is today. [..] I am confident that the company will continue to provide access to financial services for the people who need it most.”

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

Application Information Will Show Up Here

Style Crush Offers to Revolutionize Shopping for Clothes

Imagine how easy it would be to shop for clothes if there was a machine that could recommend something used by idols. It is no longer just wishful thinking because of the emergence of Style Crush in Indonesia.

Style Crush is a fashion technology platform that relies on artificial intelligence (AI). Is a product owned by Odd Concepts, an AI company from South Korea. This platform allows its users to do a number of things that make it easier for them to find their favorite clothes in no time.

Style Crush’s most prominent ability is in finding places that sell any clothing. Simply pasting the image link to the front page, Style Crush can find a series of recommendations for clothes that are really similar or just resemble. This can happen thanks to their AI technology called PXL which can identify all the details of an outfit. Apart from using a link, users can also ask the machine to recognize a garment by uploading a photo.

“We are a fashion AI discovery platform. We help users create albums in categories or similar. The difference with Pinterest, there are all industries, if we are just fashion,” said Country Director Odd Concepts Melina Tio.

As Melina said, this platform does allow its users to create albums that contain their fashion preferences. The clothes here are not just clothes. Machines can recognize all fashion objects that can be attached to the human body starting from clothes, pants, hats, shoes, belts, everything can be searched.

Melina claims the search accuracy on their engine reaches 99%. However, search results also depend on the availability of clothing that you are looking for in related e-commerce. The Style Crush work system is linked to many e-commerce sites as the end result of the search. You could say Style Crush resembles an effective online shopping assistant in finding clothing options.

Closely related with e-commerce

The way Style Crush works is closely related to e-commerce. That’s why establishing a lot of e-commerce to enrich their image search results. Melina said that currently at least she has partnered with dozens of e-commerce and technology companies in the fashion sector. Blibli, Tokopedia, Bukalapak, and Lazada. That number will grow more and more over time.

Chief Strategy Officer of Odd Concepts Brian Sungwoo Bae explained, the presence of Style Crush in Indonesia is in accordance with the needs of e-commerce today. Brian admits that during this pandemic, people’s spending on clothes has decreased. However, due to the pandemic, people are also putting more effort into finding clothes that they really want.

“They are smarter at shopping, more likely to be picky. That means they know better what style and design they want to buy. As well as choosing the right price. This is the right time for fashion e-commerce and retailers to find what they need and adopt. AI,” Brian explained.

Focus on the young generation

Odd Concepts is targeting Style Crush to be used by Generation Z and Millennials. Brian said that his party is trying to get around 50 million people from both age groups to be able to use their products.

Apart from e-commerce, Odd Concepts relies on the partnerships they build with the media. Media is the choice because they also have Style Crush Ad products. This product is a kind of classified ad recommendation that usually appears on the face of online articles. What is unique about the Style Crush Ad is that the clothing recommendations they display in the classifieds are exactly the same as the images in the article. So if the photo in the article shows someone dressed in women’s clothes, the Style Crush Ad machine will display similar outfit recommendations.

Style Crush itself has just officially launched yesterday (20/11). Odd Concepts is focused on engaging more e-commerce and media in the near future so that they can reach more users.

“We want to be prepared. Again, e-commerce in Indonesia is preparing for 2021,” concluded Brian.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

Portal Property 99.co Acquired Singapore’s Property Sales and Data Provider Platform

99 Group, the parent company of 99.co Singapore and Indonesia, as well as several property portals in Southeast Asia, announced an acquisition of the property platform and real estate data provider Singapore Real Estate Exchange (SRX) with undisclosed value. It is said to take 99 Group as the leading player of the property market in Singapore within 18 months.

The agreement has signed on 7 November 2020. 99 Group will acquire all the shares of SRX through Streetsine Singapore Pte Ltd. The transaction is expected to be completed by the beginning of the first quarter of next year. All SRX employees will join the 99 Group, migration will begin in the coming weeks.

Joining SRX under the same flag as 99.co and iproperty.com.sg add strength in terms of a collection of listings, information, and various tools to support the parent in providing added value and competitive services to consumers and real estate professionals in Singapore.

In Indonesia, this business acquisition will also have a positive impact on the future for developers, agents, and property seekers. Here, after the acquisition of UrbanIndo, 99.co formed a joint venture company with Real Estate Australia (REA). Two property sites owned by REA, namely iproperty.com.sg and Rumah123.com, are managed by 99.co to win the Southeast Asian market.

99 Group’s CEO, Darius Cheung said SRX’s data analysis capabilities were very suitable for the 99 Group platform which currently places great importance on listing quality and content for users. He is optimistic, exclusive, and best-in-class technology, the SRX can enhance the 99 Group’s ability to launch different innovations.

“Reliable property data is very important. This is because property search continues to shift to the online realm, even though direct visits or open houses have been permitted again. This indicates that there has been a change in consumer behavior. The real estate industry certainly needs to digitize accordingly to meet the growing needs of consumers,” he said in an official statement, Tuesday (10/11).

SRX was founded in 2009, quickly proclaiming itself as a comprehensive property data provider in Singapore. One of the innovations is the AI X-Value algorithm, which provides an instant and accurate prediction of the value of a property. This device is familiar to property agents and consumers alike.

Their other products, Analyzer and Home Report are also considered indispensable in today’s real estate industry.

Technology innovation amid pandemic

Related to changes in consumer behavior during the pandemic, Darius said that his party responded by developing technology that had been adapted to new habits. One of these is the option of virtually viewing ideal properties and using videos.

In addition, the company held the Singapore Property Show last month. This property exhibition is held online and has a service that allows the public to feel as if they are in a sample unit of 18 participant property projects in person. Also equipped with a narrative to add to the consumer experience.

In response to the incessant digital transformation in the process of buying and selling property. The company announced last September that it plans to recruit 100 technology staff over the next year to develop its product and engineering teams.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

Understanding Fintech Challenges and Opportunities amid Recession

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has finally brought Indonesia officially into a row of countries experiencing a recession. The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) recorded a growth of minus 3.49 percent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on an annual basis (Year-on-Year/YoY).

This condition claims an alert for all the business sectors in Indonesia, considering that not a few have been affected by Covid-19. Business people, large to small, have struggled to survive this situation over the past few months.

How do fintech players run business in times of recession? See in full the interesting explanation from CCO Payments of OVO Jaygan Fu Ponnudurai and Chief Risk of Asetku Jimmi Adhe Kharisma in the following #SelasaStartup session.

Trend for consumer behavior and business impact

Pandemic triggers changes in consumer behavior in transactions. This trend applies worldwide, including in Indonesia. For OVO and Asetku, shifting from offline to online has a positive and negative impact on their business.

Based on company data, Jaygan admitted that there was a significant increase in food ordering (Grab Food) and online shopping (Tokopedia). Because of this shift, consumers tend to be promo-centric and cost-centric.

“We do see a decline, but it’s not as bad as we thought. We are trying to reach [the target] that we have corrected. Currently, we see that people are getting used to [transacting online] during the pandemic,” he said.

Meanwhile, Asetku, who plays in P2P lending, admitted that he experienced an increase in Non-Performing Loans (NPL) as a result of business difficulties during the PSBB period. As of September 2020, the company noted that the NPL of My Assets increased to 8.27% from the average NPL before the pandemic of 1% -2%.

Jimmi even saw an increase in the number of lenders rather than borrowers on his platform. According to him, this happened due to several factors, such as changes in consumer behavior in shopping, a decline in the JCI, tightening borrower criteria, and government initiatives to restructure debt.

“We see that the demand for borrowers has increased, so we have tightened the criteria. In addition, consumer loans have also increased because of the shifting behavior. Consumers often shop online,” he said.

Mitigation act

With the current situation, business players have started to secure the business and keep the runway long by mitigating both in terms of cost efficiency and re-evaluating their future strategies.

Both Jaygan and Jimmi claim to be efficient in their business by cutting unnecessary costs. In the Asetku case, his party took mitigation steps according to the government’s initiative to restructure.

However, according to Jimmi, one thing that should be underlined is to continue to observe trends in existing consumer behavior. According to him, it is important to understand this so that the company can continue to channel and maybe even increase loans to existing borrowers.

Meanwhile, Jaygan assessed the importance of understanding consumers to maintain the relevance of his services in the future. His party even evaluated a number of collaborations with several partners because they became irrelevant during a pandemic, for example with malls.

“This is all about optimizing what we spend, the difficult thing is to grow revenue lines and stay relevant to our consumers, especially when the promo period ends. That’s why we build risk mitigation, it takes time being customer centric,” he said.

Opportunities for SMEs to drive cashless

On the other hand, the pandemic is recognized as a momentum to accelerate a cashless society, especially since there are still many people in Indonesia who depend on cash. One of the most highlighted segments of MSME players is considered to be the most affected by the pandemic.

For Jaygan, this situation is an opportunity to encourage the penetration of QRIS features throughout Indonesia through the MSME segment, such as merchants in the market. According to company data, there are OVO merchant partners from this segment that are affected.

“Before the pandemic, we acquired MSMEs in Indonesia, for example with Pujasera. Because many were affected by the pandemic, we tried to convert merchants from offline to online with Tokopedia and Grab so that their business would continue,” he said. Now he sees an increasing trend of additional users outside Java who have been identified as being cash centric.

Meanwhile, as mentioned earlier, said Jimmi, his party continues to strive to accommodate loans to the MSME segment, especially for merchants selling on e-commerce platforms that are partners.

“The SMEs loan is not large, around Rp. 5-15 million. With KYC, algorithms, and mitigation measures, we are trying to accommodate their loans because this segment is untouched by banks, ”he explained.

Recession: Challenge or Opportunity?

Personally, Jaygan considered that a recession due to a prolonged pandemic has become a kind of reality check in running a business. He learned to think carefully before executing something.

According to him, this could be a good implication or not in the future.
“If there was no reality check, we would have just spent, not necessarily we could come up with new products or think about new market segments,” said Jaygan.

Meanwhile, Jimmi did not see this recession as a brutal challenge for fintech players, but a learning moment to be able to sustain a business. Moreover, he said, Indonesia was not the first to face this situation. Indonesia experienced economic crises in 1998 and 2008.

“The definition of economy is very broad, of course this situation can be an opportunity to learn because we have experienced crises before,” he added.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

Petskita Marketplace Offers Solution and Basic Needs for Pet

One industry that is still difficult to develop is a marketplace platform that offers services, products, and grooming for pets. Although some services have appeared since 2017, most of them have disappeared and are no longer operating. A market that is considered a “niche” means that not many platforms enter the segment.

However, it does not lessen the enthusiasm of startup activists to launch the service. This is proven by the presence of a new player with a unique business model, Petskita. A Medan-based startup offers various solutions and basic needs for pets in one integrated digital platform (website and application).

Petskita’s Co-Founder & CEO, Herpeiriati revealed to DailySocial that Petskita is an all-in-one platform that focuses on pets. Providing all pet needs in one platform, with integrated data, aiming to be a super-app for pet owners.

“In Petskita, we believe in the importance of a good partnership model with all business players in this field to get and retain users. Therefore, through Petskita products that will be integrated (Pets focused Marketplace, Pet Services Booking Platform, and Pet Our Service Management Platform) aims to provide users with a personalized experience and high value to all pet parents (animal owners) and business players in this industry,” Herpeiriati said.

Petskita monetizing strategy and business model

In just a few months, Petskita, founded by Herpeiriati, Taufin Rusli (CTO), and Gunawan Wahab (Managing Director), claims to have succeeded in getting a positive response from pet owners in Indonesia. With more than 6700 monthly active users (MAU), Petskita posted a sales increase of 71% in the first three months since its establishment.

Petskita offers a marketplace concept and an aggregator model by providing pet products and services. The monetizing strategy comes from various methods including commissions, subscriptions (both products, services, and SaaS) which will be applied at each stage of product launch.

“For the overall monetization strategy, Petskita is focused on building a pet ecosystem with integrated data that can provide added value to all Petskita customers,” Herpeiriati said.

Since May 2020, Petskita has launched a selection of more than 1000 products, from pet food to gadgets and accessories. Not only focusing on dogs and cats, but Petskita also provides products for fish, birds, rabbits, and other exotic animals. Petskita also makes it easy for all Pet Parents to meet the needs of their pets online during a pandemic.

“Since its launching, Petskita has received a lot of positive responses from pet parents in Indonesia, it is shown from the user growth which has increased by more than 49% in the last 5 months which can also be seen from the distribution of Petskita users from various provinces in Indonesia from the island of Sumatra to Papua.

Currently, Petskita is still developing new products and features. Several programs have also been presented, such as one of them; Kita For Pets as a movement and community of animal lovers that will be inaugurated shortly.

“Apart from that, we are also in the process of raising funds at an early stage. We expect this fundraising can help us develop further and faster,” Herpeiriati said.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

Potential Synergy of Startups and Retails to Realize “New Retail” in Indonesia

New retail is a term popularized by e-commerce giant Alibaba to describe the combination of online and offline retail through digitizing the trade process or what is called the retail value chain. The goal is to provide a better user experience (UX) for the benefit of merchants, consumers, as well as various partners involved in business processes.

Based on the CGAP study, the new retail concept democratizes several dimensions in the trading business, including (1) supply chain and distribution logistics, (2) value-added services for producers/retailers, (3) an integrated shopping experience for consumers.

With its financial resources and capabilities, Alibaba develops all these aspects independently. But what if we are faced with the opposite condition, when digital transformation met the legacy business processes, change cannot be done quickly – with various limited resources.

Potential synergy

The realization of new retail, especially in Indonesia, can be done with a synergy between technology startups and retail companies. This synergy may be started by identifying the most fundamental aspect of new retail itself, which is none other than building a data warehouse. The collected data will be used for various needs such as predictive analysis.

If we look deeper, there are several data that can be used in the retail business process to help the decision-making system, including payment/transaction data, product data, promotional data, and logistics/supply chain data.

Not only the digitization process performed by many traditional retailers, but these data must also be integrated by each party to produce comprehensive insights. For example, between product data, transaction trends, and a logistics system to help retailers ensure the food stock always in prime condition.

Technically, there must be good connectivity between the point of sales applications that accept transactions from consumers, applications for available items in warehousing units, to supply chain applications that connect retailers with their partners.

The use of digitization tools will significantly convert data settings that are produced or managed by retailers. The existing platforms are generally open, allowing integration with other digital services. For example, a financial recording application that can be integrated with a cashier system or digital wallet transaction dashboard via an API connection.

Research conducted by Accenture also shows a trend of accelerating digital transformation in the retail and FMCG sectors during the pandemic. There are ten aspects to be captured, from the willingness to decompose consumer data into knowledge, improving sales management, to improving the partner ecosystem.

DSResearch’s survey on FMCG/retail companies also shows roughly the same results. The transformation vision launched a breakthrough that opens the potential for new products/services and adapts to the trend of consumer needs.

Collaboration form

Studying the form of digital transformation from the DSResearch report above, there are several models that retail companies can adopt when collaborating with startups. The first form is system adoption, simply put retailers only need to become premium customers of digital services provided by startups. Several platforms provide flexibility to customize needs at a limited level.

The second form is through strategic partnerships. In Indonesia, for retail companies or FMCG, this practice does not seem common, it’s just that some have done it. Companies with greater scale and capability can participate in startup development – generally through ownership, aka the company becomes a shareholder (either majority or minority). This model allows vision alignment between companies, therefore, they can synergize more closely.

The third is through sharing platforms, some startups are dependent on business partners in terms of product fulfillment. Especially for those who develop an online-to-offline based system.

New consumer experience

Through the omnichannel platform, retailers can enter the digital platform to serve more users. Stores that provide fresh ingredients, for example, could just enter the HappyFresh ecosystem, even some popular e-commerce services have also started to accommodate similar services. Apart from being delivered, the grocery application also has the option to be picked up at the store, so that an offline shopping experience is still possible.

When people shop, they will have three experiences, shopping preparation, shopping process, and after shopping. In the shopping preparation stage, several activities start from listing groceries, finding inspiration to buy new items, looking for/seeking promos, to selecting the retail store you want to visit.

While in a retail store, they are exposed to several activities. Starting from circling the shelves to find items to purchase. In this process, there are several innovations that might be developed, such as a store mapping application or as simple as a product information application – users can scan the code printed on a product to view various information, from price, content, to the distribution process (this will affect fresh produce such as vegetables). Continue with the payment process and claim a discount if there are certain promos.

After returning home, there are still some experiences left. For example, allowing users to get points from loyalty programs or testimonials on certain items. The most important aspect is that it makes it easy for users to manage their shopping records and helps them perform expense analysis. At this stage, several local startups have tried to present innovations, one of which is Pomona, which allows users to earn points by scanning shopping receipts.

Retail industry to survive

A study suggests that direct shopping experience will still be relevant amid the development of e-commerce or online grocery services. There are four dimensions that are maintained, including sensory, emotional, psychosocial, and impression/meaning.

The sensory dimension relates to experience which refers to stimuli of form, color, touch, and so on. Meanwhile, the emotional dimension is related to the experience of using emotions to generate liking for a brand or product. The psychosocial dimension is people’s desire to pamper themselves such as going out while shopping. Meanwhile, the impression/meaning dimension is related to the experience of doing the activity itself.

What currently deserves to be a retailers’ priority is how to improve the above factors through cell phones that stay in the hand of every consumer. This is done while looking for innovations to bring new experiences that are more memorable, the aim of which is to increase sales/visits. Doing digital transformation is the answer. Forming a synergy with digital startups is an option.

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

Entering the Wellnes Sector, Prudential Introduces AI-Based App Called “Pulse”

Prudential life insurance company introduces Pulse by Prudential (Pulse) wellness application to help users manage their health thoroughly. Pulse is equipped with a myriad of wellness features supported by AI technology so that users can manage their health proactively.

Prudential Indonesia‘s President Director Jens Reisch explained, since Pulse was introduced in Indonesia in February 2020, it has been recorded as being used by more than 4.3 million Indonesians. This incision indicates that public awareness of health is increasing, especially in the midst of a pandemic.

This figure even exceeds the number of Prudential Indonesia’s customers. As of last year, Prudential Indonesia’s customer numbers reached two million customers since operating in 1995.

“In the midst of the current pandemic situation, Indonesian people are getting aware of their health as an important issue. It has not been a year and Pulse has been accessed by 4.3 million users,” he said in a virtual press conference, yesterday (12/11).

Quoting from the Ministry of Health’s Basic Health Research (Riskesdas) data, it shows that the lifestyle of Indonesians encourages an increase in the prevalence of non-communicable diseases (PTM), such as cancer, stroke, chronic kidney disease, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension.

The reason is that more than 90% of Indonesians eat unhealthy foods, including eating fewer vegetables and fruit, and more than 33% of Indonesians do less physical activity. From this data, it becomes a domino effect because it is influenced by the current pandemic.

“Pulse is tasked with preventing, delaying illness, and protecting it by continuing to accompany each user’s life journey,” Prudential Indonesia’s Chief Operations and Health Officer Dian Budiani added.

Pulse was first released in Malaysia in August 2019. It is now available in 11 countries in Asia, such as Cambodia, Hong Kong, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. It is claimed, this application has been downloaded more than 12 million times as of 11 November 2020.

Tons of new features

In this launching, Prudential added a myriad of new features and monetization through subscription packages because Pulse is not exclusive to Prudential customers only. For subscription packages, users can access exclusive community features, runners, and cyclists in Komunitas Saya; Perencanaan Makan to manage food menus that are adjusted to the user’s health goals.

Furthermore, the AI-assisted Food Journal feature, where users can find out the calories consumed by simply taking a photo of the food and recording it in a journal; My Healthy Eating Goal to challenge users to start new habits in eating food; My Eye Dispensary & My Pulmonary Clinic to find out eye health and oxygen saturation levels in the blood simply by recording selfie videos and analyzed by AI.

Finally, a life insurance protection voucher which value is equivalent to one month’s premium. This subscription package is priced at IDR 39,900 per month.

There is also free features. Among those are BMI measuring instruments and Facial Wrinkle Mirrors, with only selfies and AI assistance, users can find out the condition of body mass and the level of wrinkles on the face. Then, a Sports Activity Monitor to monitor health indicators connected to Garmin, Fitbit, Google Health, and Apple Health wearables.

All these new features help users to understand their body condition better because they can get an overview of their condition, as well as a better understanding of the symptoms of the disease of concern.

The application can also direct the user to get the appropriate treatment, thanks to the support of AI-supported by Babylon, a healthtech AI startup from UK.

In covering other Pulse functions as protection, it has been equipped with the PRUShoppe feature to purchase life insurance products from Prudential directly through the application. Furthermore, they can consult a doctor and buy medicine, thanks to the support of Halodoc which has been connected to Pulse.

In addition to health, Pulse provides information features and reminders of prayer times and Qibla direction.

“We collaborate with many parties in creating all these features. Of course, we will continue to introduce new features in the future,” Prudential Indonesia’s Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Luskito Hambali said.

JOOX’s 5-Year Business Growth in Indonesia, Continue Strives for Collaboration

Music has become a primary need for most people in any part of the world. Those people are willing to pay a good price to be able to enjoy music anywhere they could through their mobile devices. In Indonesia, the music streaming applications scene is quite full of global players. One of the biggest ones, and recently just celebrated its 5th year anniversary is JOOX.

In 2017, JOOX launched its LIVE feature by bringing artists and fans closer together with free live performances from both local and international artists. In the same year, they also launched a karaoke feature, enabling users to sing, listen, and comment on the songs they like. There are more than 100 million songs have sung on JOOX, which translates to 20 songs a minute. Seeing quite significant growth of its Karaoke user, JOOX decided to launch a new Karaoke feature, Quick Sing, making it easier for the user to sing a song and share it with people.

Peter May, Head of JOOX Indonesia, said, “In the past five years, we have also seen the rapid development of the Indonesian music industry. Every year, the number of new musicians increases, bringing new creation and inspiration across all music genres. Music streaming platforms like JOOX have helped people to get access to any music and gained awareness of different genres in Indonesia. This has helped contribute to the surge of local pride for Indonesian music.”

JOOX’s business growth

The increasing needs for music streaming platform services have driven JOOX to continue innovating and developing the product. More than just a music streaming platform, JOOX is a social entertainment platform that provides more than 30 million song collections with a wide selection of music genres that can be listened through other interactive features to meet the entertainment needs of the Indonesian people anytime and anywhere.

The Tencent backed music streaming platform has been available in eight countries, including Indonesia, Hongkong, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Macau, South Africa. Peter also mentioned that before entering a market, his team will do thorough research and survey on the market situation. The market demand is the basic consideration for JOOX to start its operation. Now, JOOX is always one of the top industry players in the markets it operates in. He claims JOOX as the most downloaded music streaming app, according to App Annie, both on Apple App Store and Google Play Store (across all markets with its footprint) for three consecutive years.

“Our main focus is providing the best services and meeting the diverse needs of our customers where we currently operate, but we are always looking to grow whether it is in existing markets or in potential new markets,” Peter added.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, people are now adjusting their lifestyle to carry out various activities from their homes virtually, this includes how they enjoy entertainment contents.

Without sharing any detailed numbers on its user growth, JOOX’s team said their users usually listen to music to accompany them doing anything, from commuting, working, studying, and relaxing. Some experts also said that music could be a platform to embrace and express people’s current feelings, happiness, or sadness. Therefore, the Karaoke and Live Streaming feature become the second and third most used feature of JOOX.

“All of these features and excitement are part of our commitment to continuously strive to provide relevant entertainment content for users in Indonesia while supporting the country’s music and creative industry ecosystem,” Peter said.

As the JOOX’s Indonesia Head continues mentioning that music has been a part of many people’s lives, his team also see that podcast is gaining more mainstream appeal in the global industry. JOOX, with its current technology and features, is to support the growth of podcasts in the region.

With the presence of developers only in China’s headquarter, JOOX still keeping up with the technological trend in the region by using AI technology in its platform. The AI machine learning technology implemented in JOOX is said to have a better understanding of user’s habits, behavior, and preferences when they listen to music. From there, JOOX can take the next step by providing users with a customized music streaming experience through additional features like personalized playlist recommendations and in-app notifications.

Aside from geographical expansion and feature updates, the use of machine learning technology is also important for both users and musicians. For the users, it makes it easier for the user to find the songs that are suited to their tastes and preferences, while for the musicians, it helps them gain exposure to their songs to a wider scope of audience.

Continue strives for collaboration

While the subscription is an important factor in its growth, JOOX has a diversity of revenue streams. On B2C, they have different unique features, e.g. K-Plus, Coin Redemption (social/fan economy model). Users can use their coins to share gifts during live broadcasts, support their favorite karaoke song, or purchase airtime, merchandise, shopping vouchers, and even VIP access.

In terms of B2B, JOOX provides a platform for marketers and advertisers to reach and engage with their target audience via music and entertainment.

JOOX has been collaborating with 3^rd parties, agencies, and brands to bring consumers and advertisers together on its platform. The partnerships offer exposure based on the click-through rate and app response rate on JOOX. Some of their previous partners like Coca-Cola, P&G, Unilever, and leading regional brands such as eCommerce Shopee and Southeast Asian super app Grab have leveraged JOOX’s advertising solutions in the region.

In addition to music streaming services, JOOX also brings in a lot of video entertainment content, from live broadcasts of regional music events such as the three major K-Pop award ceremonies in Korea to Korean music programs like M countdown, among others.

“Apart from brands and advertisers, we also position ourselves as a digital entertainment provider as we collaborate closely with and have a strong relationship with music labels across the regions,” Peter said.

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