Introducing Rupiah Token as a Stablecoin to Represent Rupiah

Rupiah Token (IDRT) is an Ethereum blockchain-based token with a value reflecting Rupiah. It is classified stable, which is a crypto asset with stable value – in this case, 1 to 1 value with the Rupiah. The value of 1 IDRT equal to Rp1, – both in purchases and sales.

In terms of each IDRT issued and circulating, PT Rupiah Token Indonesia (Rupiah Token) as the manager is required to add deposits in Rupiah to the custodian bank account. According to the audit report issued as of May 1, 2020, the total Rupiah Token in circulation has reached 72.7 billion with guarantees of the same value in Rupiah.

“Although there are lots of stablecoin circulating the crypto world, there is not a single Rupiah stablecoin on the blockchain […] We aim to provide Indonesia with a safe and easy way for crypto trading using Rupiah in the blockchain on global exchanges,” Rupiah Token’s Anthony Thio explained.

The practice of StableCoin has actually been applied by many developers. For example in Singapore, there are Digix coins (DGC) supported by gold reserves, so 1 DGX is always equal to 1 gram of gold.

To date, IDRT has been channeled to dozens of exchange and crypto-wallet platforms; including the Binance, UPbit, PundiX, Zipmex, and TrustWallet portals.

In terms of IDRT, Zipmex’s Co-founder & CEO, Marcus Lim said, “We are starting to see changes in the Asian economy related to the acceptance of digital and stable currencies. As China is preparing to launch its central bank’s digital currency (e-RMB), we will see this trend spreading in Southeast Asia […] Placing coins in Rupiah and bringing to all our markets a new foreign exchange service for the public. ”

Highly Confident with cryptocurrency

Jeth Soetoyo is the Founder & CEO of RupiahToken, he is also the founder of a mobile application called Pintu which is designed for users in Indonesia in conducting cryptocurrency transactions.

In his discussion with the DailySocial team, Jeth expressed his opinion on the current trends in crypto assets. As for him, timing is important in market penetration. Moreover, people are getting interested in Bitcoin, when all expect a significant increase in its value.

He said, crypto-assets basically have proven to function well as alternative assets. He saw the resilience of Bitcoin several times recently as a value storage asset. Exemplified when several countries in South America which currencies have experienced massive inflation in recent years, the adoption of Bitcoin is very high there.

“I cannot predict the future of our own currency, but when the government issues debt at interest rates close to 0 it provides a strong potential scenario for high inflation. Usually, during this time (eg in the 1930s and 1970s) there is a tendency for interest shifting towards ‘hard currencies’ such as gold,” Jeth said.

Jeth continued, “This year, Bitcoin is the best performing asset compared to other asset classes (including gold, equity, bonds, etc.). I believe that macro conditions now guarantee to see more of Bitcoin. I believe this did not happen in 2017 and there is no real reason for people to see Bitcoin with a more critical eye until now. ”

Is it capable to increase crypto penetration?

Indonesian Blockchain Association’s Supervisory Board, Steven Suhadi told DailySocial on his views. Personally, he is unsure about stablecoin, such as IDRT will increase people’s enthusiasm for crypto investment. However, it might be useful to get people accustomed to the workings of cryptocurrencies, on how they are easily transferred, etc.

“Stable coins can provide a glimpse of view to the public, business, and government on blockchain-based digital currencies (also known as central bank digital currencies – CBDC),” he said.

He also emphasized that every bank entering the Indonesian market must comply with relevant government regulations, especially from BI and OJK.

–
Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

Application Information Will Show Up Here

Agritech Startup Kedai Sayur Officialy Pivot, Currently Serves Supply Chain Delivery

The agritech startup Kedai Sayur announced a business pivot to an online supply chain delivery service since the pandemic began in March 2020. Previously, the company served B2B customers such as hotels, restaurants and cafes, and vegetable vendors in need of a supply chain.

Kedai Sayur‘s CEO, Adrian Hernanto said the food product market has begun to change since the Covid-19 outbreak in early March. Supply demands from hotels, restaurants and cafes dropped by 50%. Whereas the growth of this business was previously more than 20% per month.

Meanwhile, at the same time, demands from vegetable vendors and household customers have significantly increased. It is the reason the company is confident in making business pivot decisions.

On the other hand, operational restrictions on wholesale and local markets disrupt the distribution chain of fresh food products in Indonesia. The situation has affected not only consumers who cannot shop to the market, but farmers also lose the medium to distribute their crops.

“The unexpected pandemic really forced Kedai Sayur as a startup to be able to innovate and take initiatives quickly to continue to carry out its vision and mission to be a solution for the community,” he told DailySocial, Wednesday (5/13).

As further explanation, the business model uses a variety of fleets to reach consumers. One of them, using the services of a vegetable handyman who registered as Kedai Sayur users.

Consumers who want to order vegetables can go through Kedai Sayur app and put on the Partner code. The order will be delivered to the Partner and will be distributed by him. Partners will also receive additional income in the form of commissions and payment of shipping charges from consumers.

“This business model will become permanent, of course, with more upcoming upgrades. For example working with last-mile delivery service, therefore, we can continue to improve our service level. ”

Online Vegetables Kedai Sayur — Kedai Sayur driver partners with Si Komo vehicle for product distribution / East Ventures

Apart from the application, reservations can also be made through Tokopedia and Blibli.

The company also made an initiative to help farmers distribute their crops to customers, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture. Farmers can sell their crops assisted by the government using digital platforms such as Kedai Sayur.

“Now with supply chain expertise and digital platform technology, Kedai Sayur contributes to both sides of the distribution patterns affected by the Corona virus,” he concluded.

However, Adrian was reluctant to mention any achievements after the pivot.

Kedai Sayur is one of East Ventures portfolios. Since it was founded two years ago, the company has received two funding rounds with total of $5.3 million. From the latest data, the company has partnered with more than 5 thousand partners in Jadetabek.

Supply Chain business dynamic

As Kedai Sayur chooses to pivot, it is quite successful to extend the company’s runaway because of the pandemic. Thanks to the change in B2C business focus, the Kedai Sayur application has additional functions. Previously, the application used only by Vegetable Partners and B2B consumers who wanted to stock up on food ingredients to sell.

Another startup with aligning business models, such as Stoqo, was forced to close down due to failure to adapt to the conditions. It is a platform that focuses on providing basic food needs, from meat, vegetables, flour, coffee, and others, but only for B2B consumers.

Before the pandemic, this business model was certainly very sophisticated considering a large pie in the culinary field. What Kedai Sayur did is actually applicable by Stoqo.

Wahyoo’s Founder and CEO Peter Shearer revealed some strategies to maintain a high demand. Wahyoo, on the other hand, tries to help stalls to sell on digital platforms such as GoFood. At the same time, the implementation of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) in many regions has shifted shopping patterns in the platform.

“The positive effect is that the PSBB situation and Covid-19 has forced food stall owners to adapt faster into digital,” he added.

–
Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

KlikDaily Secures Series A Funding, to Facilitate Small Shops with Supply Chain

KlikDaily launches to offer products directly to consumers. In 2018, this supply chain startup changed its business focus to the B2B segment. This step is done deliberately by strengthening the foundation of the business model and strategy that is claimed to enable the company to compete and consistently maintain its existence in Indonesia.

Through Integrated Supply Chain Management (ISCM), Klikdaily creates an ecosystem that provides solutions for traditional stalls to obtain a variety of products from various brands at competitive prices. This is proven by the company’s growth in 2020 which increased by more than 700% when compared to 2019.

To date, Klikdaily provides services in Greater Jakarta, West Java and Central Java, which serves more than tens of thousands of traditional stalls in 600 distribution areas.

Series A Funding from Global Founders Capital

In accelerating business growth, Klikdaily has booked Series A funding in May 2020. The value is still undisclosed, this funding was led by their previous investor, Global Founders Capital (GFC).

The fresh fund is to be channeled for the development of technology and infrastructure, to accelerate the company’s mission, it is to empower traditional stalls across the country. Klikdaily also plans to replicate its successful business model in order to bring more distribution centers in major cities of Indonesia until the end of 2020.

Previously, in mid-2019, Klikdaily also received Pre-Series A funding from Global Founders Capital, Pegasus Capital, Fundedhere, and Teja Ventures.

Supporting partners amid a pandemic

Although the Covid-19 outbreak in Indonesia has occurred since early March, it is not affecting Klikdaily’s transaction rate. The company recorded an increase in demand not only in food and beverage products but also in basic foods. Furthermore, Klikdaily has added up the supply of the products during this pandemic to meet rising demand.

In order to ensure the availability of sufficient food for Partners and others, Klikdaily will work closely with the government to ensure the availability of food, distribution, the stability of market prices, and minimize shipping costs for everyone to be able to get food at affordable prices.

“In the current crisis, Klikdaily is more dedicated to working together with all elements of society and government, to safeguard and ensure daily basic needs can be met and well distributed to the people in need,” Klikdaily’s CEO, Amos Gunawan said.

–
Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

Application Information Will Show Up Here

On Privacy and Data Security: Users Must be Aware Not to Rely only on The Platform

Recently, the news of data breach has made the highlight for dozens of digital service users in Indonesia. It is due to the platform where the data breach happens, is e-commerce with massive users, Tokopedia. Also, the latest news comes from Bhinneka.

In early May 2020, 91 million user data – several parties had proven the validity of the data and accordingly – were monitored for sale via the Dark Web for 73.5 million Rupiah. Only passwords are encrypted, while other information such as names, addresses, and contacts can be read with the naked eye. Then a few days ago, a hacker reportedly managed to infiltrate several sites, one of which was Bhinneka with 1.2 million data stolen.

This is not the first time, in previous years the cybersecurity issue has been reported several times to the public.

Incomprehensive Regulation

Regulations regarding the protection of privacy and personal data are mentioned in various laws, precisely in 32 regulations from the ITE Law, the Telecommunications Law, the Public Information Openness Act, the State Intelligence Act, to the Criminal Procedure Code. The fragmented regulation encourages the government to draft a Personal Data Protection Act – until now the status has reached the President and the Parliament, waiting to be reviewed and ratified.

“However, these laws and regulations [32 regulations] are yet to comprehensively regulate the protection of personal data. A comprehensive law is needed as a legal basis in providing protection, regulation and imposition of sanctions for personal data misuse as regulated,” said the Minister of Communication and Information Johnny G. Plate.

Regarding the recent issue of a data breach, the Minister of Communication and Information also gave his formal response after discussion with several parties, including Tokopedia and the national cyber and security agency (BSSN). “Every data hacking effort will be followed up, therefore, not to disrupt the e-commerce operational,” he further explained the details regarding the follow-up plan by the government.

Self-taught preventive steps

In fact, digital platforms such as e-commerce have certification related to information security, for example by getting ISO / IEC 27001: 2013. However, on the user’s side, they can also take several preventive steps to reduce the potential loss if the current system has been hacked.

Here are some simple preventive steps that can be done:

Perform regular application updates

Various digital applications with massive users are almost certain to experience a continuous development process. Not only a matter of adding features but also updates often rolled out to improve system performance and security to close the gaps. For this reason, it is important for users to keep the application up-to-date.

Nevertheless, for the operating system, it is strongly recommended to use the latest version supported by the device. The intensity is indeed not as often as the applications, but an update usually provides significant improvisation.

For smartphone users, application updates or operating system updates are usually done automatically when connected to a WiFi network. The user will get an update notification and approve the update process. However, for those who use mobile connectivity, updates are usually not automatic, users need to look periodically at Google Play / App Store or the update page in the system update section.

Use different passwords on each application

This tip is quite tedious for some people, but actually good anticipation if a data breach occurs in one of the applications. At least, distinguish personal account passwords such as an e-mail with passwords used for other applications. Email is crucial for recovery if an account is successfully taken over by a hacker.

The password manager application can actually help if users want to use a different password for each service. The application saves and records the password it has – some applications also make it easier when you want to login to certain services – without having to retype the password. Some examples of password management applications are LastPass or 1Password.

Then, as suggested in every digital security tips, it is highly targeted to use passwords with varying characters. For example, by including uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Some applications have a password level indicator during the registration process.

Apply multiple authentications

For the sake of increasing security, some applications provide Multi-Factor or Two-Step Authentication features. In addition, users can choose the type of extended security, for example using a PIN, SMS token, or biometrics. The latter is very recommended, especially smartphones today are mostly equipped with fingerprint and facial recognition systems. On average, this feature is not automatically activated, the user must set it up for each application.

Be more aware of application in use

Always use an application from a credible developer, especially if the application requires personal data. Because credible developers will have discipline related to privacy and information protection policies. In addition, it’s good as the user also knows what applications are accessed from our device – for example the applications in the Play Store always informing the “Permission” section about the components of the device accessed by the application.

–
Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

Dekoruma Secures Investor’s Fund on Pre Series C

Dekoruma’s interior design and construction services platform announced pre-series C funding with an undisclosed value. The main investors involved in this round included InterVest Star SEA Growth Fund 1, Foundamental, OCBC NISP Ventura, and Skystar Ventures. Also participated investors from the previous round.

Previously, Dekoruma has received series A funding from Skystar Capital, Beenext, and Convergence Ventures. Later, in the series B round, they booked a million-dollar fund led by Global Digital Niaga (Blibli) and AddVentures.

Dekoruma’s CEO Dimas Harry Priawan said in the release, fresh funds will be used to further invest in the development of SOMA products, as an interior design and project management application that connects designers, suppliers, contractors, and customers. Currently, this application has been used in more than three thousand interior design projects.

Dekoruma noted as the work from home situation ongoing, furniture and home furnishing purchases increased. More people are likely to make their living spaces more comfortable and productive as seen by increasing sales in various categories from home furnishings to kitchen utensils.

Furthermore, the company also claims there are currently no Dekoruma’s projects that are affected by social distance policy, because SOMA allows design and project management discussion between customers and interior design partners to be held virtually.

The developed technology enables Dekoruma to grow efficiently in 2019. Dekoruma claims to have achieved a positive economic unit for its retail business lines and interior design lines and is preparing to achieve positive EBITDA by early 2021.

At the end of 2019, Dekoruma revealed some of its achievements, the platform currently has around one million active users and 500 retail merchants. They also have an Experience Center and the number is to grow by this year, particularly in the Greater Jakarta area.

Although 70% of its focus currently lies on B2C, Dekoruma opens for partnerships with home development or property companies in Indonesia.

–
Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

Application Information Will Show Up Here

Kopi Kenangan Announces Over 1.6 Trillion Rupiah Worth of Series B Funding

The new retail startup Kopi Kenangan has announced Series B funding worth of $109 million (over 1.6 trillion Rupiah) led by the previous investor, Sequoia Capital India. There are some new investors, such as B Capital, Horizon Ventures, Verlinvest, Kunlun, and Sofina participated in this round, also the seed investor, Alpha JWC Ventures.

It is reported that one of Facebook’s co-founders, Eduardo Saverin has joined Kopi Kenangan’s board of commissioners, through B Capital. His participation is expected to help make a faster business transformation.

“I look forward to working with Kopi Kenangan and building a global brand that celebrates the distinctive flavors of Indonesia and Southeast Asia,” Saverin stated in the official release, Tuesday (5/12).

Historically, Kopi Kenangan has acquired seed funding from Alpha JWC Ventures worth of $8 million in 2018. A year later, they raised a series A round of $20 million led by Sequoia Capital India with additional funds at an undisclosed value from Arrive, Serena Ventures, NBA’s Caris LeVert, and Sweetgreen’s founder, Jonathan Neman.

In separate occasion, Kopi Kenangan’s Co-Founder & CEO, Edward Tirtanata confirmed to DailySocial that the company is yet to acquire the unicorn status. As a general note, Kopi Kenangan’s valuation is said to exceed the centaur position. “Kopi Kenangan is yet to be a unicorn,” he said.

He revealed the plan with this fresh funding is to tighten its positionn in Indonesia. One thing, it’s the plan to offer food and beverages from local partners and developing a cloud kitchen.

“As a startup in the growth stage, we are quickly adapting to challenges through contactless transactions and highly-curated hygiene standards throughout our stores. Employee welfare is a big priority and we are investing in their safety, along with increasing health benefits and additional training to help them cope with this big change,” he said.

The pandemic hits Kopi Kenangan’s business hard. Edward said all other industries, including F&B, are experiencing a significant decline, especially offline outlets. However, thanks to the grab and go business model, the company saw an increase in online orders by 50% in certain locations.

He believes businesses that quickly adapt to conditions can survive in a crisis, unlike the most brilliant or with large capital ones. “Kopi Kenangan has gained investor trust by adopting a grab and go business model that fits the current situation.”

To date, Kopi Kenangan employs 3 thousand employees in 324 outlets in all cities in Indonesia. It is expected that this year the store can add up to 500 stores. The company also has ambitions for post-pandemic regional expansion. Thailand, the Philippines, and Malaysia, are the countries they are after.

“Regional expansion is still on schedule, by adapting to the post-Covid-19 situation,” he concluded.

–
Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

A Story of HijUp Turnaround: Lesson Learned for Startup Community

I started HijUp in 2011. The first month I launched HijUp, it was a very profitable business. I managed the company with two of my assistants. We occupied a 4×4 room to run the company. We generated $20,000 of revenue in the first month of our launch with only 3 of us. And yes, it was a very profitable business.

In mid of 2019, 8 years after it was founded, we have been raising $5 million so far. The business grew more than 20x since then. But, it was not profitable. We burned a lot of money, and sometimes we panicked when asking questions about how long our runaway was. I myself could not sleep well enough. I realized at that time that having too much money was not necessarily good. We were rich, we had a lot of money from funding (because we were a very profitable business). We thought we would get bigger funding again next coming year. So, we burned money to grow. Some people told me that if we grow faster, the investor will keep coming. They said “don’t worry about money”. But, the reality is not like that. They were not coming. I started to not believe in this rule of game anymore. We have to survive in our own way. We should define our own destiny.

We had a 6 months runaway. I made an analysis why we still lose money. What made it different from the early days that were very profitable. So, here are some of my findings and I made a decision based on these findings.

Number of People

Many founders are really proud about the number of teams that they have in the company. I was one of them. But, this is the wrong mindset. This is more emotional and the ego of a founder. I realized when I analyzed my team. I had 160 people back then. The revenue per people was decreasing every time I added more people. Of course, I felt better with many people, but from the number, the company did not look better. Even worse, people were actually the key driver of the other big costs like building, electricity, administration, etc. Every one person I added, cost half of their salary on top of their salary. Something that I was not aware of.

I talked to my HR team and proposed to cut as many as people but still make sure HijUp operations still went well. They came up to me and proposed to cut 100 people. They said HijUp would be still running well even if it cuts 70% of its staff. I was surprised, after many years, we didn’t realize this. We were blinded by the money that we had. This is a very expensive lesson for me as a founder and a CEO.

Diajeng Lestari, HijUp's Founder and CEO — Diajeng Lestari, Founder and CEO of HijUp

For me, cutting people is not my thing. It was a very hard and personal decision to me. I always believe in the team that I have already hired. They are great people. Deep in my heart, I felt very guilty. I kept telling myself it looked like I was a very bad CEO. I was not aware, I was too emotional. I had mixed feelings about myself and I lost my confidence. In the end, I announced to all the team that we would take this big decision, cutting 70% of the people.

By cutting the people, we cut 80% of the burn rate. Our runaway was getting longer. But it was not enough. I want to go back to the early days of HijUp feeling, freedom because we were so profitable.

Simplify tech & operation

I also looked up at our tech cost. I know, I’m not a tech founder. This part is really a big hole for me, my blind spot. So, I managed to ask my husband, Achmad Zaky, who is a more tech founder. He said that we actually can cut 80% of unnecessary tech. He said the tech that we built was too complicated, too advanced for a small startup like HijUp. “Oh my God,” I said.

I called my tech team and asked them to cut 80% of unnecessary tech costs. We finally managed to cut quite a meaningful cost. This project cut the existing burn rate by half. Make our runaway even longer.

We also found that we had a lot of unnecessary processes. We simplify that process too. This was only a small part of our burn rate. But the impact on productivity and happiness to the staff is a lot, they can make the same impact with less effort.

Focus on profitable customer and partner

My next finding was on partners or tenants. We had a lot of tenants and we found that each tenant is not the same in terms of profitability. One can generate a lot of profit, and one can generate a lot of money burn with the same resource. So, we proposed to cut the unprofitable tenants.

We double down our effort and investment to the profitable tenants only. The result was amazing. The tenants also put more resources in us. So the profitability is increasing too.

We started being profitable 6 months after all of this project started. In this Covid-19 era, I feel grateful that we made these decisions. We feel prepared now. We are very agile and ready to face this Covid-19 environment.

From these experiences, I realized that it is important for the founder and CEO to be aware and always being rational. Do we really need this and that. We also have to think that funding money is our own money, not investor money. By having that kind of mindset, we will spend wisely, because money will not come twice.

I also realized that not all startups are the same. Maybe a unicorn can follow the growth path. But startups like HijUp can not follow the growth path. The business model and scale factor is different. It has to follow a profitable path, but steady growth.

Hopefully this sharing will be insightful for many founder throughout the world.

–
Disclosure: this guest post is written by Diajeng Lestari, CEO and Founder of HijUp

IDN Officially Acquires Demi Istri Production House, Introducing IDN Pictures

IDN Media has officially announced the acquisition of an independent film company or production house, Demi Istri Production on May 12, 2020. Demi Istri Production was founded in 2013 by director Fajar Nugros with producer Susanti Dewi. After the acquisition, the two will join IDN Media to lead IDN Pictures.

IDN Media’s CEO, Winston Utomo revealed to DailySocial that IDN Media is committed to continuing its vision to democratize information and become a one-stop content platform for Millennial and Gen Z in Indonesia.

“We believe that film is not just a piece of art but also a medium that can inspire many of Indonesia’s millennials and Gen Z. Therefore, we are excited to enter the film industry. After meeting Fajar and Santi, we are very confident, then finally launched IDN Pictures together,” Utomo said.

In the middle of 2019, IDN Media has acquired one of the GGWP.id (GGWP) esports media. GGWP will be part of the IDN Media extended family which includes IDN Times, Popbela, Popmama, Yummy, IDN Creative, IDN Event, and IDN Creative Network.

Creating original content

CEO IDN Media Winston Utomo — IDN Media’s CEO, Winston Utomo

Fajar Nugros and Susanti Dewi have been experienced in the Indonesian film industry. Both of them have also been involved in the production of various films, such as Cinta Brontosaurus (2013), Moammar Emka’s Jakarta Undercover (2017), Yowis Ben (2018 & 2019), and Terbang Menembus Langit (2018).

Through film, IDN intends to freshen the Indonesian film industry while at the same time bringing positive influence to the community. IDN Pictures is currently developing some titles and it is to airing soon. It’s still undisclosed at this moment.

“Just like a production house, we use insights from IDN Media’s audience to make films that can inspire and entertain millennials and Gen Z. Our films will later be screened on several platforms such as cinema, OTT, and other video-on-demand platforms,” Winston said.

As IDN Pictures targeting the film industry, it’ll help to stir up the competition of production houses that specifically creates original films. Previously, local players like Visinema, supported by GDP Venture, wanted to develop a comprehensive studio ecosystem. The aim is to help end-to-end film processes, from concept maturation, talent development, production, distribution to monetization.

Application Information Will Show Up Here

[Weekly Updates] Airy Shuts Down; Cashlez Goes Public; and More

Another casualty of Covid-19 in Indonesia is Airy, a budget accommodation platform. It decides to shut down by the end of May. In contrary, payment platform Cashlez is making headlines by going public and opens for acquisition.

In other news, GudangAda raises Series A funding, while Donald Wihardja, former AC Ventures’ partner, is appointed as the new CEO of MDI Ventures, Telkom’s CVC.

Airy to Shut Down Business Permanently, Putting other OTAs in Jeopardy

Airy or Airy Rooms will terminate its operations permanently by the end of May 2020. DailySocial has been trying to reach the management since Wednesday (5/6), yet the information still sealed – although they didn’t deny the rumor. A reliable source has confirmed the layoff of the employees. As we observed, Airy is currently not displaying any property listings beyond May 31st, 2020.

Cashlez Officially IPO, Creating Opportunities for Other Acquisitions

The payment gateway and mPOS startup, Cashlez, officially going IPO at the Indonesia Stock Exchange (4/5) using “CASH” as the stock code. Cashlez is listed on the acceleration board, as well as being the 27th company to be trading on the stock exchange this year.

The company releases 250 million new shares at Rp350 per share. This capital amount covers around 17.5 percent of the agreed capital and is placed in Cashlez. Simultaneously, the company issued Series I Warrants at a ratio of 1:1.

Cashlez’ President Director, Tee Teddy Setiawan, said the company successfully obtained funding worth of Rp87.5 billion on this occasion. As planned, 61.31% of the funds were used for the acquisition of PT Softorb Technology Indonesia (STI), with the remaining 38.69% for working capital.

GudangAda Notches 372 Billion Rupiah Worth of Series A Funding

After securing seed funding last February 2020, GudangAda, B2B marketplace platform for FMCG products, (5/5) has successfully secured Series A funding round. In this round, the firm managed to bag funding worth of US$25.4 million, or around 372 billion Rupiah. This round was led by Sequoia India and Alpha JWC Ventures, with the participation of Wavemaker Partners. The company is to develop a new line of business and build up the internal team.

GudangAda is said to be successfully connecting around 50,000 traders in 500 cities, and covering almost 100 percent of FMCG wholesalers in Indonesia, through an enabler approach.

Donald Wihardja Serves as The New CEO of MDI Ventures

Recently manage fund for AC Ventures (a merger between Agaeti Ventures and Convergence Ventures), Donald Wihardja has officially appointed as the CEO of MDI Ventures. The position is vacant for 9 months after Nicko Widjaja left to lead BRI Ventures. Along with this appointment, Aldi Adrian Hartanto is promoted to be MDI’s VP of Investments.

Hartanto said Donald Wihardja’s experience, in terms of investment and running a business, should bring more colors to the investment style and culture of the next-generation MDI Ventures. The main objective of MDI Ventures is to remain the same, which is in line with the vision of being a VC that focuses on top multi-stage funding in Southeast Asia.

It is hoped that Wihardja and his team can help to accelerate fundraising activities, to create an independent fund, as well as to support and strengthen the organization. In 2019 MDI Ventures successfully made 5 exits, with 3 acquisitions and 2 IPOs.

Dimo is Reportedly Acquired by Traveloka Group Last Year

Traveloka is reported to have acquired the payment system startup based on the QR code Dimo Pay Indonesia (Dimo) early last year. A trusted source who avoid being published told DailySocial said the acquisition process was through a shell company (special purpose vehicle / SPV).

It is the same method when Traveloka acquired Pegipegi and two other OTA startups under the auspices of Recruit Holdings in early 2018. Unlike Gojek, Traveloka chose not to include its branding for each company acquired.

We absorbed the information from SEAcosystem.com – a collaborative worksheet that was initiated by a number of Southeast Asia’s venture capitalists to help related layoffs this year. All data included on the site is voluntary.

There are some of Dimo employees affected by layoff linked their company name with the Traveloka Group. We also tried to contact Dimo, unfortunately, there is no feedback until the news release.

Dimo was founded in 2016 under the Sinar Mas Group, specifically SMDV. Currently, Dimo is led by Grégory Soetrisnardi, while CTO Christoforus Yoga Haryanto comes from Traveloka.

In addition to Dimo, under the company’s legal entity there are two other operating products, Uangku and Cashbac. All products are engaged in fintech with different segments.

The acquisition by Traveloka answers the question of Uangku as an electronic money payment option in its application. However, we are yet to receive confirmation whether Cashbac has also been acquired by Traveloka.

Dimo runs payment services based on QR code system using Pay by QR jargon. They move agnostically aka QR codes contained in merchants can receive various sources of funds from affiliated electronic money applications.

The relationship between Traveloka and Sinarmas’ subsidiary also applied for PayLater services with Danamas. Danamas confirmed the affiliation between the two companies was limited to a business agreement. There is no stock investment by Traveloka.

In the Traveloka application, there is a QR code scan that is used at Traveloka Eats merchant partner locations, Traveloka booths at airports and shopping centers, and events held by Traveloka. There is also a privilege to enter tourist attractions without having to print physical tickets.

The pandemic has hit the tourism sector with the sharpest decline compared to other sectors. In addition to Dimo’s layoff scheme, Airy, which is often associated with Traveloka, has announced a business termination as of the end of May.

–
Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian