East Ventures Raises Seed Funding for Fore Coffee

East Ventures becomes venture builder again by announcing seed funding for Fore Coffee. It has become the third project incubated by East Ventures after EV Hive (today COCOWORK) and Warung Pintar.

Fore Coffee led by Robin Boe, also a Co-Founder of Otten Coffee. Otten is an e-commerce platform for coffee-related products supported also by East Ventures. The first Fore Coffee store has opened since August 2018 and now serving 1,000 cups per week.

Fore will be positioned like Luckin Coffee, a digital-based approach coffee startup which becomes Starbucks’ competitor in China. Luckin is a prototype of modern coffee shop which capable to encourage consumers to download the app in purchasing and making payment via mobile (e-wallet).

“Using Otten’s network and expertise, Fore is equipped with high-quality technology and machine to provide the best coffee to our customers. We dreamed about a day where everyone can have access to the special coffee near them every day and we’re glad to get further steadily,” Robin Boe, Fore Coffee’s CEO, said.

Fore Coffee will run their first shop located on Otten Coffee Jakarta’s second floor in Jl. Senopati No.77, South Jakarta. The second shop will be opened in Plaza Indonesia this October followed by other branches in central shopping town and office district.

“Indonesia’s technology ecosystem has moved rapidly along with innovations to change our daily lives. Particularly the way consumers get their food, it has changed recently by food delivery services. It triggers a new hypothesis in which we think necessary to prove it quickly. Are we capable to serve new requests with bottom-up startup designs that focus on new innovations in Indonesia? In China, Luckin Coffee is the answer,” Willson Cuaca, East Ventures’ Managing Partner and Fore Coffee’s Chairman, said.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

East Ventures Beri Pendanaan Awal untuk Startup Kopi Fore Coffee

Perusahaan modal ventura East Ventures kembali menjadi venture builder dengan mengumumkan pendanaan awal untuk startup kopi Fore Coffee. Fore Coffee menjadi proyek ketiga yang diinkubasi East Ventures setelah Ev Hive (yang kini menjadi COCOWORK) dan Warung Pintar.

Fore Coffee yang dipimpin oleh Robin Boe yang juga adalah Co-Founder Otten Coffee. Otten merupakan platform e-commerce untuk produk-produk terkait kopi yang juga mendapat dukungan East Ventures. Gerai pertama Fore Coffee sudah mulai beroperasi sejak Agustus 2018 dan kini sudah melayani 1.000 cup kopi per minggunya.

Fore akan diposisikan seperti Luckin Coffee, startup kopi dengan pendekatan digital, yang menjadi penantang gerai Starbucks di Tiongkok. Implementasi Luckin berbentuk prototipe gerai kopi modern yang mendorong konsumennya mengunduh aplikasi ketika ingin memesan dan menggunakan pembayaran mobile (dompet elektronik).

“Memanfaatkan jaringan dan keahlian dari Otten, Fore dilengkapi dengan peralatan teknologi tinggi dan mesin untuk memberikan kualitas kopi terbaik kepada pelanggan kami. Kami memimpikan hari di mana setiap orang memiliki akses ke kopi spesial yang terjangkau dekat dengan mereka setiap hari dan kami gembira bahwa kami bergerak maju ke hal itu dengan mantap,” terang CEO Fore Coffee Robin Boe.

Fore Coffee akan mengoperasikan gerai pertama mereka yang terletak di lantai dua toko Otten Coffee Jakarta yang beralamat di Jl Senopati No 77, Jakarta Selatan. Toko kedua rencananya akan dibuka di Plaza Indonesia Oktober ini dan akan menyusul cabang lainnya di pusat perbelanjaan dan kantor-kantor.

“Ekosistem teknologi Indonesia telah bergerak cepat dengan banyak inovasi yang mengubah kehidupan kita sehari-hari. Khususnya cara konsumen mendapatkan makanan mereka, itu telah berubah dalam beberapa tahun terakhir dengan inovasi layanan pengiriman makanan. Ini memicu hipotesis baru dalam diri kita yang menurut kami ingin kita buktikan dengan cepat. Bisakah kami melayani permintan baru dengan desain startup berbasis bottom up yang fokus pada inovasi baru di Indonesia? Di Tiongkok, Luckin Coffee menjawab pertanyaan itu,” jelas Willson Cuaca, Managing Partner East Ventures dan Chairman Fore Coffee.

Fintech Lending Startup Helicap Expands to Indonesia, Raising $5 Million Funding

Helicopter Capital (Helicap), a Singapore-based lending platform developer startup, today (9/13) announced it has raised $5 million (around IDR 74 billion) of Pre-Series A Funding. It was led by East Ventures and Soilbuild Group Holdings. It’s to focus on the expansion to the Indonesian market.

In its Indonesian debut, there will be data and technology teams to improve the company’s data collection capacity. In the distribution to SMEs, Helicap is using its own data analysis platform. The analysis was intended to generate return and credit score to convince investors (institutions) in providing loans.

Helicap introduced itself as the Capital as a Services platform within B2B2C scope. They didn’t provide direct loans, but distributing loans from partners with data analysis as the collateral. Particularly in Indonesia, Helicap admits providing loans only from the registered lenders in OJK to ensure obedience with the local regulation.

The name “Helicopter” is said to have a certain meaning. Helicap covers all access to credit data collected by some financial organizations. The data was managed to produce insights for investment allocation. It’s considered to be the helicopter view or comprehensive knowledge of the to-be-invested business.

“Southeast Asia becomes the most developing economic region, driven by SMEs. However, it also produced a fragmented loan ecosystem, incapable to serve capital loans for business as a whole,” David Wang, Helicap’s CEO and Co-Founder added.

He continued, East Ventures entree in business will give essential contribution in Indonesia. Support from Soilbuild is to validate Helicap’s portfolio, because of their expertise in the property business segment in particular. Since its operational debut in the second quarter of 2018, Helicap claims to distribute loans to more than 100,000 customers.

Indonesian expansion has set an optimistic target for this startup. The business in Indonesia is targeted to run in this year’s fourth quarter. Soon, they’ll appoint the Country Manager to lead the business maneuver in Indonesia.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

Dapatkan Pendanaan 74 Miliar Rupiah, Startup Fintech Lending Helicap Ekspansi ke Indonesia

Helicopter Capital (Helicap), startup pengembang platform pinjaman yang berbasis di Singapura, hari ini (13/9) mengumumkan perolehan pendanaan Pra-Seri A senilai $5 juta (atau setara 74 miliar Rupiah). Pendanaan tersebut dipimpin East Ventures dan Soilbuild Group Holdings. Rencananya pendanaan tersebut akan difokuskan untuk berekspansi ke pasar Indonesia.

Debutnya di Indonesia akan dimulai dengan membangun tim teknologi dan data untuk meningkatkan kapasitas pengumpulan data perusahaan. Dalam menyalurkan pinjaman ke UKM, Helicap memanfaatkan platform analisis data yang dimiliki. Analisis dimaksudkan untuk menghasilkan skor kredit dan pengembalian untuk meyakinkan investor (institusi) dalam memberikan pinjaman.

Helicap menyebut dirinya sebagai platform Capital as a Services dengan cakupan B2B2C. Mereka tidak memberikan pinjaman secara langsung, tetapi menyalurkan pinjaman dari organisasi yang telah menjadi mitra dengan memberikan jaminan dari analisis data yang dilakukan. Khusus di Indonesia, Helicap mengaku hanya memberikan pinjaman dari badan peminjaman yang sudah terdaftar di OJK demi memastikan kepatuhan terhadap regulasi di sini.

Pemilihan nama “Helicopter” disebut memiliki makna tersendiri. Helicap menampung akses data kredit yang dikumpulkan berbagai organisasi keuangan. Data tersebut diolah sedemikian rupa sehingga memberikan wawasan untuk memberikan alokasi investasi. Wawasan tersebut dinilai menjadi “helicopter view” atau pemahaman menyeluruh terkait bisnis yang akan diinvestasi.

“Asia Tenggara menjadi kawasan ekonomi yang paling bertumbuh, didorong oleh UKM. Namun pertumbuhan tersebut juga menghasilkan ekosistem pinjaman yang terfragmentasi, belum dapat melayani pinjaman modal untuk bisnis secara keseluruhan,” ujar Co-Founder & CEO Helicap David Wang.

Wang melanjutkan, masuknya East Ventures dalam bisnis akan memberikan dukungan penting untuk kehadirannya di Indonesia. Didukung kontribusi Soilbuild yang akan memvalidasi portofolio Helicap, terutama karena keahlian mereka di segmentasi bisnis bidang properti. Sejak memulai operasionalnya pada kuartal kedua 2018, Helicap mengklaim telah menyalurkan pinjaman ke lebih dari 100.000 nasabah.

Kehadiran di Indonesia membuat startup ini mematok target optimis. Operasional di Indonesia ditargetkan berjalan pada kuartal keempat tahun ini. Dalam waktu dekat mereka juga akan menunjuk Country Manager untuk memimpin manuver bisnis di Indonesia.

Bahasa.ai Receives Seed Funding From East Ventures

Bahasa.ai, an NLP/NLU (Natural Language Processing/Understanding) platform development startup for Bahasa Indonesia, receives seed funding from East Ventures. The value is undisclosed. The plan is to use funding for accelerating mission to develop artificial intelligence platform.

Previously, Hokiman Kurniawan, Bahasa.ai’s Co-Founder and CEO, has explained its business strategy in an interview with DailySocial. Its focus is to produce more comprehensive Bahasa Indonesia skills for machines. One of which is applied in chatbot.

Melisa Irene, East Ventures’ Principal, said that the NLP / NLU-based platform developed by Bahasa.ai will be very relevant in Indonesia, because of unique variants and dialects in Bahasa Indonesia.

In daily communication, the non-KBBI slang and spelling terms keep showing and being used. Artificial Intelligence-based solutions, combined with machine learning, can improve the computer skills in understanding Bahasa Indonesia. Therefore, when being implemented (for chatbot, as an example) will become more attractive.

Samsul Rahmadani, Bahasa.ai‘s Head of AI, said in his statement, by increasing artificial intelligence technology, brands are expected to produce communication channels which capable to interact naturally and personally. Bahasa.ai introduces PaaS products to help brands or businesses in developing a chatbot strategy.

Competition among local chatbots

Creating artificial intelligence is not an easy deal, but many local startups are counting their luck in this vertical. Currently, there are many startups targeting AI-based products segment, particularly in chatbot implementation. They are Kata.ai, Botika, Bang Joni, Eva, and many others.

The development can’t be separated from industrial needs. Business players are competing to present new ways which more effective and efficient in terms of customer service. Chatbot-based solutions are considered capable to accommodate these needs. Many companies are already adopting, from telecommunications, bankings, and some e-commerce services.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

Bahasa.ai Raih Pendanaan Awal dari East Ventures

Bahasa.ai sebagai startup pengembangan platform NLP/NLU (Natural Language Processing/Understanding) untuk Bahasa Indonesia, hari ini (23/8) mengumumkan perolehan pendanaan awal (seed funding) dari East Ventures. Tidak disebutkan nominal pendanaan yang didapat. Rencananya akan digunakan untuk mempercepat misinya dalam mengembangkan platform kecerdasan buatan.

Sebelumnya, dalam sebuah wawancara bersama DailySocial, Co-Founder & CEO Bahasa.ai, Hokiman Kurniawan, sudah menerangkan strategi bisnisnya. Fokus Bahasa.ai adalah menghasilkan kemampuan Bahasa Indonesia yang lebih komprehensif untuk mesin komputer. Salah satunya diterapkan dalam chatbot.

Principal East Ventures, Melisa Irene, dalam sambutannya mengatakan bahwa platform berbasis NLP/NLU yang dikembangkan oleh Bahasa.ai akan sangat relevan di Indonesia. Hal ini mengingat adanya variasi dan dialek yang unik dalam Bahasa Indonesia.

Dalam komunikasi sehari-hari, istilah slang dan ejaan non-KBBI terus hadir dan digunakan. Solusi berbasis kecerdasan buatan –dikombinasikan dengan pembelajaran mesin—dapat meningkatkan kemampuan komputer dalam memahami Bahasa Indonesia. Sehingga saat diimplementasikan (misalnya ke dalam chatbot) akan menjadi lebih atraktif.

Chief AI Bahasa.ai, Samsul Rahmadani, dalam keterangan tertulisnya mengatakan dengan peningkatan teknologi kecerdasan buatan harapannya brand dapat menghasilkan kanal komunikasi yang dapat berinteraksi secara alami dan lebih personal. Bahasa.ai menghadirkan produk PaaS yang dapat membantu brand atau bisnis mengembangkan strategi chatbot-nya.

Persaingan bisnis chatbot lokal

Membuat produk berbasis kecerdasan buatan bukan perkara mudah, kendati demikian banyak startup lokal yang mencoba keberuntungan di vertikal tersebut. Saat ini sudah sangat banyak startup (atau hasil pivot startup) yang menyasar segmentasi produk berbasis AI, khususnya untuk implementasi chatbot. Sebut saja Kata.ai, Botika, Qiscus, Bang Joni, Eva dan sebagainya.

Perkembangan tersebut tak terlepas dari kebutuhan industri. Pemain bisnis berlomba-lomba menghadirkan cara baru yang lebih efektif dan efisien dalam pelayanan pelanggan. Solusi berbasis chatbot dinilai mampu mengakomodasi kebutuhan tersebut. Saat ini, banyak perusahaan yang mulai mengadaptasi, dari perusahaan telekomunikasi, perbankan, hingga e-commerce.

Katadata Receives New Funding Led by East Ventures

Online media platform focusing on economic and business research, Katadata, announced the acquisition of fresh funding led by East Ventures. The previous investors, Emerging Media Opportunity Fund (EMOF) and Lin Che Wei were also involved in this round. The value is still undisclosed.

The fund will be used for product development and machine learning-based data management system. Metta Dharmasaputra, Katadata’s Co-founder & CEO, said the funding is part of their further step to develop business as a data-based media.

“With the support of the to-be-developed data system, it’s expected to result in an in-depth data-based news and analysis which capable to help business players, government, and other stakeholders. As planned, the new data-based product will be launched by the end of the year,” he said.

Founded in 2012, Katadata is known as a news portal that mostly provides infographic and video content. All packed in two brand sites, katadata.co.id and databoks.co.id.

“By combining traditional journalistic principles with technology-based distribution methods, we can achieve a better future. East ventures has high hopes that Katadata can be a role model for the long-form news media in Indonesia,” Willson Cuaca, East Ventures’ Managing Partner, said.

Moreover, Lin Che Wei, Katadata’s angel investor said that this third round is believed to accelerate the digitization process, artificial intelligence technology development, and big data.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

Katadata Dapatkan Pendanaan Baru yang Dipimpin East Ventures

Katadata sebagai media siber yang berfokus di riset bidang ekonomi dan bisnis, hari ini (16/8) mengumumkan pendanaan yang dipimpin East Ventures. Investor sebelumnya, Emerging Media Opportunity Fund (EMOF) dan Lin Che Wei, turut terlibat kembali dalam pendanaan ini. Tidak disebutkan besaran pendanaan yang didapat.

Dana segar akan dimanfaatkan untuk pengembangan produk dan sistem pengelolaan data dengan teknologi machine learning. Menurut Co-founder & CEO Katadata Metta Dharmasaputra, pendanaan ini merupakan bagian dari langkah lanjutan pengembangan Katadata sebagai media berbasis data.

“Dengan dukungan sistem data yang akan dikembangkan tersebut, diharapkan akan dihasilkan berita dan analisis mendalam berbasis data yang mampu membantu para pelaku bisnis, pemerintah, dan pemangku kepentingan lainnya. Rencananya, produk baru berbasis data tersebut akan diluncurkan pada akhir tahun ini,” ujar Metta.

Sejak berdiri tahun 2012, Katadata dikenal sebagai portal berita yang acap kali menyajikan konten berupa infografik dan video. Dikemas dalam dua brand situsnya katadata.co.id dan databoks.co.id.

“Dengan menggabungkan prinsip-prinsip jurnalistik tradisional dengan metode distribusi berbasis teknologi, kita dapat mencapai masa depan yang lebih baik. East Ventures memiliki harapan besar agar Katadata menjadi teladan bagi media berita longform di Indonesia,” sambut Managing Partner East Ventures, Willson Cuaca.

Sementara itu Lin Che Wei, angel investor tahap awal Katadata, menyampaikan bahwa pendanaan ronde ketiga ini dipercaya akan mempercepat proses digitalisasi, pengembangan teknologi artificial intelligence, dan big data.

East Ventures and Vertex Ventures Lead Series A Funding for Cicil

Cicil, a fintech platform focused on student loan segment receives a Series A funding from a number of investors. They are East Ventures, Vertex Ventures, K3 Ventures, Ethos Partners and Accord Ventures. In total, Cicil has received more than $5 million (more than IDR 70 billion) in external funding.

East Ventures, which was involved in the previous series of funding, saw Cicil not only as a loan company but also a service capable of solving the most critical problem in Indonesia, said the development of human capacity by bridging the gap of education financial.

“Cicil is not just another loan company. [Cicil’s Co-Founder] Leslie and Edward solved the most critical problem in Indonesia regarding human capacity development. Access to the real education can improve public’s living standard, but Indonesia’s education system is still high maintenance. Cicil fills the gap by providing funds for students to finance their study and buy their learning equipment, such as laptop and PC. It certainly can help students in developing along with the national movement to become the Energy of Asia,” Willson Cuaca, East Ventures’ Managing Partner, said.

It’s corroborated by Vertex Ventures’ Managing Partner Joo Hock Chua. He said that he’s excited to lead the funding for Cicil and could help them make expansion in Indonesia’s student market segment.

“Cicil has accomplished all important and ongoing mission in the education journey of students by helping them finance their needs, including laptop, travel cost, housing, and school fees. They have the right tools and opportunities to focus on producing a better learning experience. We also see great opportunities in Indonesia, it’s to help SEA students as well,” he explained.

Cicil has been focused on solutions for financial issues in Indonesia. It’s either for tuition or online purchases with monthly installment without a credit card.

Since founded in 2016, Cicil has grown and managed to reach 10 provinces and 29 cities in Indonesia, also served students over 100 universities. Using this fresh funding, Cicil plans to help more students.

“We see the financial access is a real problem for Indonesian students and we hope Cicil can help to solve the problem. We also expect to overcome similar problems not only in Indonesia but also throughout Southeast Asia. The fresh fund will enable us to accelerate expansion and serve more students,” Leslie Lim, Cicil‘s Co-Founder, said.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

SweetEscape’s Plans After Receiving Seed Funding

SweetEscape, an on-demand photography service, is ready to execute some plans after receiving seed funding of US$1 million (approx. IDR 14 billion) led by East Ventures. Some other investors are Beenext, SkyStar Capital, and GDP Venture.

The money will be used for Asia’s market expansion. After the Philippines, SweetEscape might expand to Thailand and South Korea in the near future. The company is ready to hire a local team and work together with local brands to expand SweetEscape.

Local teams in each country are responsible to provide relevant recommendation and suggestion for its clients. They’re also expected to educate SweetEscape’s new markets about its features.

The funding was finalized last year, but being recently announced by SweetEscape. In fact, the announcement came after SweetEscape’s expansion to enter Philippines market.

David Soong, SweetEscape’s CEO, about this issue, said, “This announcement is a decision of SweetEscape’s internal team and other related investors. Moreover, we saw the Philippines and Asian market are growing and intriguing for more development.”

“Our goal is to become a global company. When it started, SweetEscape only had clients from Indonesia. As of now, 45% of our clients are overseas, mostly coming from Asia and the US. Basically, professional photographers are the global market’s need.”

Soong continued, other than expansion, SweetEscape will use the fund to develop new technology for its clients. The company is preparing for a system that can edit photos automatically in high resolution within less than 24 hours.

“As our goal to provide the best for clients, we’ll certainly keep developing in terms of technology.”

Emile Etienne, SweetEscapes’ Founder and COO, added, to maintain the good quality photo shooting and editing quickly is a challenge for the company. Therefore, the right technology is going to be a solution, not only for clients but also for photographers.

“Our team has built the easiest booking app for photography and will continue to invest in IT for the seamless experience to our clients and photographers,” he said.

Founded two years ago, SweetEscape claims to have 2000 photographers distributed in 100 countries. SweetEscape’s clients is said to reach over thousands of people worldwide.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

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