Tag: Weekly Updates

[Weekly Updates] Massive Seed Funding for Ula; SIRCLO and ICUBE Merge; and More

Last week the headline was highlighted by $10.5 million seed funding for Ula, an e-commerce platform for the small retail stores, founded by a group of co-founders led by former Sequoia India’s employee. It’s soon to launch pilot project in East Java.

Also in the news was the merger between SIRCLO and ICUBE to be the champion in e-commerce enabler business, seed funding for Soul Parking, a smart parking infrastructure for motorcycle, and Series A funding for Wallex, an online remittance platform.

Ula Receives 148 Billion Rupiah Seed Funding, Offers Supply Chain Platform and Capital Support

Ula, a startup working on supply-chain solutions for small shops and SMEs, has received seed funding worth of US $10.5 million or equivalent to 148 billion Rupiah. The round led by Sequoia India and Lightspeed India, with the participation of SMDV, Quona Capital, Saison Capital, and Alter Global. Several angel investors are also participated, including Patrick Walujo, Willy Arifin, Sujeet Kumar, Vaibhav Gupta, Amod Malviya, Rohan Monga, and Rahul Mehta.

The business concept relies on e-commerce-based applications. It consists of a wide selection of wholesale merchandise with high demand by stall owners or other SMEs, specifically related to daily needs (FMCG). A unique thing about this service unique is that it allows users to use the pay later feature in the application. This flexible payment is considered to solve capital problems that often blocked small stalls to grow.

SIRCLO and ICUBE Merge, Aims to be a Comprehensive E-commerce Enabler

SIRCLO, an e-commerce enabler platform, has merged with tech solution agency ICUBE. Through this action, the new entity expects to combine thousands of clients with a variety of businesses. ICUBE, however, will still be operating as an independent entity, with both companies have 450 employees in total.

Muliadi Jeo, ICUBE’s Founder, will serve as SIRCLO’s CTO, while Leontius Adhika Pradhana switches role to CPO.

Soul Parking Secures Seed Funding, Developing Smart Parking Infrastructure

Smart parking startup Soul Parking has received seed funding led by AC Ventures and Agaeti Ventures with an undisclosed amount. Several undisclosed angel investors also participate.

Soul Parking developed a smart parking solution called Compact Motorcycle Storage (CMS), portable parking space for motorcycles. It is designed to create a proper parking environment in strategic locations with tight space. The parking infrastructure is equipped with a digital application, which is able to facilitate the preparation, monitoring, and payment of vehicle parking, as well as facilitate the reporting of parking transactions to landowners.

Online Remittance Platform Wallex Secures Series A Funding

Wallex Technologies has received Series A funding with an undisclosed amount from BAce Capital, SMDV, and Skystar Capital. Also participated are some existing investors.

The recent funding will be used to scale its business in several new markets, as well as to maintain the current products.

Another plan is to develop new services and upgrades its existing products, including virtual receivable accounts and digital wallets with currency options in certain countries.

[Weekly Updates] Facebook and PayPal Invest in Gojek; Kejora Setups New Fund; and More

Last week was all about funding. Two big names are joining Gojek’s list of investors. Facebook and PayPal join Google and Tencent in its (still) Series F funding. It’s said PayPal will be integrated into Gojek ecosystem soon.

In other news, Kejora Ventures and SBI Holdings launches $30 million Orbit Fund, while job marketplace Job2GO bags seed funding from BANSEA angel investor network.

Facebook and PayPal Invest in Gojek

Gojek announces Facebook and PayPal as the new investors in the latest round with undisclosed amount. Google and Tencent, existing investors, are also joining the round. The two investors want to support Gojek’s mission, through GoPay, in driving digital economic growth in Southeast Asia, with a focus on payment and financial services.

Through this collaboration, PayPal will open its network, which has reached 25 million merchants worldwide, to Gojek ecosystem.

Kejora and SBI Holdings Launches “Orbit Fund”, Ready to Invest 426 Billion Rupiah for Indonesia’s Early Stage Startups

Kejora Ventures and SBI Holdings today (03/6) launched the Orbit Fund. It is a joint venture in the form of a venture capital company focused on early-stage startups funding in Indonesia. In its debut, they’ve prepared $30 million or equivalent to 426 billion Rupiah.

They are currently targeting edutech, healthtech, consumer goods, agritech, fintech, and online media sectors. Seed funding will be channeled starts from $200,000 to $3 million.

Job2GO Secures Seed Funding from an Angel Investor Network BANSEA

The HR-tech (human resources technology) startup Job2GO announces it has received seed funding from BANSEA angel investor network. The value is not disclosed. The funding is to focus on the improvement of technology products and user acquisition.

BANSEA (The Business Angel Network of Southeast Asia), established in 2001, currently supports thousands of entrepreneurs in the region through a network of investors from individuals and companies they own.

[Weekly Updates] Kopi Kenangan Secures $109 Million Funding, IDN Media Acquires Production House; and More

Coffee startup Kopi Kenangan has making the headlines as it secures $109 million new funding led by Sequoia India. Also there are bunch of new investments announced last week, like KlikDaily and Dekoruma.

In the meantime, new media rising star IDN Media has snapped Demi Istri Production to create IDN Pictures, company’s new venture in video content creation.

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

The new retail startup Kopi Kenangan has announced a Series B funding worth of $109 million (over 1.6 trillion Rupiah) led by the existing investor investor, Sequoia Capital India. New investors include B Capital, Horizon Ventures, Verlinvest, Kunlun, and Sofina. Also participated in this round is Alpha JWC Ventures.

Following this round, B Capital and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin will sit on Kopi Kenangan’s board of directors. He’s eager to help the company to make faster business transformation.

It’s said that the company is now valued at almost $500 million.

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

B2B marketplace Klikdaily has booked Series A funding in May 2020. The value is still undisclosed. This funding was led by their existing investor, Global Founders Capital (GFC), a Rocket Internet’s venture arm.

The fund will be utilized to accelerate the company’s mission–to empower traditional stalls across the country through technology and infrastructure development.

Klikdaily also plans to replicate its current business model to bring more distribution centers in major cities of Indonesia until the end of 2020.

Dekoruma Secures Investor’s Fund on Pre Series C

Dekoruma, an interior design and construction services platform, announced Pre-Series C funding with an undisclosed value. The lead investors in this round include InterVest Star SEA Growth Fund 1, Foundamental, OCBC NISP Ventura, and Skystar Ventures. Also participated are investors from the previous round.

Dimas Harry Priawan, Dekoruma’s CEO, said the fund 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, the application has been used in more than 3000 interior design projects.

Dekoruma claims to achieve positive EBITDA by early 2021.

IDN Officially Acquires Demi Istri Production House, Introducing IDN Pictures

New media mogul IDN Media has officially announced the acquisition of an independent film company or production house, Demi Istri Production. The production house was founded in 2013 by director Fajar Nugros and producer Susanti Dewi. Following the acquisition, those two to lead the newly formed IDN Pictures.

Through film, IDN intends to re-shape the Indonesian film industry while at the same time brings positive influence to the community.

[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.

[Weekly Updates] Bukalapak’s Co-Founders Start Investing into Startups; Funding News From Qoala; and More

Two Bukalapak Co-Founders have initiated Init-6, a new venture capital in town. Its first investment is a seed funding for Eduka, an edtech company. Moreover, Qoala has bagged a $13.5 million Series A funding from a group of investors led by Centauri Fund, a new fund from MDI Ventures and Kookmin Bank Korea.

In other news, Stoqo is the latest startup to close its operation due to current situation. While Moka, recently acquired by Gojek, is committed to remain independent entity and embracing other platforms, including Gojek’s competitors.

Achmad Zaky’s New Investment Firm Init-6, Debuts with Seed Funding for Eduka

Bukalapak’s Co-founder and Founding Partner Init-6, Achmad Zaky announced the new investment firm focused on investment to early-stage startups. Bukalapak’s Co-founder, Nugroho Herucahyono also participated as Partner after resigned as the CTO. Init-6 debuts with its first investment to the edtech platform Eduka.

Init-6 will focus on investing in early-stage startups without specific sector preferences

Qoala Bags 209 Billion Rupiah in Series A Funding

Qoala, an insurtech platform founded by Harshet Lunani and Tommy Martin, has secured Series A funding worth of $13.5 million or around 209 billion Rupiah. The current round is led by Centauri Fund.

Several new investors are also participated, including Sequoia India, Flourish Ventures, Kookmin Bank Investments, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, and Mirae Asset Sekuritas.

The company is to use fresh money to invest further in technology, HR and brands to support the company’s strategy in providing better services to customers, platform partners, and insurance companies. Qoala targets to employ 300 talents by the year 2021.

Stoqo’s Shutdown and Survival Strategy for B2B Commerce

Following the pandemic situation, Stoqo, a B2B commerce platform that provided fresh supplies for restaurant, has announced an operational shutdown. The company received Series A funding from Monk’s Hill Partners and Accel Partners India at the end of December 2018.

PHRI’s Deputy Chairman for the Restaurant Emil Arifin estimates that the culinary business in Indonesia has loss around Rp2.5 trillion per month with 200,000 people losing their jobs.

Moka Remains an Open Platform Post Gojek Acquisition

Following recent acquisition by Gojek, Moka will continue to operate as an independent entity with the Gojek merchant ecosystem’s integration. The ecosystem consists of GoBiz (the super app that houses GoFood), GoPay, and other services such as Midtrans and Spots.

Moka will remain an open platform and are very open to continuing collaboration with all partners. The company allows merchants to receive payments from variety of digital wallets, such as GoPay, Ovo, Dana, and others.

[Weekly Updates] Gojek Acquires Moka; Funding Updates From Northstar Group, Modalku, Fore Coffee; and More

Although no official statement yet, it’s reported that Gojek has acquired Moka for around $130 million. Furthermore, Northstar Group has completed first round of its Northstar V fund, Fore Coffee secures additional $1 million investment, and Modalku receives $40 million.

In other news, Bizzy has initiated TokoSmart Agent network to widen its customer base. The company is no longer put its focus on B2B marketplace.

Gojek Wraps Up Acquisition of Moka at 2 Trillion Rupiah Valuation

The acquisition of Moka by Gojek finally comes to an agreement, widely rumoured since Agustus 2019. The company has submitted corporate action to the regulator (KPPU) as of April 9th, 2020.

Bloomberg reported that Moka has been acquired by Gojek at $130 million or around 2 trillion Rupiah.

Northstar Group Secures First Round of Its Fifth Fund, Targeting 12.5 Trillion Rupiah

Northstar Group has just announced the first round of Northstar Equity Partner V Limited Fund (Northstar V). The fifth fund is focused on early-stage to growth-stage startups in Southeast Asia, esp. Indonesia.

The first round has represented one third of Northstar V target at $800 million or equivalent to 12.5 trillion Rupiah. Included into the investor’s list are sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, institutional investors, family offices, and other high net-worth individuals.

Fore Coffee’s Expansion Plan After Raising 147 Billion Rupiah Funding

After raising a $9.5 million or around 147 billion Rupiah funding, Fore Coffee looks for more opportunity to expand and added more outlets. It has expanded its business to Bandung, Surabaya, and Medan. Fore Coffee claims to have profitable sales with increasing team numbers.

Fore’s Co-Founder, Elisa Suteja, told DailySocial that the company has achieved business growth phase after closing the Series A funding in April 2019 with additional $1 million secured early this year.

Modalku’s Parent Company to Proceed with Series C Funding Worth Over 625 Billion Rupiah

Modalku’s parent company, Funding Societies, raises series C funding worth of $40 million (over 625 billion Rupiah). Modalku’s CEO, Reynold Wijaya, said the fresh money will be distributed to support all aspects of the company’s strategies, including to empower Indonesia’s SMEs.

Internally, the company conducts streamline operations to improve efficiency and simplify the operational process. This process includes a small number of layoffs.

Bizzy Adapts to Consumer’s Behavior, Introducing Tokosmart Agent

Since January 2019, Tokosmart has launched an initiative  to support the digitisation of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Tokosmart has acquired 54,600 stores and more than 27,000 distribution companies in Indonesia.

To push Tokosmart’s further effectiveness, Bizzy has developed Tokosmart Agent, a new beta feature that was launched last week. Tokosmart Agent directly targets end-user and community leader segments, like RT or RW leaders in the local area. They can order large quantities of supplies to be distributed to residents in their homes.

[Weekly Updates] KoinWorks and Kargo Technologies Receive Funding; Sharia Feature from LinkAja; and More

Both p2p lending startup Koinworks and smart logistics startup Kargo Technologies have big funding announcement these days, while LinkAja provides a sharia feature for its payment solution. Also in the news is the introduction of Sehatigold, an Indodax’s sister company, as an online gold-based trading/investment platform.

KoinWorks Receives 316 Billion Rupiah Funding from European Financial Institution and Venture Capital

Fintech lending startup, KoinWorks, just announced new funding in two terms, equity and loan. The amount reaches US$20 million or around 316 billion Rupiah. Regarding investors, Quona Capital, EV Growth, and Saison Capital with participation of some others are involved in the equity. In terms of the loan, the company only reveals the two financial institutions that come from Europe.

KoinWorks plans to use the fresh money for financial loans through the fintech lending platform. The new credit feature is provided by an international institution, namely Triodos Bank, global banking from the Netherlands.

Kargo Technologies Announces 504 Billion Rupiah Funding, to Provide Loan Access for Logistics Partners

The logistics marketplace connecting companies with truck services, Kargo Technologies, has announced US$31 million (around 504 billion Rupiah) funding in its Series A round. It was led by Silicon Valley based Tenaya Capital. Also participated in this round, Sequoia India, Intudo Ventures, Amatil X, Agaeti Convergence Ventures, Alter Global, and Mirae Asset Venture Investment.

In this round, Kargo manages to secure funding in the form of debt financing from banks and regional financial institutions.

Kargo Technologies’ CEO, Tiger Fang, said most of the funding will be prioritized for business operations and products development to adjust the current deployment situation of Covid-19. For truck owners, companies can help their cash flow with fast funding products, which are very much needed in the current circumstances.

LinkAja Officially Launches Sharia Feature

After few months of trial, LinkAja officially launched the sharia feature to public. They target to reach one million users for this service.

LinkAja first introduced the sharia features in November last year. One of the most distinguishing features of this sharia is its conventional services as an institution for the deposit (floating funds) to top up balances using the services of Islamic banks.

In order to pursue the target, LinkAja has collaborated with 1000 mosques, 11 waqf institutions, 23 zakat institutions, and 67 donation institutions.

Introducing Indodax’s Sister Company Sehatigold, an E-commerce Platform for Gold

Sehatigold has transformed as an online gold trading platform. It is headed by Denny Ardhiyanto and one of the founders is major shareholder in Indodax. The platform was made to solve two problems in buying and selling gold, for a very small to the loss of profit margin when trading gold, also the affordability. Sehatigold offers solutions by selling gold starting from 0.01 grams or having a nominal value of IDR 10,000 without any additional costs.

Sehatigold has several main services. In addition to buying and selling gold, customers can exchange the gold savings they buy online into physical gold in the form of jewellery or precious metals. Then, the platform allows users to trade gold.

[Weekly Updates] Agaeti and Convergence Merge as AC Ventures; Investree Raises $23.5 Million; and More

Two local venture capitals, Agaeti and Convergence, has formalize their merger as AC Ventures. Meanwhile, plenty of funding news last week, including Investree raises $23.5 million Series C funding led by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and BRI Ventures, BukuWarung secures seed funding led by East Ventures, and Webtraces announces seed funding led by Prasetia Dwidharma.

AC Ventures is Agaeti Ventures and Convergence Ventures’ New Identity

The two local venture capitals, Agaeti Ventures and Convergence Ventures, has officially merged and took a new name as AC Ventures (ACV). Both company’s partners are joining the new entity. They are Adrian Li, Michael Soerijadji, Donald Wihardja, and Pandu Sjahrir.

AC Ventures to invest in 35 early-stage startups within the next three years. Its preferred focus are e-commerce, digital content enabled service, financial technology, and MSME enabled technology.

ACV is the first consolidated VC firm to be officially announced in Indonesia. After the first wave of investment in the past decade, some venture capitals are said to start a consolidation to raise the next round of fund.

Investree Raises 382 Billion Rupiah Funding of Series C’s First Round

The p2p lending startup, Investree, announced the first round of Series C funding worth of $23.5 million (more than 382 billion Rupiah) led by MUIP, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), and BRI Ventures. Also participated are SBI Holdings and 9F Fintech Holding Group, both are existing investors.

Investree’s Co-founder & CEO, Adrian Gunadi, explained, the fresh money will be channeled to tighten the company’s position as the leading p2p lending for SMEs and to support business in Thailand and the Philippines.

Webtrace Announces Seed Funding, Developing Logistics Management Platform

To accelerate business growth, Webtrace has secured seed funding led by Prasetia Dwidharma. Also participated in this funding was Astra Ventura. With the fresh funding, the company plans to toughen marketing activities and acquire more customers while increasing sales.

Webtrace intends to be a useful platform for fleet management to have a technology solution for the more efficient logistics business, also to improve productivity and security. It can work using IoT solutions and sensors to produce data compilation and real-time analytics.

SME Accounting App Developer BukuWarung Announces Seed Funding Led by East Ventures

BukuWarung, a SaaS accounting startup for SMEs, announced seed funding led by East Ventures. The fresh money will be channeled to tighten the company’s position and recruiting talents of engineers, product, design, growth and partnership.

Also participated other investors such as AC Ventures (merger of Agaeti Ventures and Convergence Ventures), Golden Gate Ventures, Tanglin Venture Partners, and Michael Sampoerna. It is also mentioned some angel investors from Grab, Gojek, Flipkart, Paypal, Xendit, Rapyd, Alterra, ZenRooms, and others.

BukuWarung was founded by Abhinay Peddisetty and Chinmay Chauhan in late 2019 when both are still working at Carousell.

[Weekly Updates] Bukalapak’s New Logo; $17 Million Funding for TaniHub; and More

Bukalapak has announced the usage of new logo following the succession of its CEO. In the highlight last week were series of funding announcement by TaniHub, Kargo, and ProSpark. Lastly, East Ventures and its portfolio initiate crowdfunding scheme to help financing Covid-19 test kit.

Bukalapak Introduces The New Logo

Bukalapak is officially launched a new logo. The new logo introduced only three months after the reins of company leadership were transferred from the Co-Founder to a professional. With this new face, Bukalapak intends to benefit more people with the features and technologies in their ecosystem.

Bukalapak team told DailySocial that the rebranding initiative had long been prepared. At the age of 10, Bukalapak remains the same, trying to help raise the standard of living of its users in the whole ecosystem.

Bukalapak said the new company’s logo contains 4 meanings: Excitement, Fun, Strength, and Bukalapak. The meaning of the new Bukalapak logo illustrates that Bukalapak is ready to become a platform with answers to all the needs of its users to get or sell goods.

TaniHub Secures 285 Billion Rupiah Worth of Series A+ Funding

TaniHub Group announced to secure series A+ funding worth of US$17 million or around 285 billion Rupiah. This is the follow on round of the series A last May 2019.

The latest round was led by Openspace Ventures and Intudo Ventures. Also involved in this round, UOB Venture Management, Vertec Ventures, BRI Ventures, Tenaya Capital and Golden Gate Ventures. In total, TaniHub has obtained Rp462 billion funding since 2016.

The additional funding will be allocated to tighten business position by expanding services, both for farmers and customers. They will also focus to improve operational, such as the implementation of automation in processing and packaging centers.

Coca-Cola’s CVC, “Amatil X” Pours Its First Investment to Kargo Technology

Following its official launch in early 2019, Coca-Cola Amatil Indonesia (Amatil Indonesia), through the Amatil X corporate venture capital (CVC) initiative, has established strategic partnerships with some startups in Indonesia.

The latest collaboration is with Kargo Technologies, it is said to help them expand the business strategy and logistics digitization process in Indonesia.

Kargo Technologies is a logistics marketplace that connects companies and truck service providers. In the middle of last year, they obtained funding of $7.6 million (more than 107 billion Rupiah) led by Sequoia India and the 10100 Fund – the latter one was founded by Uber Co-Founder Travis Kalanick.

ProSpark Provides Edtech Solution in B2B Segment

Founded in 2018, ProSpark offers a Learning Management System (LMS) that allows companies to train, certify, transfer knowledge, and collaborate. In particular targeting B2B segment by providing a learning management system to improve staff comprehension.

In order to accelerate business development, ProSpark has secured pre-seed funding led by Agaeti Ventures. Prasetia Dwidharma and an angel investor, Adi Adisaputro, also participated in this round.

ProSpark plans to use the funds to expand its commercial footprint and strengthen its position in the market. The company is also working on plans for regional expansion across SE Asia in the future.

East Ventures and Its Portfolios Initiated “Indonesia Pasti Bisa” Project

Amidst the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak throughout Indonesia, East Ventures along with some of its portfolios have collaborated to make a contribution. They’ve launched the crowdfunding platform named Indonesia Pasti Bisa to collect funds and channel it for Nusantics to produce its own Covid-19 test kit.

There are three of East Ventures’ portfolios took part in this initiative. First and the main player is Nusantics. The deep-tech genomic startup has just announced the funding last week and currently developing a test kit for Covid-19. The project is part of Nusantics’ job as a member of the Research Force and Technology Innovation Task Force for Handling Covid-19 (TFRIC19) formed by BPPT.

The company to produce 100 sets of qPCR as prototypes and massive production for 100,000 test kits. In time, Nusantics will be launching the whole-genome sequencing to map the virus causing Covid-19 in Indonesia. The genomic mapping of various kinds of the virus becomes important due to the virus mostly mutating to different kind of form based on the environment.

[Weekly Updates] Nusantics Receives Seed Funding; Mekari Introduces Attendance by Talenta; and More

Nusantics, a biotech startup, has received seed funding from East Ventures to help accelerate the business. Some headlines from last week are Mekari introduces a mobile app to manage employee attendance (Attendance by Talenta), Indodax is yet to decide whether to IPO (or not), how Covid-19 has “incidentally” helped to push digital transformation for traditional businesses, while student loan providers share their story on helping people achieving their dreams.

Nusantics Biotech Startup Secures Seed Funding from East Ventures

A startup in the genomic tech sector, Nusantics, announced seed funding from East Ventures at undisclosed value. The fresh money is to be channeled to accelerate the company’s mission in leading the genome industry in Indonesia.

The startup was founded last year by Sharlini Eriza Putri (CEO), Vincent Kurniawan (COO), and Revata Utama (CTO). The three hold various backgrounds in academics, in the manufacture, FMCG, clean energy, aerospace, and biotechnology.

As a tech-based startup, Nusantics focused on the development of the implementation of various genome and microbiome research to fulfill a sustainable and healthy lifestyle demand.

Introducing Attendance Application to Support Work From Home System

In supporting the work from home (WFH) system as recommended by the government to avoid the Corona Virus outbreak, Talenta by Mekari has launched the mobile app to manage employee attendance in a practical and simple way named Attendance by Talenta.

Attendance by Talenta introduced with aims to be the practical and transparent attendance management solution for business owners and employees. It was designed to be more flexible for companies without such term as to involve the whole company, there can be just 1 team to use it for employee management and monitoring, the most-mobile division, for example, the sales team.

Indodax: IPO Plan and Crypto Asset Dynamics Amidst the COVID-19 Outbreak

After acquiring a license from Bappebti, there are certain aims for Indodax as a crypto asset platform. One is to make an IPO. Based on the previous interview, the company has a plan for it.

Regarding the exact timeline of IPO, Indodax’s CEO, Oscar Darmawan avoids revealing further to DailySocial on this matter.

This year, Indodax targets to reach more than 2 million members and make the registered ones more active in transactions, therefore, Indonesia can be one of the strategic countries in the field of blockchain and crypto assets in the world. The company also wants to introduce the Indodax platform as a digital investment platform for the people of Indonesia. These objectives are in line with the government’s mission to improve digital financial literacy.

The Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic, Digital Transformation Becoming More Real

On Wednesday (3/18), Head of Shopping Center Tenant Association (Hippindo), Budihardjo Iduansjah said to the media that the shopping center’s daily revenue has been declined as the #DiRumahSaja or #SocialDistancing movement was announced to avoid the outbreak of Covid-19. Solution is needed because the trade sector is the second biggest contributor to the Indonesian economy.

A digital approach can certainly provide solutions to these problems, but there must be a business will to do the transformation. As mentioned, many perceive digital transformation as the jargon of mere technology brand campaigns. Moreover, transformation can be interpreted as an effort to accelerate business by involving technological tools. The process is not by replacing all manual business models to digital, but trying to see opportunities that can help certain business processes with digital.

The most essential part of the transformation effort is to correct the mindset of the businessman himself. In addition, the “catastrophic” moment of the Covid-19 pandemic has now become an important lesson. That digital transformation today is becoming a necessity.

The Story of Educational Loan Providers in Indonesia

There are many problems in Indonesia related to education. It is not only about curriculum and effective learning, but also access to education itself. The required capital or costs to get knowledge from courses or higher education is not cheap. For some people, it is quite burdensome.

Another alternative that could be an option is an education loan platform. The concept is like a loan service for capital funds, the difference is that the funds lent must be earmarked for education. Indeed, with different agreements and responsibilities on each lending platform. Some startups that have loaning products or services for education funds include Pintek, KoinPintar from KoinWorks, and DanaDidik.

Education that is covered by educational loan platforms is not only limited to formal education such as tertiary institutions or vocational schools but also courses in various fields, such as programming, data science, business, to language courses.