TOP 10 STARTUPS OF INDONESIA

The startup scene in Indonesia is thriving and dynamic. They are not just involved in the sectors usually associated with startups such as e-commerce but on a variety of sectors. Investments in startups have been increasing and the trend is expected to continue. Although the country’s infrastructure and government policies are less than perfect for startups, the country’s growing economy, emerging young middle class and big population of young digital savvy people makes it fertile ground for startup opportunities. Here, the Top 10 of Asia takes a look at its list of Indonesian startups (in alphabetical order) that have earned their recognition and flourished in one of the most important emerging markets of the world.

Akulaku

Founded in 2016, Akulaku is an Internet company focused on e-commerce and online financial services in Southeast Asian countries. Its users are able to purchase products on instalments without a credit card and have them delivered to their homes. Headquartered in central Jakarta, it has five offices in five countries/regions. It is also one of the first-ever online shopping mall in which every item can be bought in instalment. It was reported that Akulaku’s funding move raised some USD5 to 10 million from a number of global venture capital firms in 2017.

 

Crowde

Indonesia’s agricultural sector is the third largest contributor to Indonesia’s gross domestic product (GDP). But people might be surprised to know that many farmers, the driving force behind the industry, live in poverty. Founded in 2016, peer-to-peer lending platform CROWDE understand this and is tackling that problem. It enables farmers to raise their working capital from a crowd-lender through various schemes. It is a solution for farmers who face complicated bureaucracy in getting working capital loan, selling farm produce and land owning.

 

Doktersehat

DokterSehat is an e-healthcare platform, providing trusted valuable health information, online consultation with doctors as well as digital health utilities that help people to manage their own health independently. It is actively serving millions of Indonesians weekly. Since its inception in 2015, it has grown to be one of the leading e-healthcare providers in the country. It is backed by a solid team of healthcare practitioners and a partnership with the government and healthcare providers in Indonesia.

 

Jojonomic

Established in 2014, Jojonomic’s vision as a fintech company is “The Future of Work”. It strongly believes that working nowadays should not be bound by time nor space and works in making it a reality. Jojonomic’s value proposition is to reduce 70% of admin work and to increase productivity by 100%. It is the first in Southeast Asia to launch a mobile expense management system and to utilize a biometric face recognition on mobile to monitor productivity or attendance. As of today, their service has been used by companies of various sizes and from various sectors.

Nicslab

Andri Mahendra, CEO of Nicslab, used his valuable experience in the semiconductor industry to start his company in 2017. Nicslab’s vision is to make instruments smarter and become the world’s largest supplier in instrumentation industries. Nicslab’s product is XPOW which comes in different models. It simplifies multiple power sources into one compact, affordable and easily controlled device. The fact that the product has already been shipped across Australia, Canada and Europe is a testament to its quality and success.

 

Prelo

Established in 2015, Prelo’s mission is to enable people to trade responsibly in a secure and interactive platform.  It started as an answer to everyday problems of female Indonesian millennials, mainly in the 25-34 age range. By focusing on this segment, it identified problems by users within the segment such as difficulties in buying imported or overseas products and young moms who are burdened by expensive baby tools with short product lifespans. A non-counterfeit marketplace platform where people can sell their unused items in Indonesia, Prelo has expanded its business to become a comprehensive retail sharing economy platform. Newly developed services that complement the platform includes Rent (item renting service provider) and Jastip (travelling personal shopper).

 

Snapcart

Snapcart is Asia’s first real-time shopper engagement app where it allows brands to connect with its consumers directly. Since its launch in 2015, the app has grown organically to reach over 1 million downloads with little marketing push. It attracts users, many of whom are loyal, by offering cashbacks to users uploading their shopping receipts. The receipts data are then compiled onto the company’s cloud-based date platform, which is then used to provide clients with reports on real-time offline consumer spending and shopping habits —an inherently difficult information to source. To date, Snapcart has partnered with over 75 brands of fast-moving consumer goods.

 

Taralite

Established in 2015, Taralite’s mission has always been to free people from financial worries by providing world-class financial products to the under-served segment of Indonesia’s population through technology. In addition to providing affordable loans for the less-privileged, it offers a suite of financial products including insurance, credit scorings, credit cards, wealth management, digital banking and many others. Taralite aims to be the best online financial service provider.

Traveloka

Founded in 2012, Traveloka is an Indonesian unicorn company that provides airline ticketing and hotel booking services online with the focus on domestic travel in Indonesia. It was founded by Ferry Unardi, Derianto Kusuma and Albert Zhang. Traveloka started out as a search engine to compare the prices of airline tickets from other sites in its journey to become ASEAN’s first travel unicorn. In the middle of 2013, it became a ticket reservation website. In July 2014, it added hotel booking services. Today, it is an online platform for a multitude of services geared towards travel.

Urbanhire

Founded in 2016,  Urbanhire believes hiring could be more efficient and it wants to help companies get talents which they will love. It is an Indonesian online job hunt platform which is catered to the new economy and upholds values like technological excellence, collaboration and people empowerment.  Its focus is on the Indonesian and Asian markets. Urbanhire’s website layout is appealing and easy to browse and use for potential young job seekers. Urbanhire also caters its services for employers, allowing filtering of candidates as intuitive as social networks and gives tools to deploy pre or post application assessments.