After attending Indonesia Startup Insights last year, we are glad to announce that we are again attending Indonesia Startup Insights 2017 on the 27th of May at EcoWorld Gallery in Singapore!
Organized by KinerjaBisa, this event features not only startup pitchings but also expert insights from VCs, businesses, as well as the government’s perspectives. We’re hoping to understand deeper about the Indonesian ecosystem!
Previously overshadowed by China and India in the past few years, Indonesia is now gearing up towards the tech ecosystem.
There has been a sharp increase in total internet usage, up from 88 million users in 2014 to 132.7 million users in 2016, based on a study conducted by the Indonesian Internet Service Provider Association – this is a huge market to tap on in the tech verticals.
What’s the startup scene currently?
According to a report by DailySocialId, in 2016, there are 71 investments for local startups. 40% of them are seed funding while 24% are Series A. By the sector, e-commerce, fintech, and on-demand services remain the most attractive sector for capital owners with 21%, 20%, and 13% market share respectively
Issues and challenges
It is still difficult to find digital-savvy professional across function with specific knowledge. According to Deloitte Fintech Survey 2016, as companies grow, their need for talents will change. Younger companies (0-2 y/o) have greater need (83%) for Tech, Data and Analytics talents. However, it is still difficult to find tech talents who break the traditional mindset and possess the drive to be able to work at high-pace startup companies.
Capital availability also remains one of the biggest hurdles for Indonesia startup, although a few investors have claimed that it is also difficult to find founder/startups worth investing, based on DailySocialId’s research.
There is also a concern that government regulation is still unable to catch up with the current maturity of Indonesia startup ecosystem, although there is a real evidence of support from the government. One example would be “Paket Kebijakan 14”, which serves as a roadmap for e-commerce industry in Indonesia. This policy aims to expand the market, promote innovation, encourage seamless processes and protect the national interest, particularly in the creative economy.
In the Fintech sector, the Financial Services Authority (OJK) and the Central Bank of Indonesia (BI) has launched a few efforts on it. OJK has officially launched a few rules regulating fintech P2P lending services in Indonesia at the end of 2016. On the same sphere, BI has also launched two initiatives, BI Fintech Office (BI FTO) with regulatory sandbox initiative and PBI PTP for regulating ownership structure of service providers.
So what are the next steps for the startups? That’s what we’re excited to find out at Indonesia Startup Insights 2017! Let’s discover new trends, initiatives, and strategies on the scene, also featuring the Deputy of Infrastructure Indonesian Agency for Creative Economy