Tag: Indonesia

Jakarta, Indonesia – Telkomsel Ekosistem Digital, a subsidiary of Indonesian telco Telkomsel has announced a joint venture with Aplikasi Multimedia Anak Bangsa (AMAB), a subsidiary of GoTo. The venture, called Majamojo, will build on the ongoing collaboration between the two local champions, which has already seen the introduction of a number of well-received mobile game promotions in Indonesia.

Majamojo will focus on mobile game development in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. It will look to form partnerships with third-party game developers, while leveraging Telkomsel Ekosistem Digital and GoTo’s strengths, including their digital capabilities, technology assets, and wide-reaching ecosystems.

This is in part of the joint venture’s objective of being the largest gaming publisher in Indonesia, as well as expected to strengthen Indonesia’s gaming industry, and encourage the development of more homegrown digital talent. 

Its efforts will also support Indonesia’s digital transformation and bring the benefits of the digital economy to more people throughout the country.

Andi Kristianto, CEO at Telkomsel Ekosistem Digital, said that they are optimistic about the role Majamojo can play, contributing to the development of the gaming industry and the digital ecosystem in Indonesia and Southeast Asia.

“Majamojo further strengthens Telkomsel Ekosistem Digital’s business, following the incorporation of PT Kuncie Pintar Nusantara (Kuncie) and PT Fita Sehat Nusantara (Fita) into its portfolio. Our goal is to maximise the advantages of Telkomsel’s assets and capabilities to grow Majamojo’s position in the gaming ecosystem, complementing what Dunia Games has covered so far,” Kristianto said.

Meanwhile, Reggy Susanto, head of strategic partnerships at GoTo, commented that by expanding their collaboration with Telkomsel, they will make it even easier for everyone to access digital products and services from GoTo and Telkomsel, so that they can better meet the needs of the growing mobile-first market in Indonesia.

Telkomsel Ekosistem Digital will be the majority shareholder of Mamamojo, with the remaining shares held by AMAB. To accelerate Majamojo’s business strategy, Jungwon Hahn will lead the joint venture as president director and M. Dody Darmawan as finance director.

Hahn explained, “I am excited to lead Mamamojo, which will focus on publishing games and developing the gaming industry locally and regionally. Our mission is to serve gamers with dedication and become a force to be reckoned with in Southeast Asia. We also aim for Majamojo to become a leading company in Indonesia that will strengthen the gaming ecosystem in Indonesia and beyond.”

Indonesia – The capacity of Thai commercials to tug at heartstrings in one moment and make viewers laugh out loud the next is what makes the advertising so unique. Many of them are tickling the funny bones not only of the locals, but also to the people of the region’s neighbouring countries. 

Thai advertisements have established the industry benchmark for a successful ad in markets such as Indonesia, giving over-the-top, passionate, and outright humorous content that is only semi-aligned with any specific product.

This encouraged LinkAja, one of Indonesia’s most popular e-wallet apps, to produce communications that challenge said benchmark and galvanise Indonesians to be proud of what they can achieve with a little inspiration from their northern neighbours.

Rizky Wisnu, head creative of LinkAja, commented, “Indonesians tend to look to the outside world to gauge our successes, but we wanted to change that mindset. We wanted to make ourselves proud of what we have achieved, showcasing our technological capabilities matching and, in some cases, surpassing other super-apps in the region. The same should be said for our communications work.”

Teaming up with TJT Creative Lab (Tang Jai Tham), he added, “Their creative portfolio showcases the experience in engaging audiences from across the region. And we wanted to work with a team that could bring this to the table – their understanding and appreciation of cultural nuances was ideal for what we were looking for.”

Keeping the execution Thai in spirit, the films were shot in Bangkok with a full suite of Thai talent, crew from Vanilla Films, a sister company of Mum Films of Suthon Petchsuwan and directed by TJT’s very own Creative Director, ApiwatPattalarungkhan.

Irvine Prisilia, creative director of TJT Creative Lab, explained the approach, “As an Indonesian, living in Bangkok for the past 12 years, you learn to appreciate both cultures and how it impacts our lives. Therefore, whilst we wanted to deliver on LinkAja’s message – encouraging Indonesians to stand proud we saw an opportunity to break through the cluster. So, for their new campaign #Apa2Bisa (#EverythingCanDo) we leveraged the Thai methodology but celebrated the Indonesians.”

Prisilia added, “The success of this film proves once again that collaborations are both borderless and limitless, especially when you’ve got amazing clients like the team at LinkAja that appreciates and understands the creative process.”

Jakarta, Indonesia — Akulaku, a Southeast Asian digital banking and finance platform, announced a US$100m investment from Thailand full-service bank Siam Commercial Bank.

This deal follows Akulaku’s successful funding of US$125m in 2021, co-led by Silverhorn Group as an existing investor and Akulaku’s financing partner since 2018. The company’s bank subsidiary, Bank Neo Commerce (BNC), also completed a public rights issue on the Indonesia Stock Exchange for approximately US$175m in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Founded in 2016, Akulaku has grown to become a notable Buy Now Pay Later and consumer financing platform in Indonesia, disbursing over USD$2.2b of credit in 2021 to over 6 million users. Building on that success, BNC launched its mobile digital banking services in March 2021 and has seen remarkable growth in digital bank users in Indonesia with over 13 million customers today.

Southeast Asia’s digital retail market is growing exponentially with over 80% of consumers now participating in e-commerce. Akulaku’s digital credit services aim to capitalize on this growth to further accelerate the digital transformation of retail in the region, providing a new market of consumers’ access to flexible banking services.

William Li, CEO of Akulaku, commented, “We founded Akulaku to meet the daily financial needs of underserved customers in emerging markets. Our recent round of funding will allow us to continue that vision by further expanding the geographic reach of our offerings across Southeast Asia and enable us to continue introducing new innovations to serve our customers.”

Dr Arak Sutivong, president of Siam Commercial Bank, said, “This investment in Akulaku marks our continued commitment and strong belief in the long-term prospects of Indonesia as one of the fastest-growing digital economies in the region. Akulaku has a dominant market position and is well-positioned with its innovative technology and superior product offerings. We are excited about the investment in the company and look forward to leveraging our deep expertise in Thailand’s financial services sector to support its expansion. The investment in Akulaku fits within our regional thesis of serving the underserved market using digital innovations. We look forward to partnering with Akulaku as the company continues to grow.”

Jakarta, Indonesia – Financial institution, Indonesia Eximbank (LPEI), has introduced a number of export-oriented SMEs during Indonesia’s historic event, G-20 2022, which has the theme ‘Recover Together, Recover Stronger’.

The move aims to show the resilience of Indonesian SMEs amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. These SMEs have participated in ‘Coaching Program for New Exporters’ (CPNE) or new export pilot programs, which is one of the government’s mandates through the Act to LPEI to create new exporters.

Rijani Tirtoso, LPEI’s executive director, shared that they have presented 16 selected SMEs during the event, of which are the results of the Consulting Services program, namely CPNE.

CPNE is a one-year mentoring and training program is also carried out by LPEI during the pandemic and has produced more than 2000 alumni. It aims to provide sustainable financial inclusion for SMEs can be accelerated, especially related to exports in accordance with one of the finance track agendas in the G-20 Indonesia presidency, namely ‘Financial Inclusion: Digital and SMEs’.

“A continuous training program for one year or we can say financial inclusion for export-oriented SMEs which aims to give birth to new exporters. Their presence at the G-20 presidency shows the resilience of SMEs to face the pandemic storm that has occurred for approximately the last two years,” said Tirtoso.

“We can find export-oriented SMEs from the CPNE program at the Rumah Joglo and Rumah Minahasa stands at JCC, Senayan. The products are also quite varied, such as fashion, handicrafts and home decorations, to accessories. Even more uniquely, a non-machine loom (ATBM) from one of the fostered partners that produce sarongs was brought directly to the JCC and attracted the attention of a number of delegates, even the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia,” said LPEI in a press statement.

Indonesia – Indonesia-based crypto assets digital exchange, Tokocrypto, has launched its new crypto hub called ‘T-Hub’ in Bali, Indonesia, aimed at equipping the crypto community with the knowledge and skillsets needed to capitalise on the endless opportunities in the crypto economy.

‘T-Hub’ is a physical stomping ground for Asia’s crypto community, giving them a space to gather, ideate, create, improve, innovate, or simply live the crypto lifestyle, through the sheer utility of Toko Token (TKO), Tokocrypto’s local cryptocurrency project that offers a unique hybrid token model.

The hub spans 1000 square feet with media halls, discussions rooms, co-working spaces, and F&B outlets. The crypto community can look forward to gaining more blockchain and crypto-related information, and taking their existing knowledge to greater heights through the tools and technologies offered at the centre. Blockchain and crypto thought leaders in Asia and across the globe now also have a go-to place to congregate and champion new ideas.

T-Hub seeks to equip the crypto community with knowledge needed to capitalise on the endless opportunities in the crypto economy.

Pang Xue Kai, Tokocrypto’s CEO, shared that cryptocurrency’s market capitalization hit its US$3t mark last year, and while they celebrate crypto’s digitally connected nature, pandemic-induced lockdowns have highlighted the importance of human connections and the human touch.

“We wanted to expand crypto-related activities beyond the digital realm, and create a safe space for crypto enthusiasts all across Asia to exchange technical knowledge and expertise, and drive innovation to take crypto and its community to greater heights,” said Kai.

Meanwhile, Teguh Kurniawan Harmanda, Tokocrypto’s chief operating officer, noted that they established T-Hub to give the crypto community a space to come together and form a collective vision of joint purpose and ensure common direction. 

“We welcome everyone to make full use of the facilities at T-Hub – whether you’re a trader, DeFi farmer, general crypto investor, a creator or builder of on-chain platforms, a stakeholder of the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry, or just someone who’s interested in learning more about blockchain and cryptocurrency,” said Harmanda.

Tokocrypto said that ‘T-Hub’, which opened last 21 January 2022, is part of the vast and ever-growing Tokoverse built by the platform to further spread financial freedom in Indonesia and across Asia. Beyond T-Hub, the Tokoverse boasts an accelerator programme, TokoLaunchpad, Indonesia’s NFT marketplace, TokoMall, and mobile application for crypto education, Kriptoversity, amongst others.

Jakarta, Indonesia – Southeast Asia’s used car e-commerce platform, Carsome, has appointed Andrew Mawikere, former president of technology company Warung Pintar, to be its new CEO for the Indonesia team.

Bringing more than 14 years of experience, Mawikere is a seasoned business executive with previous careers in Indonesia, the United States, and Singapore, as well as an experienced entrepreneur where previously he and other founders started their own company, a marketplace for B2B e-procurement called Mbiz. 

Aside from his role at Warung Pintar, Mawikere has led Bizzy Digital, a business-to-business (B2B) platform for integrated supply chain logistics and distribution. He has also previously held a leadership role at Astra International in the corporate strategy and business development department. Moreover, Mawikere has financial experience from his tenure in investment banking and multinational finance company JP Morgan and global investment company Temasek. 

In his new role, Mawikere will be a major force in ensuring Carsome Indonesia’s position as a market and industry leader in the country. He will also be responsible for driving strategic initiatives, and developing Carsome’s fast-growing business in Indonesia.

Commenting on his new appointment, Mawikere said that he feels grateful and happy to be a part of Carsome’s journey in digitising the process of buying and selling cars that are still conventional in Indonesia.

Mawikere said that he carries the vision to make Carsome Indonesia a user and stakeholder centred organisation with an emphasis on developing, investing, and empowering its employees. He is determined to make Carsome a leader in Indonesia by combining effective business and branding strategies supported by the power of technology and data.

“I am optimistic that Carsome is on track with a strong position, especially with the recent acquisition of Southeast Asia’s leading automotive listing and content platform, iCar Asia Limited. Relying on our core values, namely trust and transparency, we can create a more integrated automotive ecosystem that will benefit consumers and provide added value to the industry,” added Mawikere.

Meanwhile, Eric Cheng, Carsome’s co-founder and group CEO, shared that the appointment of Mawikere was a form of the company’s commitment to continue to grow in key markets such as Indonesia. 

“Joining Andrew will increase the strength of the team in Indonesia. With his combined financial and technological experience, we look forward to the breakthroughs Andrew will bring to enhance business growth and help Carsome’s mission of setting new standards for buying and selling cars,” said Cheng.

Jakarta, Indonesia – The e-commerce market in Indonesia is expected to grow by 23.8% in 2022, and will be valued at IDR420t (around US$30b), according to insights from data and analytics company GlobalData.

According to the data, e-commerce payments in Indonesia are forecasted to rise further at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.0% between 2021 and 2025, to reach IDR753t (US$53.8b) in 2025. Part of the forecasted growth’s reason is due to factors such as rising Internet and smartphone penetration, the growing middle class population, and proliferation of online merchants and payment tools.

In addition, the insights also noted that the rise in local e-commerce is also supporting the emergence of new payment models such as buy now pay later. The Indonesian buy now pay later market is crowded with several players including banks and payment service providers offering this service.

Nikhil Reddy, payments senior Analyst at GlobalData, commented, “Online shopping is popular in Indonesia, a trend that has become more prevalent amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The recent outbreak of the Omicron variant has further led to the resurgence of new cases, the highest in the last six months, which is likely to drive online shopping.”

He added, “The COVID-19 outbreak has accelerated consumers’ shift from in-store to online payments. The uptrend in e-commerce sales is likely to continue over the next few years, supported by government initiatives, growing consumer preference and improvements in payment infrastructure.”

Indonesia – Indonesia-based SaaS business solution platform, majoo, has raised a pre-Series A funding of US$5m, which brings its total raised to US$9m. This funding round was led by AC Ventures and Quona Capital, as well as the participation of BRI Ventures and Xendit.

With its new funding, majoo will be boosting its product development including the instant online store and marketplace integration. majoo enables MSMEs to sell through multiple online channels with a single dashboard. The company said that with the new funding, It will also be enhancing market penetration and hiring in multiple positions to support its growth, product, and engineering team.

Adi Wahyu Rahadi, majoo’s founder and CEO, shared that its mission is to evolve Indonesia’s MSMEs by providing end-to-end solutions for Indonesian MSMEs to manage and grow their business to accelerate the growth of Indonesia’s digital economy.

“With the mission to empower MSMEs in Indonesia, majoo will continue to add more features to its platform to further support MSMEs to grow their business. majoo also aspires to expand its team to reach more than 100 cities in Indonesia. With the support of well-connected funds such as AC Ventures and Quona Capital, majoo believes the partnership will be a major inception point for its accelerating role in Indonesia’s MSMEs digitization,” said Rahadi.

Meanwhile, Adrian Li, AC Ventures’ founder and managing partner, said, “As majoo continues to enable the digital potential of the 63 million MSMEs in Indonesia, it has proven its ability to expand the services that it brings to its clients. We at AC Ventures (ACV) are proud to double down in supporting their journey of empowering small business owners across the country.”

Dan Bertoli, Quona Capital’s partner, commented, “It’s a privilege to co-lead this round with ACV and work with the distinctive majoo team, and we are confident that majoo’s approach of building products in-house and providing a comprehensive solution to clients has the right set up to win in this market.”

According to the company, as of date, it has processed over 100 million transactions worth US$600m for MSMEs in more than 600 cities in Indonesia across a diverse range of businesses from F&B to laundromats and convenience stores.

Jakarta, Indonesia – As the average number of users on the platform balloon to over 30m every month, local digital wallet service DANA has introduced several updates on its ‘send money’ feature last January this year, which is noted as one of the most popular services used by the users.

Its first update is its saving feature, where users can enjoy up to 10 free transfers with Send Money, and will be only start being charged by the eleventh onwards at Rp2,500. Said update is also a form of DANA’s compliance and support for the payment system infrastructure provided by Bank Indonesia through BI-Fast.

Meanwhile, another feature called ‘monitor transfer process’ is also introduced where DANA users can now easily track, monitor, and directly trace their money transfer process. To facilitate the handling of each user’s digital transactions including the send money feature, DANA has also added a Resolution Centre that can be accessed directly.

Lastly, in a future update, DANA is preparing a ‘Favorite’ column that can group the user’s preferred list of family names or close relatives. Thus, when the next remittance is sent, the user only needs to go to the ‘Favorite’ column and select the destination more quickly.

Rangga Wiseno, chief product officer at DANA, said, “The Send Money feature is a mainstay feature that has been trusted by loyal DANA users. To enrich the user experience, we are constantly updating this feature to keep it relevant to the preferences and needs of today’s users.”

Wisono also noted that their digital wallet has been a cost-effective money transfer option, thanks to the free transfer fees. She added that their users, who are dominated by Generation Z and millennials, will be able to save money and save money from this fee.

“The Send Money feature in DANA is the most popular feature among users as it provides convenience and security in transferring money, both to fellow users and other accounts. The conveniences offered include flexibility in using several choices of funding sources, such as DANA balances, debit cards, or credit cards, and sending them through various ways such as between users, chat, to links,” the company said in a press statement.

Bali, Indonesia – As the Indonesian province of Bali gears up for reopening to tourists this year, Marriott International’s loyalty program Marriott Bonvoy and tourism gateway Bali.com have teamed up for a one-stop platform where travellers can book a travel arrangement to Bali under one platform.

Through the partnership, selected Marriott Bonvoy resorts in Bali and Bali.com will be offering a one-stop booking journey that includes a vacation accommodation and express travel visa on Marriott.com, or the destination platform. The express travel visa application process will be facilitated by Bali.com.

In addition, Marriott Bonvoy Members will enjoy 10% off the express travel visa application fee should they wish to make their own visa arrangements with Bali.com.

Ramesh Jackson, area vice president for Indonesia at Marriott International, said that they have always been a firm believer in the advancement of travel recovery, and with the re-opening of Bali to international guests, they are excited to work with Bali.com.

“We can identify that travel in this day and age is no longer what it used to be. With so many options on information channels and sources, it can be confusing and time consuming for travellers to navigate through reliable information. That is why we felt it was important to provide guests with a one click travel solution. This alliance is designed to provide guests with a worry-free seamless booking journey for their mandated quarantine stay with the option of a travel visa packaged together under Marriott’s integrated platform,” Jackson said.

Meanwhile, Michael Strobel, founder at Bali.com, commented that travellers are craving well-researched and reliable information and travel partners, hence they are extremely happy to be part of this campaign and to cooperate with Marriott Bonvoy resorts in Indonesia, in providing travellers with a transparent quarantine package and a booking experience that includes the e-visa.

“Bali.com is determined to play a supporting role in facilitating the return of tourists to Bali and Indonesia overall. We had a few million visitors on Bali.com during the pandemic who were looking for information about travel and visa regulations since Indonesia closed its borders in March 2020,” Strobel said.

He added, “The interest in Bali is still strong and people want to come back. We understand the importance during these uncertain times, to provide absolutely reliable information and guide and assist our visitors to take informed choices so they can enjoy a great holiday the moment the opportunity arises to visit Bali again.”