NBAS and Nordcham Indonesia hosted a conversation on the booming tech-scene in the region. We invited The Ken Journalist Nadine Freischlad and venture capitalist and entrepreneur William Klippgen to share their expertise. Here is the summary and the video recording of the event.
The Gojek-Tokopedia merger
Things are moving in the Indonesian tech scene. Just recently, Indonesia’s two biggest startups combined their business. Together, the ride-hailing giant Gojek and e-commerce platform Tokopedia make up the GoTo Group, led by Gojek’s Andre Soelistyo as Group CEO. According to Mr Stoelistyo, the firm is “a globally unique and highly complementary ecosystem” which will compete with successful super apps like Grab. Together with our competent panelists, we discussed the Asian tech market and the future of the GoTo Group.
Tech funding, policies and trends
In her presentation, Nadine Frieschlad laid out the recent changes in the Indonesian tech scene. From March to June this year, new startups like Halodoc (telemedicine), Bibit (robo advisor) and Tanihub (Agritech) have all received large amounts of funding. She also discussed the concept of Special Purpose Aquisition Company, which is used by tech companies everywhere, including most recently Grab in the US, to get listed quickly.
The Southeast Asian playbook
According to the panelists, we see a particular pattern amongst the most successful tech startups in the region.
- Multiple verticals, incl. rides, food and e-commerce
- Market domination
- Ancillary services, like advertising
- Financial services
GoTo may give Grab tough competition
The two companies are suddenly equal in terms of transactions, gross transction value, total merchants, and monthly active users. However, there are some important differences between the two. According to Frieschlad, the strength of GoTo lies in financial services.
