East Ventures invests in Indonesian Gen Y media startup IDNtimes.com

• Portal offers short, bite-sized curated news for millennials
• Funds to be used to improve UX, revamp platform

MEDIA startup IDNtimes.com, which curates news from a variety of sources and repackages it for Generation Y Indonesians, said it has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from East Ventures.
 
The fresh capital from East Ventures will be used to “aggressively” expand the team, improve its user experience, increase content creation and distribution, and revamp its platform, IDNtimes.com said in a statement.
 
IDNtimes.com aims to be the leading online media for news and entertainment for the younger generation in Indonesia, with short, 100-word articles.
 
What differentiates it from the more established online portals are its selection of topics, writing style, and angles, which it claims are more relevant to its target audience of 18- to 34-year-olds.
 
“IDNtimes.com shows a very strong execution capability. Within a short period of time, it has managed to capture a large audience, mainly millennials,” said East Ventures managing partner Willson Cuaca.
 
“As reading and distribution behaviour change over time, media companies have to proactively follow and adopt. IDNtimes.com is a [breath of] fresh air in the media industry,” he said in the statement issued by IDNtimes.com.
 
IDNtimes.com content can be found on its website, YouTube channel, and Android and upcoming iOS mobile apps.
 
Revenue comes via native content advertising and marketing – new media speak for ‘advertorials’ – which sees the INDtimes.com editorial and video teams working closely with the advertiser to make sure that the sponsored content is relevant to both the brand and its audience.
 
Major brands such as Samsung, Oppo, Heineken, Bir Bintang, Huawei and Mattel have run advertising campaigns with IDNtimes.com, the company said.
 
“We have invested heavily in our editorial and IDNtv team to make sure that we produce the highest quality articles and videos for our audience,” said chief operating officer William Utomo.
 
“We focus on native content marketing because digital banners have become inefficient and irrelevant to both brands and their audience,” he added.
 
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