Nine graduate from Plug and Play Indonesia Accelerator

• Startups received seed funding, mentorship, networking with corporates and regulators
• Plug and Play Indonesia is now recruiting the second batch of startups

NINE startups from the first batch of Plug and Play Indonesia Accelerator programme took to the stage after a demanding 14-week programme and presented their plans at a Demo Day in Jakarta recently.

Demo Day marked their graduation from the programme which is a joint venture between Indonesian investment firm Gan Konsulindo and Silicon Valley-based global startup accelerator Plug and Play.

The nine startups are Astronaut (mobile-based video-selfie platform for job interviews), Brankas (a financial management platform), Bustiket (online booking platform for intercity buses), Dana Didik (a crowdfunding and peer-to-peer platform for under-privileged students), Karta (two-wheeled vehicles advertisement provider), KYCK (a remote on-boarding platform for financial service providers to handle know-your-customer (KYC) processes), Otospector (a platform that offers second-hand car inspection services), Sayurbox (e-commerce platform to buy vegetables directly from farmers), and Wonderworx (a jobs portal for freelance designers and engineers).

Their activities in Indonesia are supported by four corporations with more coming on board. The four are Astra International, Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN) and Sinar Mas.

The Plug and Play Indonesia Accelerator Programme was set up in 2016 to help startups that have innovative business and product ideas incorporating mobile technology and fintech as overarching themes that can help to transform and positively impact different industries and verticals in Indonesia.

“We are focusing on mobile and fintech as our main themes because people nowadays are looking for mobile solutions, and in every solution that they offer, fintech will play a part, for example, as a payment gateway. We see huge potential in Indonesia now,” Plug and Play Indonesia president director Wesley Harjono explains in a press conference.

During the 14 weeks, the startups went through a series of workshops on business models, growth hacking, pitching, and fundraising as well as numerous networking events where they engaged with the movers and shakers of their respective product categories and industries.

Each of these startups also received US$50,000 (650 million rupiah) in seed funding from Plug and Play Indonesia.

“Plug and Play really helped us to stay focused on  actions that really matter. There are so many things to do in a startup with limited time and resources. Plug and Play helped us focus on funding more students, “ said Dana Didik co-founder and CEO Dipo Satria.

“During the Plug and Play Accelerator Programme, our orders hit ra ecord high from a boost in our marketing strategy,” said Sayurbox co-founder and CEO Amanda Susanti.

“Joining Plug and Play enabled us to talk to corporates who would need our services, such as vehicle leasing and insurance providers. Through Plug and Play, we were able to partner with one of the biggest online classified portals in Indonesia, “ said Otospector co-founder and CEO Jeffrey Andika.

[Updated to add quotes from the startups]

Innovation platform for corporates

While helping the startups to accelerate, Plug and Play also aims to be an innovation platform for corporates.

“We uphold the standard processes established by Plug and Play. We also believe that when it comes to startups, the first thing they need is mentorship, more so than funding. That is why we are happy to be supporting the Plug and Play Accelerator programme. Through Plug and Play, we have met at least five startups that we are keen to work with,” said Astra International director Paulus Bambang in a statement.

Wesley adds that the solutions offered by these startups were filtered based on problem statements by Plug and Play Indonesia's corporate partners.

With the success of its Batch 1 Accelerator programme, Plug and Play Indonesia is now recruiting its second batch which will commence before the end of this year.

“We are ready to accelerate more startups in Indonesia. This is our effort in supporting Indonesian president Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo's initiative to make Indonesia the leader of the digital economy in Southeast Asia,” said Plug and Play Indonesia Accelerator director Nayoko Wicaksono.

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Plug and Play, Gan Kapital join forces to launch Plug and Play Indonesia

What’s Next 2016: How to make corporate-startup collaboration work

Indonesia’s vision: 1,000 startups by 2020

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