The best of Bootstrap Alley: the Indonesia edition

Tech in Asia conferences are always packed to the brim with amazing startups. Last year in Jakarta, we counted 99 booths on display at Bootstrap Alley – and smashed that number at our Singapore and Tokyo editions earlier this year.

Needless to say, Bootstrap Alley, a curated selection of the region’s most exciting startups, is a main highlight of our conferences. You can expect to meet an even greater selection – both in quantity and quality – this year at Tech in Asia Jakarta 2015.

With long hallways of sprawling booths that look equally impressive, it can leave you confused over where to even begin your tour.

To guide you along, we’ll be bringing to you a roundup of startups to keep an eye for at the conference. We kick off the feature by paying homage to our host country – here’s the lowdown on ten exciting Indonesian startups you’ll want to check out in person!

1. Labsatu

If you spend most of your waking hours in a lab in Indonesia, you’re likely to be extra cautious in handling your lab equipment – simply because you know how difficult it can be to replace them.

LabSatu, an Indonesian online retailer for lab products such as test tubes, test strips and chemicals wants to change that by making lab products accessible.

Hendry Herdy Agus, founder of LabSatu, worked as a conventional distributor of lab products for close to five years and struggled with the inefficiency of how supply and demand worked in the industry.

On the merchant’s end, certains stocks moved too slowly and never got to see the light of day when they expire. Customers on the other hand, had difficulties tracking where to get the equipment they needed and had to face long waiting times if they opted to have them imported in.

LabSatu’s solution? An online marketplace with a range of items that allows customers to easily check availability and place orders. The startup values the industry at US$1 billion, counting hospitals, universities, factories among its clientele.

2. Grivy.com

Grivy a Jakarta-based deal site, is similar to LivingSocial and Groupon – but with a twist. While all three companies offer a similar user experience and value proposition in Indonesia, Grivy ups the entertainment factor with its unique auction model.

The startup introduces gamification on top of deals related to goods and services like holiday getaways, spa packages, items for children, and restaurant reservations. It uses an auction mechanism – a key feature that differentiates this company in a sea of deal sites. According to founder Jan Oudeman, the thrill of of winning an auction, which begins at RP 10,000 (US$1), is almost as fun as buying the product itself.

Grivy plans to use its recent funding to revamp its mobile site and app, as well as to acquire more merchants.

3. Kerjadulu

There are a number of online players in the job search and networking markets, but no site has yet combined both concepts. KerjaDulu, which translates to “work first”, is planning to change that with its innovative social recruitment platform.
It has paired LinkedIn’s core feature of setting up personal profile pages to connect with other professionals, with Facebook’s aesthetic style prioritizing online activities and content shares over a person’s resume. Naturally, one can still see the CV and credentials of other users if they choose to, and follow alerts from companies. In return, these companies will be able to access the credentials of people who follow them.

4. Revasi

Revasi is an online aggregator of beauty, health and wellness centers, with an added function of allowing users to directly make reservations via the online portal. One can easily search for an intended treatment by filtering date, location, price to retrieve detailed information about their chosen spa, including duration and cost of each treatment, opening hours, and booking policy. In addition, it comes with a rating and review segment to allow users to share about their experience, helping first-timers make informed decisions.

The Bali-based startup has operations in local markets Batam and Jakarta, as well as presence in Bangkok and Singapore.

5.Dicoding

Dicoding is a platform that bridges the Indonesian tech market’s needs with the collective expertise of local developers. It connects beginner and advanced developers with challenges provided by project owners, and rewards them with points that can be used to redeem various attractive prizes when they rise to the challenge. This not only allows developers to continually challenge themselves and showcase their work. It also doubles up as a supportive community allowing them to further hone their skills.

A week after its Jakarta launch, Dicoding has announced an undisclosed seed funding from local tech media outlet DailySocial.

6. Black Garlic

Want to cook your own meals but often find yourself strapped for time? You might find Black Garlic a godsend. The startup sends pre-packaged ingredients in a kit all portioned and labelled complete with a step-by-step guide for each dish, granting users the best of both worlds – convenience and the enjoyment of a home-cooked meal.

Endorsing Black Garlic’s business model is Olivia Wongso, the daughter of William Wongso, an Indonesian TV chef and culinary consultant to big industry names like Indonesia’s national airline Garuda. As a result, the startup has access to professional gastronomy facilities and network, giving them a good testing bed without sinking heavy investments prior.

While Indonesia might seem not yet seem ready for BlackGarlic’s services, the startup is looking ahead and definitely has a first-mover advantage in capturing the market.

7. Alkemis Games

Alkemis Games is a game production firm based out of East Java’s capital city of Surabaya. Its founder, Tedo Salim, is a Surabaya native but has spent the better part of his youth abroad in Singapore, Australia and US. He headed home just last August to join Indonesia’s increasingly vibrant games industry.

What’s interesting about Alkemis Games is their sole focus on freemium mid-core games. This means their games are more complex and engaging than casual arcade games, which according to the team, is a position that is unique to them as there are no other Indonesian game firms currently doing the same.

They have their eyes set on the mobile market, and plan to exclusively create games for mobile devices. While their studio is based in Indonesia, Alkemis Games has identified their primary market as the US, given that it’s where Salim’s experience and knowledge is largely based on.

8. Yesboss

It’s a good time to be alive. Now, you don’t have to make your way up the ranks to get a personal assistant at your beck and call. YesBoss is a text-based virtual personal assistant on a mission to make your life easier by helping out with your requests – as long as they’re legal. All you have to do is text your heart’s desires to a phone number via good ol’ fashioned SMS – a significant value proposition given that the majority of the local working class uses feature phones – and wait for the item to magically appear.

The question of scalability often comes up for a labour-intensive business such as this, especially once their user base grows exponentially. As such, the Jakarta-based startup is currently working on an artificial intelligence auto response system with the capabilities to process natural and imperfect language.

9. Jelasin.com

Jelasin is Indonesian slang for “explain it” and also the core mission for this Surabaya startup. The fundamental belief behind Jelasin, is that storytelling is as important as the story itself. It creates engaging “explainer” videos to introduce products, believing they can do wonders for business results.

The founder of Jelasin, Taufshwara Diasriandaru (affectionately known as Ufan), has been involved in the Surabaya tech scene and perceives a need for his services especially among startups now that the ecosystem is maturing. It aims to help startups communicate their business ideas to users in the most engaging yet cost-effective way possible, priding itself as a “startup’s best buddy”.

10. Ci-Agriculture

Agriculture provides employment to almost half of Indonesia’s workforce, yet farming practices remain low-tech. This places Indonesia’s farming economy behind in the game in productivity and yield. That might be a thing of the past if Ci-Agriculture can help it. The startup wants to introduce digital innovation to the rice fields with a concept known as “precision farming”, adapted for Indonesia. This entails the integration of big data analytics and smart sensing to help Indonesian farmers establish when, where, and how to best farm.

The startup is currently running a pilot test with 1,000 farmers in three districts within the Lampung province. That’s over 1,200 hectares of maize, in a bid to further mature their technology and glean further insights as to how it’s being used by farmers and field workers.

Ci-Agriculture expects not only farmers but end buyers, researchers, and the government to take an interest in their software, which they plan to offer on a subscription-based model.

Say hi in person

Intrigued? Come on down to Tech in Asia Jakarta 2015 where you get the opportunity to meet the next wave of up-and-coming startups and ask them your burning questions.

In case you haven’t heard the good news, we’ve extended our 20 percent promotion (code: tiajkt20) until October 4 – which means you still get to purchase passes at a nifty discount. Get your passes today!

If you’re looking to join the ranks of these startups, Bootstrap Alley is still accepting applications until October 8. We are looking for exciting startups with a working prototype, and less than US$1.5 million in external funds raised.

Don’t miss the chance to get your startup some well-deserved exposure – sign up via the button below before it’s too late.