IDN Media acquires creator payment platform Saweria (updated)

IDN Media / Photo credit: IDN Media

Updated (August 15, 2023, 4pm SGT): The story has been updated to include IDN Media’s confirmation.

IDN Media has acquired Saweria, an Indonesia-based creator and livestreamer payment platform, the company confirmed in a statement. Tech in Asia Indonesia first reported the acquisition on August 10.

According to sources close to both companies, the acquisition process was completed last month.

They also said that Theo Budiyanto, Saweria’s founder, will no longer be involved with the platform. While the statement did not address Budiyanto’s role, it said that Saweria’s existing team will continue as per normal.

“We are committed to continue strengthening Indonesia’s livestreaming industry by incentivizing content creators to create and earn money through Saweria’s livestreaming monetization platform,” said IDN Media co-founder and CEO Winston Utomo.

Founded in 2019, Saweria is a platform that enables creators or livestreamers to receive payments from fans through various Indonesian e-wallets. According to Hybrid, Saweria had around 500 to 700 daily active livestreamers in 2020, with website visits reaching 700,000 per week.

This isn’t IDN Media’s first acquisition. The company is aiming to expand its revenue sources across the entertainment, livestreaming, and creator economy sectors, Utomo recently told Tech in Asia.

Starting out as a BuzzFeed-like news website called IDN Times, IDN Media now has a portfolio that includes gaming-focused media outlet Duniaku, idol group JKT48, and film company Demi Istri Production.

IDN Media, which is profitable, posted a revenue of US$24.7 million in 2022 – a 38% increase from the previous year as per VentureCap Insights, which tracks regulatory filings in Singapore. The biggest source of revenue for the year was digital advertising, contributing around US$18 million to the total.

See also: What GoPay’s new standalone app says about GoTo’s ‘super-app’ strategy

A version of this article was originally written by Rizqi Maulana on Tech in Asia Indonesia.