This startup helps motorcyclists earn extra money by driving around ads

image credit: Karta

Offline advertising is a fresh opportunity to monetize Jakarta’s traffic. Karta, a startup handling advertising for motorcyclists, is entering the field as a new player.

Karta aims to connect drivers looking for extra money and clients who want to directly advertise their business. “There is a marketplace in motorcyclists in form of their jackets; we see this as a profitable opportunity to let small-to-medium businesses advertise,” CEO Andrew T. Setiawan tells Tech In Asia. The startup’s slogan even promises drivers they can earn enough to be able to afford petrol.

Andrew says that Karta originated as a roadblock when he was working on another venture alongside Tjokro Wimantara (Karta’s CFO and COO) and Jeff Hendrata (Karta’s CTO). “We found it difficult to advertise affordably as a startup in Indonesia. That difficulty eventually opened a door of opportunities for us to build a company.”

The idea came to fruition in January 2016, and Karta started running full time as a startup by the end of March. Karta’s team currently has seven members.

(L-R): Tjokro Wimantara (COO/CFO), Andrew T. Setiawan (CEO), Jeff Hendarta (CTO)

Interactive advertising with transparency

Karta uses data from both clients and drivers and equips the drivers with motorcycle jackets decked out with advertisement material.

“There is GPS connected to our app so we can monitor where the motorcycles drive. Drivers simply press start and finish to begin their shift and Karta will track them along the way,” said Tjokro.

The jackets are sourced from a company in Solo. The ads are printed by another company in Jakarta. The ads can be attached onto the jacket, which means drivers won’t need to get a new one for each campaign.

“On the clients’ side, they enter their ads and upon consulting by a Karta specialist, pick drivers in a targeted area. Karta will filter drivers nearby to act as their brand ambassadors. Drivers are compensated for the amount of kilometers they drive wearing the Karta jacket and when they do tasks,” he added.

Tasks come into play when clients upgrade their campaign, adding an interactive component.

Karta’s edge is that it offers a feature called “extra pay for the extra mile.” Drivers can do more than tour ads around the city. They can sign up to do tasks like handing out free stuff, or performing a bonus service, among many others.

“With interactive advertising as a possibility, Karta aims to directly connect advertisers and drivers. We’re creating transparency between the two sides of our business to interact and improve,” said Andrew.

Expansion plans