A lesser-known story from Indonesia’s ride-hailing wars

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Hello,

We’re all suckers for stories about giants, aren’t we? Big names in the headlines draw clicks and eyeballs, even if, more often than not, the news is relatively bland.

(This would explain why a sports publication I read took one milquetoast interview with Manchester United legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and spun it out into no less than four separate articles. And I say this as a United fan.)

But stories of smaller startups and failure are also important. In fact, there’s a Chinese proverb that says “failure is the mother of success,” and we learn and grow so much more from our mistakes than we do from our triumphs.

And if nothing else, failing means you were brave enough to give it an honest try, which is always admirable.

Today’s premium article takes a look at Antar ID, which was part of the early ride-hailing wars in Indonesia. Suffice to say, it didn’t win against the likes of Grab and Gojek, but founder Edy Wihardja picked up many valuable lessons along the way. Read on to find out more.

Today we look at:

• What it was like battling Grab and Gojek in Indonesia
• A Japanese energy firm charges up with a US$79 million series C raise
• Other newsy highlights such as telehealth startup Ora’s US$10 million series A round and embezzlement rumors around fintech firm Spenmo.

— Winston

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Premium summary

David vs. Goliaths

Underdog stories are really popular, and they don’t even have to end in victory for people to like them – think about movies like 300 and the first Rocky movie.

(Hope I didn’t spoil these decades-old movies for you.)

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US$79 million will power anything up

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