Indonesia’s tech scene saw $2.9b in investments, new unicorn in 2019

2019 has certainly been a very memorable year for Indonesia, following many important milestones in the country’s tech industry. In April, Indonesia held its general elections, where President Joko Widodo was reelected for his second and final term. Widodo’s government has been keen to support and advance Indonesia’s digital community, also with the appointment of tech entrepreneurs as government officials.

Photo Credit: Rizky Maharani

Nadiem Makarim, founder and former CEO of Gojek, was appointed as minister of education and culture, while Belva Devara, co-founder and CEO of edtech startup Ruangguru, and Andi Taufan, founder and CEO of fintech startup Amartha, were named as the president’s special staffers, along with five other young professionals from various fields.

KrAsia rounded up a review of important highlights that took place in Indonesia in the past 12 months, a year to remember.

Indonesia saw positive investment flows in 2019

As the biggest market in Southeast Asia, Indonesia is still a favorite destination for investors from inside and outside the region. According to a report by Daily Social, there were at least 110 funding transactions announced by Indonesian startups and/or investors per December 18, 2019. From 60 disclosed investments, total funding raised this year amounted to over US$2.95 billion, considering the latest funding collected on December 26 by edtech startup Ruangguru, which raised US$150 million.

The sectors that bagged the biggest number of transactions were finance with 23 transactions, SaaS with nine, and ecommerce and logistics sectors, which both secured eight funding transactions, respectively.

Southeast Asian super app Gojek is reportedly on track to raise over US$2 billion in its ongoing series F round from existing investors including Tencent, JD.com, Google, and Cool Japan Fund. The ride-hailing giant expects to complete the funding, which would become the largest of the year, by January 2020.

Ruangguru recorded the second-largest funding in 2019, collecting US$150 million, followed by digital credit card platform Kredivo that bagged US$90 million in December. Other important fundraising activities in 2019 were recorded by healthtech startup Halodoc, which raised US$65 million in March, while ecommerce unicorn Bukalapak snagged US$50 million in funding back in January.

Local VC firms saw 14 exits this year. MDI Ventures led with three acquisition records and two IPOs, followed by East Ventures which saw three acquisitions, and Alpha JWC with two acquisitions. Among the startups that successfully exited this year were wedding marketplace Bridestory, which was acquired by Tokopedia, agritech startup Limakilo, which was snapped up by Warung Pintar, and classified marketplace Jualo, which was acquired by automotive online marketplace Carro.

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The biggest news in the Indonesian tech community was the resignation of Nadiem Makarim from his position as CEO of the country’s most valuable startup, Gojek. Makarim announced his resignation on October 21 as he was appointed as Indonesia’s minister of education and culture. Gojek’s co-founder, Kevin Aluwi, and former president Andre Soelistyo have since then taken the lead as co-CEOs of the firm.

Makarim still has a stake in Gojek and serves as a passive investor without any authority over the company’s daily operations. In the hands of new leaders, Gojek is currently making progress towards profitability and is preparing for a dual stock market listing in the future.

Bukalapak also surprisingly announced the resignation of its co-founder and CEO, Achmad Zaky, in December. Zaky was succeeded by financier Rachmat Kaimuddin who now serves as the company’s CEO. Zaky remains on board as an advisor and tech startup mentor, and will also be the chairman of the soon-to-be established Achmad Zaky Foundation. The company said that this development is part of its strategy to realize its sustainable ecommerce business mission.

Photo credit: Tech in Asia

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