In brief: Indonesian portable wifi rental service Passpod makes public debut

PT Yelooo Integra Datanet Tbk (Passpod) officially listed its shares on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) today with the ticker symbol YELO. With this listing, YELO becomes the 46th issuer in the country this year, as well as the first startup backed by IDX Incubator to go public.

Initiated by IDX and Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority, the incubator provides funding, mentoring, and legal support to startups in Indonesia. Passpod has been in the program since February.

Source: Digital News Asia

Passpod caters to the needs of Indonesian travelers during overseas trips. It rents out portable 4G wifi modems so people don’t have to avail of expensive data roaming services. It also offers travel recommendations like tourist attractions to visit and places to eat in and shop.

According to local media Katadata (link in Bahasa), Passpod issued 130,000,000 shares at Rp 375 for a total of Rp 48.75 billion (US$3.2 million). However, Passpod says its shares were oversubscribed by 10.27 times.

The money raised will be spent for new features, business development, R&D, and working capital. Passpod plans to expand its user base to include foreigners traveling to Indonesia from markets such as Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Myanmar, and South Korea.

“One of the lessons I learnt at IDX Incubator is not to wait for huge growth before launching an IPO. An IPO may actually help grow startups,” says CEO Hiro Whardana.

Currency converted from Indonesian rupiah. US$1 =  Rp 15,232.76