Indonesia’s Dropezy to head to the Startup Arena Pitch Battle grand finale

This article is a collaboration between Betty Chum and Ainun Nadhifah

Covid-19 may have impacted startup fundraising, but there are still investors who are willing to put up capital: In Indonesia alone, for instance, Tech in Asia counted 73 deals that were made during H1 2020.

To shine a spotlight on the innovative startups in Southeast Asia, Tech in Asia organized Startup Arena Pitch Battle in partnership with Surge, Sequoia Capital India’s rapid scale-up program. The competition has four semifinal rounds, each one focused on a particular market: Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the rest of the region. They all build up to a grand finale that will be held on October 21 and 22 at this year’s Tech in Asia Conference Virtual 2020, where the winner will receive a US$10,000 cash prize plus perks from Freshworks, HubSpot, and Tigerhall.

For its Indonesia round, Tech in Asia invited Rajan Anandan (managing director, Sequoia Capital & Surge), Edward Tirtanata (CEO and co-founder, Kopi Kenangan), and Teruhide Sato (founder, BEENEXT) to judge the pitches given by six Indonesian startup founders.

At the end of the event, grocery platform Dropezy was announced as the regional winner, with jobs platform startup Job2Go as the runner-up.

Here’s an overview of the startups that participated in the Indonesian semifinals leg of the Startup Arena Pitch Battle 2020:

Dropezy (winner)

While online shopping for groceries and other household needs have picked up during the pandemic, the service still has a few inconveniences. For one, most platforms require a minimum amount of ordered goods before providing free delivery. People also sometimes forget to schedule their online purchases, resulting in grocery essentials like milk and eggs running low at home.

As a new player in the online grocery market, Dropezy offers delivery subscription services for daily needs, which are sourced directly from farmers and suppliers. Users can buy small amounts of fresh produce and non-perishable products via its website, mobile app, or chatbot, and there’s a flat rate for its delivery fee: Only US$0.34, which covers all districts in Jakarta City.

Co-founder Nitesh Chellaram said that Dropezy currently receives an average of 4,500 orders per month. Ten percent of its 900 active customers order more than 15x per month, with an average order value (AOV) of around US$12 per order. The startup has a gross margin of 18%, with a goal to grow to 25% to 40% once it partners with principals.

Dropezy’s current marketing strategies include the use of sales agents, area-based acquisition, and word-of-mouth and lift advertisements.

Job2Go (runner-up)

Ask any founder and human resource personnel, and most would tell you the same thing: Hiring is a painful process. Challenges such as the man-hours involved, offline-based management of materials, and mismatched skills and locations are just the tip of the iceberg.

Job2Go is a jobs platform that connects job seekers to job openings and helps them access posts that are available in the cities where they live. At the same time, it also allows employers to post screening questions for applicants as well as deposit salaries for the employees they have hired via the app.

Launched in December 2019, Job2Go serves over 1000 companies, and its customers include Grab and Tokopedia. The startup has achieved an annual revenue of US$2 million with a gross margin of 15%.

Job2Go makes money by charging a fee between US$50 and US$100 whenever an enterprise hires someone through its platform. It charges US$1 for each hire done by SMEs, and it also makes commission from its API services such as digital products and loans that can be embedded into other platforms.

Pasarnow

Purchasing groceries online often involves hefty delivery fees and the uncertainty of the freshness of the available produce.

Pasarnow, a delivery startup that offers cheap prices through group-buying, aims to help shoppers keep their grocery expenses low while ensuring the quality of their purchased goods.

The platform does this by pooling the orders from users living within nearby areas into one single drop-off point, which saves on delivery fees. In addition, Pasarnow also allows shoppers to check the freshness of the products first before making cash-on-delivery payments.

Launched in April this year, the startup has acquired a total of 12,000 users and achieved a gross merchandise value (GMV) of US$338 in September. Its repeat buyers come back to make purchases 4x to 5x a month.

Ekuitas

Owning a home is a tough process, especially with properties getting so expensive and receiving approval for home financing loans becoming more difficult.

Ekuitas’ goal is to help everyone become a homeowner by offering two solutions: A rent-to-own model that enables users to gradually accumulate home equity while renting; and a co-investing platform where fractional ownership of properties go for as low as US$0.68.

The startup’s revenue model is to take 1% to 3% in commission from users’ co-investing campaigns, future sales (such as when users sell or trade a house), and its rent-to-own solution. Its product is currently in development, with a target launch sometime in October.

Wetruck

Hiring trucks in order to deliver goods is easier said than done. On top of the organizing needed to schedule real-time deliveries, finding the right truck for the job usually also comes with a heavy price tag.

Trucking startup Wetruck wants to simplify the shipment process by connecting users directly with truck owners. Its platform allows users to choose the type of truck they need to make real-time delivery services while maintaining a price range that’s 50% cheaper than others.

Wetruck takes a 20% commission from each transaction. Last year, it made US$756,000 in GMV from 24 business-to-business (B2B) customers. To date, it has delivered more than 2 million packages.

According to Wetruck CEO Hilman Kamil, the platform is equipped with real-time GPS and it can do performance tracking based on user reviews to monitor the drivers’ behavior and ensure customer satisfaction.

Sunchila

There are so many ecommerce marketplaces now that anyone can easily set up their own business online. However, getting products from suppliers remains a cumbersome process, as some suppliers come with too many terms and conditions while others are even located in a different country.

This is where Sunchila comes in. The startup makes sourcing for suppliers and products easier for small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) by offering a variety of affordable products that are already in stock. Users can easily set up a store without having to put in any capital.

Besides assisting with the supply chain, Sunchila also educates its members on the best practices in the marketplace and helps them network with each other to boost their sales.

Launched in 2019, Sunchila has more than 3,000 active members with a monthly sale of around US$65,000 per month. Its current top performing products are sneakers and household items.

Don’t miss the biggest pitch battle in SEA

Dropezy will join other regional winners OctiFi (Singapore), Papaya (Vietnam), and Curlec (the rest of Southeast Asia) at the grand finale of the Startup Arena Pitch Battle 2020, which will be held on October 21 and 22 at the Tech in Asia Conference Virtual 2020. Each regional winner wins US$2,500 and credits from Freshworks, Hubspot, and Amazon Web Services.

Catch the thrilling finale of the Startup Arena Pitch Battle 2020 at this year’s Tech in Asia Conference. You can register here to watch this ultimate showdown live.

If you’d like to gain more insights into the startup and tech scene in Southeast Asia, join us at our biggest conference Tech in Asia Conference Virtual 2020, happening on October 19 to 22. Don’t miss your chance to learn more about Asia’s Golden Age!