eFishery, a smart aqualife feeding system, wins Jakarta’s Get in the Ring pitch competition

eFishery’s automated smart feeding system for commercial aqualife operations.

Eight Indonesian startups squared off today in Jakarta’s Get in the Ring (GITR) pitch competition at Pacific Place mall. The crowned winner was a startup named eFishery. The company has a smart aqualife feeding system that can sense the fish’s appetite. eFishery claims to be the best product in Indonesia for large-scale hatchery operations that require efficient feeding solutions. The system can be monitored and controlled through a smartphone or tablet connected to a network.

The Netherlands-based Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship partnered with local players Universitas Ciputra Entrepreneurship Center, Ciputra GEPI Incubator, and Global Entrepreneurship Week Indonesia to host the event.

GITR is a worldwide competition for startups to battle it out in an effort to secure up to €1 million (US$1.3 million) in capital investment. The concept is simple. Two startups step “in the ring” for a one-on-one battle with five different rounds to convince a jury of investors why their startup has market potential. Regional qualifying battles take place in cities around the world, with the international final happening November 21 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Jakarta’s panel of judges featured Andi S. Boediman from Ideosource, Martin Talvari from Slush Finland, Sati Rasuanto from Endeavor Indonesia, Roderick Purwana, director of SinarMas Ventures, and Fransisca Mok, managing director of Mandiri’s corporate banking division.

Round one: Dompetsehat vs Twitgreen

The first two startups to battle were Dompetsehat and Twitgreen. Dompetsehat is a product to help keep track of your income and expenses, and reminds you of when you’re running low on finances. Twitgreen is digital fundraising platform for tree-planting and forestry projects. The company publishes all the necessary project information that donors and stakeholders would need (including data for farmers, landowners, and legal authorities). Twitgreen ultimately advanced to the final round.

Round two: Grivy vs LiveOlive

Grivy.com is a site similar to Groupon or Living Social that offers deals from popular merchants nearby. The key difference is that it does so via real-time auctions that start at prices as low as US$1. Grivy “sparred” with LiveOlive, a personal finance site for women in Indonesia. Claiming to be the “AirAsia of personal finance,” LiveOlive aims to provide affordable planning and access to financial products online. Although judges liked both startups, they chose to send LiveOlive to the final round.

Round three: eFishery vs Elitics Technologies

eFishery’s opponent was Elitics Technologies, an information research and technology company that focuses on healthcare and big data analysis. The company’s goal is to help the local healthcare system prevent the spread of diseases. In the end, eFishery advanced to the final round as its market traction and unique value proposition was enough to sway the judges.

Round four: 8villages vs Squline

Squline is an online platform that connects students who want to learn Mandarin with professional native teachers from China. It claims to offer a more affordable and quality learning experience for its users via multimedia lessons and institutionally certified teachers. 8villages is Indonesia’s social network for farmers to communicate with potential customers, and get the word out about their products. 8villages advanced to the final round after a solid pitch delivery from founder Sanny Gaddafi.

See: 8villages raises $150,000 to help businesses reach out to rural farmers

Final round

The final round gave each of the four remaining founders one minute to sum up their venture concept, business model, and reasons for why their company will succeed in the Indonesian market. In the end, the overall winner was eFishery. 8villages took second place as the runner up. The regional final competition in Surabaya will be on October 14. Next month’s winner will advance to the international final for a chance to take home the competition’s prize money.

(UPDATE 9/12/14: The additional prize for the first place winner is a round trip ticket to attend the Slush conference in Finland. The second place winner will receive a round trip ticket to attend Startup Nations in Seoul.)