Indonesia saw its biggest tech conference unfold in Jakarta last week on November 11 and 12. Tech in Asia Jakarta 2015 was a whirlwind of activity with six stages chock full of content; 235 exhibiting startups; eager startups in line for five minutes of face-time with investors; corporates, and media; interactive sponsor booths, comfy beanbags and human foosball as breakout spaces, and a whole lot more.
So what did Indonesia’s ultimate tech conference look like for the over 4,000 attendees who came? Here’s a peek at what some of them said.
Amazon CTO Werner Vogels was the first speaker to kickstart the conference on the morning of day 1 – in a batik shirt, no less.

With the live streaming service available for the first time, we had virtual attendees listening to the Main Stage talks too (thank you for tuning in!):

And a glimpse into the expert stages – the Developer stage was undoubtedly the most over-subscribed – there were many who had to stand outside and crane their necks to see what was going on. We heard you, and will work to cater more space for the popular stages the next time round.
The stages are just not big enough to accommodate the demand at @TechinAsia_ID. Remove the curtains! #tiajkt2015 pic.twitter.com/YzJf1KmAjX
— Sergei (@sshvetsov) November 11, 2015
A good sharing by the ladies who bring specific marketing to specific audience #tiajkt2015 pic.twitter.com/WVitrv4EAm — RoySimangunsong (@roysimangunsong) November 11, 2015
Speed Dating, Office Hours, and Meet the Media sessions were also popular amongst our startup attendees – one even likened it to queuing for the latest iPhone launch.
The crowd at Speed Dating #tiajkt2015 pic.twitter.com/qp6qeG583r
— Andrias Ekoyuono (@andrias98) November 11, 2015
By mid-day, the crowd was getting intense..
Tech in Asia Conference 2015 Jakarta’s atmosphere…. #tiajkt2015 pic.twitter.com/54zzlcL9km — Hendri Destiwanto (@mashendri) November 11, 2015
We had a Foodie Street in the middle of the conference grounds and it was packed to the brim!
The #TiAjkt2015 lunch rush was tasty chaos! Good thing your job search doesn’t have to be ? #Wantedly pic.twitter.com/jttf00xAk8
— Wantedly, Inc. (@wantedly_intl) November 11, 2015
The highlight of day 1 was speaker Thomas Lembong. He shared to a packed audience how today’s startups can impact the archipelago’s economic future, and our attendees also walked away with a better knowledge of Indonesia’s Minister of Trade – he is a gadget freak and an Apple fan.
Tom Lembong aka gadget freak minister on stage #tiajkt2015 pic.twitter.com/QF4jjEXu42 — William Eka (@willeka17) November 11, 2015
With a second day of talks, meetings, and networking to get through, caffeine is a must.

Other than Indonesia’s Minister of Trade, the other celebrity at #tiajkt2015 was Nadiem Makarim, founder and CEO of Go-Jek.
Thanks for the big inspiration ko Nadiem, the founder of @gojekindonesia ! #tiajkt2015 pic.twitter.com/zJ5vFNG1o8
— Obi / オビナタ (@obnty) November 12, 2015
Towards the end of Day 2, a nail-biting pitch battle went on at Arena, with seven startups making the cut. Each finalist put up a great presentation, but only one would emerge winner.
Weow. The suspense is killing us! Judges are still deliberating!!! #UHop #tiajkt2015 https://t.co/YeZOXvDtBI — Myles Canete (@MylesCanete) November 12, 2015
Ultimately, it was U-Hop that walked away from Arena US$10,000 richer:
U-hop! Congratulations! #tiajkt2015 pic.twitter.com/S0Z5DPbxZx
— Merwyn Wijaya (@dmervv) November 12, 2015
Our Tech in Asia conferences end as late as you want them to. With #tiajkt2015 done and dusted, our attendees partied the night away at Night Crawl.
Night crawl at Hide and Seek last night #tiajkt2015 pic.twitter.com/C6iIygadLs — shinta hawa (@ShintaHawa) November 12, 2015
Here’s a video of Tech in Asia Jakarta 2015 in a nutshell:
Couldn’t be here with us this time round? Catch us at Tech in Asia Singapore 2016 on April 12 and 13 – it’ll be our biggest Singapore edition yet as we celebrate our fifth anniversary! Secure your tickets early using the code tiasg30, valid till November 29.
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Editing by Steven Millward
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