The social media blockade was meant to prevent the spreading of fake news and provocative posts that may trigger further escalation of the situation

Indonesia’s minister of security Wiranto today announced that the authorities will limit access to several features on social media platforms in certain areas in Jakarta, following the post-election riots that have been going on in the city since yesterday.

The blockade was meant to prevent the spreading of fake news and provocative posts that may trigger further escalation of the situation.

The minister did not provide further detail on which feature on social media platforms that are being blocked.

However, several users on Twitter have reported being unable to upload videos and pictures to their Whatsapp and Instagram accounts.

Also Read: Today’s top news, May 15: Singaporean AI company AIQ partners Russian social media VK.com

The blockade followed a riot that has been going on since Tuesday evening, May 21.

Starting off in the Tanah Abang area in Central Jakarta, by this afternoon (local time) the riot has spread to Slipi in West Jakarta.

According to a report by The Jakarta Post, the riot has caused six deaths and 200 injuries.

The riot began when thousands rally to protest the announcement of the recent presidential election results, which revealed incumbent President Joko Widodo as the winner.

More on this story as it develops.

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Image Credit: Sara Kurfeß on Unsplash

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Investree also plans to start fundraising for their Series C, if their expansion plan goes well

Indonesian fintech startup Investree is aiming for the Philippines to become its third market next year. Apart from that, the startup is also preparing a strategy of setting up several subsidiaries to accelerate the SME financing.

Investree Co-Founder and CEO Adrian A. Gunadi explained that the company’s Southeast Asian expansion move had revealed that SME across the region are facing a similar issue. A great number of underserved communities in these markets are providing an opportunity for Investree to seize.

“The problem [that they are facing] is the same: Many SMEs are still untouched by banks. This provides a unique case study, that Indonesian fintech companies have the opportunity to expand region-wide. Many of these markets ended up copying what has been done in Indonesia, from products to regulation,” he told the press on Thursday, May 21.

The expansion to the Philippines will begin next year, but the company has found a potential partner to help with the operations. The potential partner has even visited Indonesia to see how things are being run in the field.

Earlier this year, Investree has named Thailand as its first international expansion location. Together with eLoan, the company has worked with local partners and conducted a soft launch in April.

Also Read: Indonesian P2P lending startup Investree raises Series B funding, expands to Thailand

In the meantime, it is actively building connections with several ecosystems to accelerate their expansion plan. However, the company has not begun any business activities as they are required to enter a regulatory sandbox programme by the authority in Thailand.

“This month we are going to register ourselves to a regulatory sandbox so that we can start channeling financing,” Gunadi said.

He further explained that Vietnam was the second country that the company has expanded to. But since the regulation in the market has not accommodate the business model that Investree is implementing, they are operating manually there. Despite the challenge, Investree claimed to have channeled up to IDR144 billion (US$10 million) of financing in the market.

“Vietnam does not implement the host-to-host system as the regulation is yet to accommodate the system. We are operating the way we did in Indonesia four years ago in the market; the data are being uploaded manually. But regulators in the country plans to accelerate the implementation of sandbox in the second semester as they are trying to catch up with Indonesia,” Gunadi said.

According to Gunadi, once the expansion plans has been finalised, the company plans to start fundraising for their Series C funding round. The early stages of their expansion plan is being supported by the funds from their Series B round last year, led by SBI Holdings.

Also Read: Indonesian P2P lending site Investree to enter Vietnam, launches sharia-based service

Setting up subsidiaries

 

In order to further develop Investree’s business in Indonesia, the company plans to launch new subsidiaries by setting up joint ventures with partners in the logistics, supply chain, and other sectors with strong relations to SME financing.

Gunadi did not mention specific details on the number of subsidiaries that they are planning to set up, which may go beyond two companies. He assured that the announcement will be made after June.

“It will be in the form of a strategic partnership. So that we are going to have a captive market,” he said.

Through the subsidiaries, the company will be able to acquire SMEs more effectively as there will be no need for them to approach the SMEs one-by-one. When entering a new ecosystem, this can serve as an added value.

Gunadi also stated that from the point of view of capital expenditure in setting up a new business, the company will be able to manage their budget more effectively as the company that they plan to work together with are already working in the tech sector. They only need to integrate their existing systems.

Accumulatively, by April, Investree has channeled up to IDR2.1 trillion (US$144 million) in financing and grew 82 per cent YOY. Its sharia-based service Investree Syariah has channeled IDR69 billion (US$4.7 million) and grew 311 per cent since it was first launched eight months ago.

The number of retail lenders on Investree has reached 14,375 individuals; there are also institutions such as BRI and Credit Saison while the number of loan receivers has reached 1,084 businesses. Seventy per cent of them are repeat customers.

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The article Investree Segera Rambah Filipina dan Buat Beberapa Anak Usaha Baru was written by Marsya Nabila in Bahasa Indonesia for DailySocial. English translation and editing by e27.

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The Indonesian serial entrepreneur and mentor reportedly started recruiting on LinkedIn

Former co-founder and CTO of Indonesian online travel startup Tiket, Natali Ardianto reportedly began recruiting people on LinkedIn for a healthtech startup he’s about to start. As reported by KrAsia, so far there’s been no name associated with said healthtech startup.

Tiket was acquired back in 2017, but Ardianto has since started multiple tech ventures, and has arrived in the healthtech sector.

Looking into Ardianto’s LinkedIn page, the man has started recruiting an IT team for the health tech venture with no further details about the company’s name, product, or services. Ardianto only mentioned that this new venture will start operations after June 17 with secured initial funding.

With four partners, Ardianto built Tiket in 2011 after bagging funds from angel investors. The platform was in a tight race with online travel unicorn Traveloka until it was acquired by e-commerce platform Blibli in June 2017.

Just six months after the acquisition, Ardianto resigned from Tiket.

Also Read: Home design and renovation platform Livspace raises funding from IKEA

Ardianto’s track records include co-founding Urbanesia and Golfnesia, and being involved in launching EmasDigi, a fintech platform for gold investment, as CTO.

Healthcare applications in Indonesia are still at an early development stage with one success story, which is HaloDoc, a local startup that secured a US$65 million round of funding from Go-Jek and other major investors.
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Also, RB Capital, Tencent, Pearson invests in AI company Prowler.io

Rental marketplace MyRent launches in Singapore [Press Release]

Following its Beta launch in December 2018, peer-to-peer rental platform MyRent officially launches in Singapore today. MyRent seeks to help Singaporeans monetise their belongings by renting their items out to its community of users.

MyRent was co-founded by by Ishwar Dhanuka, Mark Kok, and Rahul Sharma. “The idea behind MyRent is to primarily allow users to own experiences instead of things. We want to decentralise ownership, and create a win-win for both listers and renters. Simply put, why buy something when you can rent it?” said Dhanuka, CEO and Co-founder of MyRent.

To date, MyRent claimed that it has over 2,000 registered users and over 800 active listings in Singapore – from photography equipment and drones to winter wear and sporting equipment.

RB Capital, Tencent, Pearson invests in AI company PROWLER.io [Press Release]

British AI company PROWLER.io has completed a Series B funding round at a post-investment valuation of US$100 million with backers including Amadeus Capital Partners, Atlantic Bridge, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Mandatum Life, Passion Capital, Pearson, RB Capital, SGInnovate, and Tencent, who invested US$24 million.

The company said that it plans to use the funding to accelerate the product development and application of VUKU, PROWLER.io’s decision-making platform built over the last three years.

PROWLER.io offers a decision-making AI technology that can help businesses and organisations make better decisions in processing dynamic, real-time data in complex and uncertain environments.

Also Read: Ex-Tiket co-founder Natali Ardianto to open new healthtech startup

Its core platform VUKU is founded on an integrated approach – combining branches of mathematics, engineering, and economic theory. It’s being rolled out for deployment in logistics decisions, allocating resources, and assisting financial decisions in asset management.

PROWLER.io was founded in 2016 by mathematicians and engineers following years of research into machine intelligence, probability theory, and multi-agent problems.

Arcadier launches in North America, offers enterprise marketplace [Press Release]

Singapore-headquartered online SaaS marketplace Arcadier has just had its first exhibition at Collision, the largest tech conference in North America. It also had appointed June Boo as its first General Manager and Head of Group Strategy of North America and opened its Las Vegas, NV office.

Arcadier also unveiled their full suite of revamped APIs and developer community, which will allow corporations to develop customised marketplaces with Arcadier’s platform. Developers will also be able to join Arcadier as an accredited expert partner to assist in customisation projects and build applications for the broader Arcadier user base whilst generating revenue for these value added services.

With offices in Singapore, Sydney, and Manila, Arcadier has an established user base in North America with almost 25 per cent of its over 400 monthly new marketplaces created coming from the United States and Canada.

“North American eCommerce continues to be robust and is set to grow even further, as emphasised by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s opening remarks. Arcadier is incredibly proud to be the only Partner exhibitor representing Singapore at Collision,” said Arcadier’s CCO Kenneth Low.

DP Information Group (DP Info) rebrands to Experian [Press Release]

Information service provider Experian announced the rebrand of DP Information Group (DP Info) to Experian. Experian had fully acquired the DP Information Group business in 2014, after a 40 per cent stake investment in 2008.

The rebranding will create a single, unified business that provides customers increased access to a broader range of services across Credit Services and Decision Analytics, powered by the scale and industry-leading capabilities of Experian. The legal entity name will be changed from DP Information Network Pte Ltd to Experian Credit Services Singapore Pte Ltd., and the company logo will change from DP Info to Experian across the brand’s websites, marketing collaterals, products, and services.

“The Southeast Asia region is primed for digital transformation; with emerging technologies, powered by data, reshaping the way we live and work. As a trusted provider of Credit and Business Information Services in Singapore, DP Info has been a critical part of Experian for over a decade; generating valuable data for Singapore and its companies since its inception,” said Dev Dhiman, Managing Director, Southeast Asia & Emerging Markets, Experian.

Also Read: Smart wearables company KaHa secures US$6.2M Series B funding

DP was formed in 1978 and has a heritage that spans over 40 years in Singapore as a provider of Credit and Business Information Services. The move to a unified brand reinforces Experian’s commitment to the local and regional markets; helping businesses to thrive and grow, driving innovation around data and decisioning, and in launching new capabilities in the region and for existing customers.

Toy marketplace Toy Around app launches in Singapore [Press Release]

Toy Around, a free-to-download toy marketplace app that allows parents to buy, sell, or swap preloved toys locally, has officially launched its app on the App store for all Apple users.

The app, created for the Singapore market, will provide a user-friendly interface and simple functions where users can upload toys or search for them quickly and easily. Toys are listed by category, age, condition, and location which helps connect buyers with sellers more efficiently.

“With Toy Around, we hope parents and kids will view toys differently and embrace the value in reducing toy clutter in the home. At Toy Around we believe no toy should be left behind. We also endorse child development through play. The right toys at the right time can help the development of a child considerably,” said Tulika Sahai, Founder of Toy Around.

The user interface only allows ‘live’ photos to be taken without any existing photos from a user’s photo gallery to be used to ensure the quality of the toys uploaded are of satisfactory standards. Moreover, any sale of toys can only happen face-to-face unless otherwise agreed by the buyer and seller to ensure that the quality of the product is similar to how it was advertised as.
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A one-stop-shop for cleaning and household repair services, Clean on Demand now eyes regional expansion

Cars. Food. CPU cycles. Almost everything today can be ordered on-demand. As long as there is a market for it, many services now can be booked through the use of an app. This enables service providers to give you the best possible rate at your best time of availability.

Southeast Asia is considered to be the bastion of on-demand services. While Uber left the region a couple years back, there is no lack of services here, from basic needs like groceries, to niche and luxury items like helicopter rides.

Cleaning services are no different. Yes, such chores can be basic enough for anyone to accomplish. However, the reality of life is that not everyone has the time nor energy to clean one’s own premises. In some cases, the job might not just involve basic cleaning but other miscellany as well – minor repairs, deep-cleaning jobs, and the like.

In Singapore, one company has learned to adjust with the market’s demands. “We clean everything – except money,” says Ben Xavier, Founder of Clean on-Demand. The Singapore-based company caters to a wide array of customers, from individuals to businesses in need of cleaning and related services.

“Most of our customers are professional expats who are renting apartments,” he says. “As part of their tenancy agreement contract, tenants are supposed to return the apartment in good standing order, which includes professional cleaning.”

Xavier shares that this particular service is the one most ordered by customers. “The most popular is our end of tenancy cleaning service, and it is profitable.”

A one-stop shop

Clean on Demand’s services go beyond cleaning only. The team discovered that there is value in providing additional household services related to cleaning the premises, and here is where their competitive advantage lies.

“Most cleaning companies focus only on one cleaning category, which is end of tenancy or general cleaning,” Xavier shares with e27. “However, the feedback from most of our customers is that they have to search more than one company to get the job done, such as air conditioner cleaning, marble polishing, etc.”

Also read: How the on-demand economy is finding its niche in Malaysia

By engaging Clean on Demand, the customer is able to get everything solved in a matter of a few clicks on the mobile app: marble, mattress, and upholstery cleaning are available. Basic handyman tasks, such as fixing loose or broken handles, and lighting, are also done by its capable staff. The company also services air conditioning units. “Users are able to track their cleaners and chat with our admins via app,” says Xavier.

Engaging the ecosystem

An on-demand service will not work without suppliers, after all. Thus, aside from customers, this is another area where Clean on-Demand is putting focus on. The company assures customers of top-quality service by being hiring only competent cleaners. “We are very selective in getting them on board, and we ensure they are competent enough,” says Xavier.

The company also partners with other professionals, such as licensed property agents. They earn a 15 per cent referral fee for clients’ end-of-tenancy cleaning services.

The future of on-demand includes automation

While cleaning services are a highly-localised affair, there is benefit to market expansion, especially when deep tech is involved. According to Xavier, the company has plans to grow beyond Singapore and possibly expand across Southeast Asia.

An even bigger plan is to go deeper into the technology aspects of household cleaning. “We will be going toward commercial and robotics, with advanced technology,” says the founder.

As a parting word, Xavier shares something that fellow entrepreneurs might find useful in their journey: “Never, ever procrastinate. It’s just suicide on instalment plan.”

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