PT Elang Mahkota Teknologi Tbk (IDX: EMTK) through its subsidiary PT Elang Media Visitama (EMV) has announced the participation of Grab and Singtel as strategic investors in PT Bank Fama International (FAMA). Both companies acquired 16.26 per cent of shares in Bank Fama.

Based on documents filed to Indonesia Stock Exchange (BEI), Grab Holdings Limited (Grab) and Singtel Telecommunications Limited have invested in Bank Fama through Singtel Alpha Investments Pte. Ltd.

Both companies agreed to acquire 2.35 billion of new shares in Bank Fama or equal to 16.26 per cent of capital.

Following the issuance of these new shares, EMV’s ownership in Bank Fama changes to 62.76 per cent, PT Nusantara Berkat Agung owns 4.72 per cent, while Grab and Singtel own 16.26 per cent.

“This strategic investment is part of the effort to accelerate and develop the business and digital ecosystem of Bank Fama,” the company stated in a BEI filing.

Previously, EMTEK has acquired nine billion shares in Bank Fama or 93 per cent of all capital invested; this action was completed in December 2021.

Headquartered in Bandung and founded in 1993 with IDR10 billion (US$698,000) in the capital, Bank Fama has a network of online branches in Bandung, Jakarta, and Tangerang with a focus on the retail segment, particularly SMEs. By December 2020, Bank Fama has IDR1 trillion (US$69 million) in main capital.

Also Read: BRI Agro CEO Kaspar Situmorang: Why tapping into the ecosystem is key to a digital bank’s success

The involvement of Grab in digital bank

Grab has an interesting history prior to its involvement as a strategic investor in EMTEK’s digital bank. Especially if we look at the journey of these two companies, we can see that Grab is not a new name for EMTEK.

Last year, EMTEK invested IDR5.44 trillion in PT Grab Teknologi Indonesia or Grab Indonesia as a token of synergy between the two companies. By June 2021, EMTEK has scored 5.88 per cent of shares in Grab Indonesia.

Recently, Grab and Bukalapak participated in a rights issue for Allo Bank, a digital bank belonging to conglomerate Chairul Tanjung. Bukalapak now has 11.49 per cent of shares in Allo Bank.

As it is already widely known, PT Bukalapak.com Tbk (IDX: BUKA) is associated with PT Kreatif Media Karya (KMK), an EMTEK subsidiary in the media and digital sector. By March 31, 2021, EMTEK owns 34.88 per cent of shares in Bukalapak through KMK.

The affiliation between EMTEK, Grab, and Bukalapak revealed a strong link of the product ecosystem amongst digital banks in Indonesia, especial in the matters of providing financial services.

Grab’s participation also strengthened reports about an attempt to strengthen a digital ecosystem that consists of the elements of commerce, online-to-offline (O2O), and digital payments in Bank Fama. Grab itself already owns an ecosystem of various services that can seamlessly integrate with Bank Fama’s ecosystem.

However, Bukalapak’s entry into the digital banking space through Allo Bank represents a different approach. Bukalapak is known to have been pushing the reach out Buka Mitra business line to SMEs outside of Jakarta. Buka Mitra plays a key role in the growth performance of Bukalapak. Its involvement in Allo Bank also enables the company to reach out to more business players.

We should not dismiss the potential of greater collaboration between Bank Fama and Allo Bank.

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The article was written in Bahasa Indonesia by Corry Anestia for DailySocial. English translation and editing by e27.

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RateS, an Indonesia-based social commerce firm, has bagged US$6 million in equity in a Series A+ round led by existing investor Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India, reported DealStreetAsia.

The round also included US$1.5 million in debt financing.

Returning investor Insignia Ventures Partners and new backer Beacon Venture Capital, the corporate venture capital arm of Thai Kasikornbank, also co-invested. 

The startup will utilise the funding to launch its in-house brands, starting with mum and baby products manufactured in China. To support this strategy, RateS is also looking to raise the Series B round in H2 this year and calling for investments from Chinese strategic investors.

In addition, the firm also intends to tap on Kasikornbank’s line of credit with Beacon to leverage its financial products to rural customers.

Before this, RateS received an undisclosed amount in a Series A round in 2021 for expansion into tier 2 and 3 markets in Indonesia by expanding the “density” of its reseller membership network.

Also read: The 27 Indonesian startups that have taken the ecosystem to next level this year

Founded in 2016, RateS has grown from a foreign exchange service provider to a social commerce platform, allowing sellers to source goods, manage deliveries, accept payments, and access financial products through their app. 

The firm focuses on housewives, students, and micro-entrepreneurs in Indonesia’s tier 2 and 3 cities.

Last year, Jake Goh, CEO and co-founder of RateS, said that its resellers’ earnings have increased by up to 50 per cent after joining the company’s platform. He also told DealStreetAsia that RateS currently serves 500,000 resellers with gross merchandise volume (GMV) jumping 4x in 2021.

Social commerce in Indonesia has witnessed strong growth. A McKinsey report forecast that social commerce is expected to grow into a US$25 billion dollar industry by 2022, driven by the growing number of merchant bases.

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global social commerce market is estimated to increase at a soaring rate of 31.4 per cent. Last year saw an influx of funding into SEA’s social commerce startups, including Indonesia’s Desty, Kitabeli, Super, and Segari; Singapore’s abilion and Raena; and Vietnam’s Mio.

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Image Credit: RateS

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Stuck at home during the pandemic with limited forms of connection and entertainment, the world moved online in unprecedented ways. This was especially true in Southeast Asia where an additional 37 million individuals gained access to the internet during the first year of the pandemic, according to the World Bank.

While the myriad of challenges in the past two years have had an indelible impact on brands and how the public views them, there has been a global shift toward authenticity and purpose which has changed users’ content expectations.

They no longer desire heavily stylised and curated spaces but instead seek real communities with shared passions. Some of those shared passions include content that evolves around family, education, finance, and sports.

Our data corroborated this: over the past 12 months, we saw an increase in the following content categories across Southeast Asia: Babies & Family (+210 per cent YoY), Education (+180 per cent YoY), Finance (+380 per cent YoY), Sports (+800 per cent YoY), Gaming (+320 per cent YoY), Automotive (+180 per cent YoY), Beauty (+190 per cent YoY), and Food & Drinks (+160 per cent YoY).

Brands within these sectors have shifted their content to connect with consumers in a new and dynamic way – understanding that we’re now facing a new phenomenon where relevance is seen as the latest cultural currency.

Not only does relevance have the powerful ability to turn consumers into brand advocates, but it also generates top-of-mind recall. But you can’t just buy cultural currency.

Also Read: The business of social responsibility: Why brands are redefining their social conscience

Here are some tips on how brands can earn it to spark joy and truly engage with their audiences:

Tip #1: Be “flawsome”

Today’s audiences are tired of overly polished and curated content. They want brands to be comfortable showing their vulnerabilities and imperfections. As such, we embrace the term “flawsome” – where brands begin to embrace their ‘flaws’ or their authentic selves in a way that is aligned with their brand values.

But it isn’t about brands highlighting their disadvantages or portraying themselves in a negative light. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

It’s a way for brands to make themselves more accessible and relevant by being their authentic selves aligned to their brand values – ultimately turning it to their advantage.

Tip#2: Tap into cultural currency and what’s trending today

Whether it’s tapping into unique subcultures or what’s trending today, it is important for brands to ensure that they connect with their target audience in a relevant way. Today’s brands have the opportunity to democratise creativity, calling on consumers to produce their own content aligned with the brand’s voice.

By inviting users to be a part of the brand story, the audience becomes more engaged, transitioning from being a passive viewer toward becoming an active ambassador of the brand. This provides brands with relevancy and a competitive edge, while uniquely positioning them in customers’ lives and hearts.

Tip#3: Embrace shoppertainment

As more people shop online, we’re seeing a convergence of content and commerce which we call “shoppertainment”. What used to be a very one-way transaction has now become a more delightful experience as brands deliver content that entertains.

There’s been a massive shift from people searching for products to products searching for people and through shoppertainment, brands can find the right audiences and drive consumers from the discovery stage to the purchasing stage with ease.

In addition to leveraging cultural currency, positivity can also help brands to better connect with their consumers. With physical interaction diminishing, people are turning to technology to experience joy – they want to be entertained and engaged meaningfully.

Also Read: How consumers are prioritising sustainability beyond the single lens of eco-friendly products

While there is an overabundance of content, people are looking for content that is valuable and relevant to them– whether it’s for personal gratification, staying up-to-date with the latest trends, improving the state of the world, personal or professional development, or discovering something completely new and wonderful.

While what is “meaningful” can mean different things for different folks, people, in general, gravitate towards content that makes them feel entertained, seen and understood. Brands that are able to deliver such joyful experiences can better relate and connect with their consumers.
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Lumina, a Jakarta-based job community platform for underserved blue-collar workers, announced today its new backers — Silicon Valley-based accelerator Y Combinator (YC) and Southeast Asia-focused venture capital firm Alpha JWC Ventures.

The amount of funding is not disclosed.

With this, Lumina plans to triple the size of its engineering team, aiming to build a one-stop-shop platform where workers can upskill and contribute to organisations that they work for.

“By leveraging the power of our immersive community and AI-based job recommendations, we aim to democratise hiring and automate quality matching between blue-collar workers and employers,” said Lumina Co-Founder & CEO, Aswin Andrison.

Also read: Human capital is the biggest enabler of digital transformation. Here’s how to enhance it

Co-founded in September 2021 by CEO Andriso and CTO Tri Ahmad Irfan, who was a Twitter employee, Lumina provides an easy-to-use, community-based recruiting solution for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and a networking platform for Indonesia’s working class.

It targets to help 80-120 million Indonesian blue-collar workers to interact with fellow job seekers via a streamlined interview process and community forum.

Lumina also reduces the amount of paperwork for applicants and replaces long waiting times and application follow-ups with progress notifications. Besides, it relieves applicants from the burden of having to look for jobs in multiple locations and platforms.

Within two months, Lumina claims to have brought on more than 100,000 job seekers and 20,000 jobs from thousands of companies including Shopee, Lemonilo, Sirclo, Kargo and Astro, among others.

The startup also boasts of significant traction with 1,000 new daily user sign-ups and 3,000 new daily jobs added.

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Image Credit: Lumina

 

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How crypto exchanges in Singapore are reacting to MAS’ new advertising guidelines
Under the new guidelines, firms are not allowed to advertise in public areas or engage third parties such as social media influencers to promote crypto services in Singapore. Instead, they can only advertise on their own corporate websites, mobile apps or official social media accounts

S’poreans are least optimistic about the metaverse among those in SEA, according to survey
While most countries’ respondents felt largely positive about the development, Singapore stood out as an exception

China, India and Indonesia record highest digital wallet adoption rates across APAC
Booming adoption of digital wallets is shown by the surge in digital payments, notably over the past year

3 lessons I learned in my transition from VC firm to crypto company
In this contributed post, Nat Wittayanataseth confessed that she had a naive assumption that joining a post-product-market-fit crypto company means there will be clear visibility on the paths ahead.

Indonesia encourages digital preparedness through upskilling and reskilling
A report shows that in 2025 there will be 43 per cent of industry players who reduce or reduce the number of workers as a consequence of the application of technology integration, OpenGov reports

Grab, Singtel are new strategic investors in Bank Fama
Grab and Singtel acquired 16.26 per cent of shares in Indonesia-based Bank Fama as part of the movement to reach out to SMEs in the country

Why Saleswhale sold its business to this SoftBank-backed unicorn
At the height of the pandemic in 2020, Saleswhale’s revenues plunged by 70 per cent to US$300,000 as its clients across the world implemented cost cuts

Address challenges in PH fintech industry to sustain growth: study
According to a recent study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), the COVID-19 pandemic has also contributed to the growth in demand for fintech, as demonstrated by the increased use of digital payment platforms

AI deep learning system that dramatically cuts diagnosis time for eye diseases wins gold at Techblazer Awards
The Techblazer Awards is Singapore’s highest accolade for tech innovation. The 2021 awards saw more than 440 nominations, up from 403 submissions in the previous year

Indonesia’s social commerce startup RateS nets US$6M in Series A+ round
The round also included US$1.5 million in debt financing. The startup will utilise the funding to launch its in-house brands, starting with mum and baby products manufactured in China

Tapping into joy: The new cultural currency for brands
With the myriad of challenges in the past two years, there has been a global shift toward authenticity and purpose amongst brands. Ng Chew Wee of TikTok explains to our readers how they can tap into this shift.

Y Combinator, Alpha JWC back Indonesia’s job community startup Lumina
Lumina provides an easy-to-use, community-based recruiting and benefits platform for Indonesia’s working class. With this, Lumina plans to triple the size of its engineering team

EthAum names 15 startups in latest cohort
The sector-agnostic programme’s latest cohort includes B2B startups from the property tech, supply chain, enterprise SaaS, retail, and HR tech sectors, amongst others

PH fintech startup exceeds P1-B mark in transaction volume in 2021
Invoice payments, employee salaries, and vendor payments were the main drivers for this milestone, backed by a customer base that has grown by roughly 20x over the last 12 months

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Image Credit: alessandrobiascioli

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