According to the International Labour Organisation, in 2020, 8.8 per cent of global working hours were lost relative to the fourth quarter of 2019 –the equivalent to 255 million full-time jobs. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a great number of people losing their jobs, forcing them to get creative and seek opportunities in a new field.

In Indonesia, that new field includes voice-over talents and background music creation.

“The voice-over market in Indonesia is still wide open. The trend of people involved in it has only started and was realised in 2015. The trend of becoming a voice-over talent has been enhanced by the pandemic when many people have lost their jobs,” Jatmiko Kresnatama, co-founder of Inavoice, explains to e27.

“Such rapid development leaves many holes in this industry. Uneven recording quality standards, voice-over talent quality, as well as audio output quality that must be done through professional audio mastering techniques, now seem to be neglected. Seeing that hole, the potential to make the voice-over industry in Indonesia better is quite large,” he stresses.

From its base in Jogjakarta, the startup provides a B2B service in the form of an audio marketplace and a digital voice over agency. In addition to building a platform for voice-over talents which the startup began with, it has also expanded to include background music.

“We use a system called ‘iVoice Algorithm’. This system will generate voice-over talents and music contributors’ profiles randomly where each of them will have the opportunity to appear alternately as clients come to visit the page,” Kresnatama says.

Also Read: Is voice the next revolution in FinTech?

Bracing through the storm

Inavoice is a relative newcomer in the Indonesian startup scene. In fact, the platform was launched in September 2020 –right in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Inavoice was created with the idea of how a better voice over and the audio marketplace could work. In this industry, we have been working as consultants, marketers, and content producers. We frequently get asked by voice-over talents and music contributors about how they should keep on moving in this industry. Therefore, we come up with an answer –Inavoice,” Kresnatama explains.

Founding a company in the middle of a global health crisis definitely comes with its own challenges as companies are cutting budgets for voice over productions. But Kresnatama sees that there are also plenty of unique opportunities.

“We see that this pandemic is a natural selection process, where our voice over service users are more segmented. Amidst this pandemic, we serve many companies that have sufficient capital power to deal with this pandemic … We also see the potential for the market to create authentic and more valuable content,” Kresnatama begins.

“Starting from the Google algorithm update at the end of last year and the many changes to the social media algorithm that emphasised added value. With this … content creators’ awareness of using licensed music is getting higher, so we receive positive responses from both music contributors or content creators who buy music from the Inavoice Audio Marketplace platform,” he continues.

As a response to these changes, Inavoice decides to maximise its SEA strategy and run a campaign called “You Deserve Better.”

“We are very aware that building a company is like an infinite game, yes, you know, this is what Simon Sinek said. We try to improve and be responsible for the people who work at our company so that they are willing to work according to their abilities. After that, we try to educate both clients and talents through the You Deserve Better campaign,” Kresnatama says.

Also Read: 3 ways voice assistants is going to change the game for e-commerce

Standing on my own

Currently run by 20 employees, Inavoice says that it is working with clients, talents, and music contributors in more than 30 countries. Its client list includes leading brands and institutions such as Bank Indonesia, Shopee, Specs, Telkomsel, and Wismilak.

Apart from Kresnatama, the startup’s co-founders include Fajar Risna Rosedra, Indar Adhi Kusuma, and Henry Yunan Lennon.

In addition to having backgrounds in business administration and computer science, the Inavoice co-founders also have previous experiences in sound engineering and voice directing as well as running local art projects in Jogjakarta.

When e27 asks Kresnatama about the company’s fundraising plan, he states that Inavoice is not looking for any external funding.

“What we are working on is to maximise our distribution channel to increase the amount of traffic and maximise the possibility of converting through it,” he explains their decision.

But he will not deny that this is not going to be a very easy path to take.

“Given that we are a self-funded startup [and a] digital voice-over agency, the economic conditions that are currently unfavourable due to this pandemic have caused the bootstrapping process to run a little slower,” Kresntama admits. “But that’s okay, I hope all goes well soon.”

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Image Credit: Inavoice

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