Uber sells food delivery service in India to Zomato – TechCrunch

Ride-hailing giant Uber announced that it has sold its food delivery business in India, Uber Eats, to local competitor Zomato, TechCrunch wrote.

Uber would own 9.99 per cent of Zomato following the deal. Its users would also become part of the company.

According to two people familiar with the matter, the deal valued Uber Eats India between US$160 million and US$200 million.

Entering India in 2017, Uber Eats had initiated the conversation to sell the business in late 2018.

The report also stated that some Uber Eats employees are being given the option to join Zomato while the rest will be let go.

Malaysia to roll out commercial 5G in Q32020 – Bangkok Post

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said that the country is gearing to launch 5G cellular network by the third quarter of this year, Bangkok Post wrote.

The country is testing out the 5G technology in 56 sites across the country for fields such as health care, agriculture, education, public safety and tourism.

“If we apply 5G properly, the development of Malaysia will take a much shorter time. Maybe not 2030, maybe by 2035, we should achieve our objective of becoming a developed country,” he told reporters on Monday after watching a demonstration of 5G wireless technology at police headquarters in Langkawi.

Also Read: Today’s top tech news, Aug 23: Indian restaurant association boycotts Zomato, others

Alphabet, Microsoft disagree on EU facial recognition ban – SCMP

Following the European Union’s proposal for a temporary ban on facial recognition technology, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and Microsoft President Brad Smith shared their dissenting opinions, South China Morning Post reported.

Pichai supported the moratorium as the technology can be used for “nefarious purposes”. Meanwhile, Smith likened the ban to using a meat cleaver, instead of a scalpel, to solve potential problems.

Myanmar’s waste management startup RecyGlo is raising US$900K to expand to Indonesia, Singapore – e27

Yangon-based waste management and data analytics startup RecyGlo announced that it is in advanced stages of raising a US$900,000 investment round to expand in existing markets and foray into new ones.

The startup is currently raising a US$350,000 bridge funding and expects to make the final close of the ongoing round by the end of Q2.

The company, however, didn’t share the investors’ details.

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Prominent venture capitalist Tim Draper has invested US$3.5 million in Tribe Theory, an entrepreneur-focused hostel chain with a presence in multiple locations in the world.

With the strategic investment, the Singapore-headquartered hostel chain will rebrand to Draper Startup House and form the international division of the business, said a press note.

Katie Russel and Daniel Wiegand have jointly founded the parent company Draper Startup House in the US, which will operate the US business activities and oversee its minority stake in the international partnership.

These two operations will collaborate to expand hostel locations globally.

“Tim and his team immediately understood our vision and made an offer to invest in us and work with us to build out this concept globally under the brand Draper Startup House. This was the differentiator we were seeking,” said Tribe Theory Founder Vikram Bharati.

(In Photos) Tribe Theory’s venture hostel for entrepreneurs and startups in Singapore

“This rebrand will put us on the course of building what we had set out to — hospitality as the foundation of an entrepreneurship ecosystem. It will propel our mission much further because we are now part of a larger ecosystem,” Bharati added.

Tribe Theory is present in eight international locations, including Bali, Singapore, Yangon, Estonia, Manila, Lisbon, as well as two locations in Bangalore. They all will be rebranded to Draper Startup House.

The first US location will open in March 2020 in Austin, TX at SXSW, with additional locations following the investment.

In addition to the short- and long-term accommodations offered by Draper Startup House, entrepreneurs will get a co-working space, custom programming focused on entrepreneurship, and access to VC funding. They will also be able to submit their pitch decks to the Draper Venture Network, which has 23 global funds.

“Draper Startup House provides global live/workspaces for entrepreneurs where they can connect, be inspired, and build a community,” said Draper. “Draper Startup House community members join a powerful global network of innovators and influencers. It provides resources and activities to help them succeed in their missions.”

Draper Startup House is an expansion of Tim Draper’s global brand which includes Draper Venture Network, Draper Associates and Draper University.

Since 1985, Tim Draper has been focused on supporting and accelerating entrepreneurial work through his Draper Ecosystem. He has been an early investor in more than 30 unicorns including Hotmail, Skype, Tesla, SpaceX, Baidu and Bitcoin.

In March last year, Tribe Theory raised about US$740,000 in seed funding from Superangel, Aurum Investments, and REAPRA.

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Roambee, a US-based IoT startup announces that it has received a Series B1 investment from TMI, the venture capital arm of Indonesian network provider Telkomsel, joined by fellow CVC MDI Ventures.

The investment, as reported by DealStreetAsia, was made out of the US$40-million joint fund the two firms share with Singtel Innov8.

Telkom Indonesia is the parent company of MDI and Singtel Innov8, and Telkom Indonesia and Singtel are the stakeholders in Telkomsel.

The fund was launched in May 2019, and followed by the announcement of investment made by TMI in Indonesian digital credit card company Kredivo two months later.

Roambee is a portfolio company of MDI Ventures. The VC firm invested US$2 million into the company in June 2018 to facilitate its expansion into Indonesia and other Southeast Asia markets.

Also Read: Meet the VC: How Indonesia’s MDI Ventures managed 3 overseas exits within a month

Roambee was founded in 2013 with a focus on enabling IoT-based smart logistics and asset monitoring solutions to help its customers to implement advanced digital supply chain in their companies to increase business performance.

Roambee accounts companies including T-Mobile, Huawei, Oracle, and Accenture among its portfolios.

Roambee is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, US and has representative offices in Mexico, Brazil, Germany, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, India, and Malaysia.

“Collaboration with Telkomsel allows Roambee to capitalise on Telkomsel’s reach, their future proof telecom infrastructure, and their enterprise sales network to offer an on-demand monitoring solution to Indonesian and Asian enterprises,” said Roambee CEO Sanjay Sharma.

Telkomsel has been developing and expanding the Narrow Band – Internet of Things (NB-IoT) technology which synergise with Roambee’s core of business.

Also Read: Indonesia’s MDI Ventures on their investment strategies for foreign startups

Telkomsel’s IoT seeks to support Telkomsel’s enterprise customers as well as the realisation of Industry 4.0.
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Picture Credit: MDI Ventures

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Thailand-headquartered digital fashion brand Pomelo announced the completion of an acquisition of fashion e-commerce platform Looksi, according to a press statement. The value of the deal was not disclosed.

Looksi started off in 2012 as ZALORA Thailand, before it was acquired in 2016 by Central Group and rebranded a year later.

As part of the deal with Pomelo, Looksi will no longer be using its brand name. The platform will transition its current app completely into the Pomelo’s ecosystem, enabling Looksi customers to continue to shop on the platform. Additionally, its social media channels will also transition to Pomelo.

With the addition of the new e-commerce brand into its platform, Pomelo will add a variety of key international brands –which are available on the Looksi platform– to its app and website. Some of these top brands included Adidas, Aldo, Havaianas, Topshop, Guess, Levi Jeans, and Nike.

Also Read: Thai fashion platform Pomelo appoints former H&M executive as Chief Retail Officer

“We’re happy to welcome Looksi customers and partners to the Pomelo platform. Looksi has been serving Thai fashion e-commerce shoppers since its founding as Zalora in 2012. This deal will accelerate Pomelo’s evolution to become a multi-brand fashion platform for fashion lovers all across Southeast Asia,” expressed David Jou, co-founder of Pomelo.

Pomelo has been showing signs of rapid growth as it raised US$52 million Series C round in September 2019 and recently appointed a former H&M executive into their team as Chief Retail Officer (CRO).

The fashion company has since hired 200 new employees and has opened 10 new stores locally in 2019.

“We are happy to further strengthen our partnership and support Pomelo via this deal. Central Group will remain committed to driving fashion and lifestyle omnichannel retail sales,” a spokesperson of Central Group Online said.

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Image Credit:  Hannah Morgan

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Joosk Studio, an animation startup based in Myanmar, has secured a “six-figure” US dollar in equity investment led by Nest Tech VN.

EME Myanmar, which invested into Joosk last year, also joined this round.

“At Joosk, we use humour and illustration to reach audiences and share messages. We’ve been running our Facebook comic series alongside our agency work for a while now, and this latest investment lets us develop that side of the company to bring our audience something bigger than they’ve ever seen before,” said Thet Paing Kha, CEO of Joosk Studio.

“We see that Nest Tech have a lot of digital skills that could help Joosk with digital merchandising and discovering new ways to entertain our audience outside of traditional approaches,” he added.

Also Read: Myanmar’s new early-stage fund EME launches with investments in Joosk Studio, CarsDB

Joosk Studio is a creative digital animation agency founded and run by artists Thet Paing Kha and Zeyar Htet. The company has worked with companies, including Facebook, CB Bank and Telenor, as well as NGOs, UN agencies and the World Bank Group.

In September 2019, Joosk’s proprietary animation series Sassy Bound won the ‘Myanmar Influencer of the Year Award for Art and Design’. Joosk is doubling down on its popular comic series and producing Sassy Bound The Movie while continuing to grow its core agency business.

Joosk’s debut into cinema will bring Myanmar’s first feature-length animation to viewers across the country. Sassy Bound The Movie will hit theatres nationwide sometime in 2021.

Nest Tech VN’s Managing Partner Soe Moe Kyaw Oo has invested in several Myanmar startups, with this investment into Joosk marking the fifth company in the Nest Tech VN Myanmar portfolio.

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Image Credit: Joosk Studio

 

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AppsFlyer, a digital marketing attribution startup with global presence, announces today that it has received a total of US$210 million in Series D funding from New York-based growth equity firm General Atlantic. AppsFlyer also announces the opening of its seventh Asia Pacific office in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Alex Crisses, Managing Director at General Atlantic, and Anton Levy, Co-President and Global Head of Technology, have joined AppsFlyer’s Board of Directors.

This investment freshly comes three years after AppsFlyer’s Series C funding round, bringing the company’s total funding to US$294 million.

The company said that it will use the funding to enhance its open platform for third-party developers, as well as benefiting data-driven marketers in mobile-first.

Also Read: What makes Singapore the marketing hub of Southeast Asia

“This year, we predict that Asia Pacific (APAC) will hold the world’s largest quantity of app-install ad spend at US$30 billion. With massive volume and scale in this mobile-first region, marketers will be looking even harder into how they can better optimise their marketing budgets. There is also the imminent danger of fraud exposure for brands and users alike, where sadly, APAC leads in the world’s fastest fraud rate-growth at 60 per cent higher than the global average,” said AppsFlyer’s APAC President and Managing Director, Ronen Mense.

“This funding will go into strengthening our open platform for partners and third-party developers, allowing them the flexibility to add their custom solutions on top of ours, so they grow and protect their businesses in a highly competitive marketplace like APAC,” he continued.

Alex Crisses, Managing Director, General Atlantic, said: “Attribution is becoming the core of the marketing tech stack. AppsFlyer’s commitment to being independent, unbiased, and representing the marketer’s interests has significant potential to capture additional opportunity in the market.”

AppsFlyer offers a suite of comprehensive measurement and analytics solutions that are around privacy by design. It seeks to “empowers marketers to grow their business and innovate”.

General Atlantic’s APAC portfolios include Indonesia’s edtech Ruangguru to India’s healthtech Rubicon Research.

Also Read: 10 digital marketing strategies for startups

Anton Levy, Co-President and Global Head of Technology, General Atlantic, added: “AppsFlyer’s scale enables it to provide accurate attribution data and ad-fraud protection, saving millions for advertisers. At the same time, the company has the end-user in mind every step of the way and a mindset of privacy by design and security first right when data privacy becomes one of the primary concerns facing brands.”

AppsFlyer’ global customers include brands such as Gojek, Agoda, Tokopedia, SEA Group (Shopee & Garena), HBO, Tencent, and Nike. Their existing investors are Qumra Capital, Goldman Sachs Growth, Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners (DTCP), Pitango Venture Capital, and Magma Venture Partners who also participated in this round.
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Picture Credit: Unsplash.com/@kaleidico

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A staple in the annual Echelon Asia Summit, the Echelon Roadshow is back this coming 2020 to spice things up before the big day

As some of the readers may already know, e27 annually hosts the Echelon Asia Summit — a grand tech event that gathers as much as 12,000 people from all over the world to celebrate innovation and ideas. The event boasts a plethora of features including talks, networking opportunities, matchmaking rounds, pitching competitions, exhibitions, and many more.

As far as tradition goes, the Echelon Asia Summit is a culmination of a series of roadshow stops for Echelon. Dubbed as the Echelon Roadshow, these series of stops are the perfect stepping stones for any startup founder to kick-start their own respective Echelon journeys.

As such, Echelon Roadshow is back this coming 2020 to provide emerging and established startups to get to know their own local startup ecosystems and prepare them for the larger Echelon Asia Summit happening in Singapore.

 For many startups, this is the perfect opportunity to get a taste of the Echelon experience, test their networking skills, brush up on how to pitch their ideas to a large audience of important stakeholders, and ultimately dazzle the crowd.

More importantly, each roadshow stop will come with its own series of talks unique to the ecosystem of the country it is situated in, providing unique insights and updated trends that tackle the very community of startups that you belong to. Through this, you can learn from our speakers made up of local tech founders and stakeholders during panel discussions.

The TOP100 country qualifiers will also be determined at each Echelon Roadshow stops. Startups who join the programme will go on private pitching sessions on the day of the roadshow itself, where they get the chance to win over our judges and slither through to the semi-finals.

Other participants who will not be pitching for the country qualifiers will also be the first to know which local startups will be pitching at the coveted TOP100 stage happening at the Echelon Asia Summit in Singapore.

First six cities for Echelon Roadshow 2020

We kick things off in 2020 with six major stops for Echelon Roadshow, trailing six different Southeast Asian countries that begin in Vietnam, onward to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Singapore.

The first six Echelon Roadshow 2020 stops are as follows:

1.) Kuala Lumpur – 18 February 2020, 5PM – 8PM

2.) Ho Chi Minh – 20 February 2020, 5PM – 8PM

3.) Bangkok – 27 February 2020, 5PM – 8PM

4.) Manila – 10 March 2020, 5PM – 8PM

5.) Jakarta – 12 March 2020, 5PM – 8PM

6.) Singapore – 7 April 2020, 5PM – 8PM

All venues are yet to be finalised so check back as we announce the venue for each of our Echelon Roadshow stops. You may also check back soon as more stops will be added to the list in the coming months.

Be a part of Echelon Roadshow 2020

As an important feature of the annual Echelon Asia Summit, Echelon Roadshow 2020 is a key experience for those who are keen on being part of the summit. As such, we are inviting you to be a part of our roadshow stops this coming 2020. Interested participants may learn more about the event and RSVP for their desired cities here.

In addition, the TOP100 APAC is a programme organised by e27 that empowers insights, connections, talent, and funding opportunities for early-stage tech startups in Asia. The programme is currently accepting applications and will run until Echelon Asia Summit 2020. If you’re interested in joining the 2020 edition of TOP100 APAC, you may apply here.

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Malaysian tech startup StoreHub has raised US$8.9 million in a Series A+ funding round led by its existing investor Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, with participation from Accord Ventures and a private family office. 

The company had previously raised US$5.1 million in its Series A round, bringing its total raised funding to US$14 million.

The newly added capital will be used to support “aggressive growth and expansion” within Southeast Asia’s growing e-commerce industry.

Co-founder of StoreHub, Wai Hong Fong, believes that e-commerce will continue to grow in the future, as the region experiences a shift driven primarily by technology. 

“As consumers now all have smartphones in their hands, they are becoming more informed and have expectations of delivery times and service standards. What we’re seeing is that the businesses that are thriving are embracing technology to automate the management and growth of their stores, while those that don’t are struggling to cope with the drastic changes in consumer behaviour,” he asserts.

Also Read: Malaysian startup StoreHub raises US$850K to enable retail management via iPad

StoreHub is a cloud-based platform which enables restaurants and retail entrepreneurs across Southeast Asia to “automate the growth of their revenue and customer base”, thus helping clients to improve the efficiency of their operating system. 

According to the co-founders, the company did not start off as an operating system and was first a tablet-based POS provider. However, now the startup has grown from 3,000 to over 13,000 stores in Southeast Asia, with transactional growth from US$269 million to US$1.2 billion to date.

“Investors really liked our strong unit economics and recurring revenue model which are key to our sustainable growth and ability to reach profitability very quickly when we want to,” said Wai Hong Fong.

Their prime investor Vertex Ventures believes that StoreHub can become a major player in SEA’s e-commerce and retail market. 

“Their rapidly growing user base and high retention rate are strong indicators of the value in StoreHub’s platform. We’re excited to work with StoreHub to help businesses level up and stay relevant in this digital economy age,” said Chua Joo Hock, Managing Partner at Vertex Ventures SEA & India.

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Image Credit:  StoreHub

 

 

 

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For nearly two centuries, India attributed to around 30 per cent of the global economy.

As a country, we have already missed out on the First Industrial Revolution–a transformative shift to new manufacturing processes–something that the US and Europe have benefitted from. Another setback that India witnessed was the Second Industrial Revolution–the upsurge in the sectors of energy and power, steel, and petroleum–that our nation adopted nearly four decades later.

While we have somehow learned from past mistakes, we have figured out how to capitalise on during the Digital Revolution or the Third Industrial Revolution.

While we were not truly able to capitalise on architecture and innovation, we definitely became a leading hub for global support in the digital space.

In a 2018 global survey by The Pew Research Center titled, ‘The Public Opinion of India’, around 75 per cent of respondents noted that the nation has gained significance rapidly on the global platform. The time is essentially here.

At the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2018 in Davos, Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed how India will not fall behind by its ambitions of hard economic power but also digital power. The truth is that major tech giants such as MasterCard, Microsoft, Google, IMF, and more are today directed globally by Indians.

Also Read: Sequoia India, EDBI co-lead US$4M funding in eko.ai

Innovation at its forefront

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is bridging the gap between what was thought possible and impossible, connecting the technological, digital and even physical spheres.

India is the fourth-largest app economy globally, and also the real reason behind Indians’ robust digital footprint over practically all social media platforms. One classic case that proves this is the famous T-Series versus PewDiePie saga that went in favour of the music production company, holding a major part in showing that we are leading with respect to the global pioneers.

With the Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0, India has witnessed tremendous growth in the technology sector with advances like artificial intelligence (AI), IoT, 5G technology, robotics, autonomous mobility, quantum computing, and nanotechnology, among others.

For India, Industry 4.0 opens new avenues to catapult several stages of innovation, moving forward on its journey towards becoming a developed economy far ahead of its peers. From various perspectives, this shift will be a great leveler.

Technologies being developed in India will be the major contributor to drive the growth of economy and commerce across the world.

Contributing more to this growth is the launch and explosion of cheap data sets in India–JIO. The launch of JIO in India will always be regarded as the source from which the Fourth (and subsequently, the Fifth) Revolution sprung.

Also read: 5 advantages of starting your business in India

Inexpensive internet services and an upsurge in native device manufacturers have ensured that individuals all over the nation have access to extraordinary digital infrastructure, resulting in a boundless economic growth.

Another major contributor to India’s growth is the advances in space technology, including ISRO’s incessant presence in the news with the successful launch of Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan.

Best of all, it isn’t just ISRO but even Indian commerce, for example, UFLEX which makes films for ISRO, that have profited by the technological strides that our country has rapidly taken.

In the previous decade, advances in cloud, analytics, and digital space had disrupted IT operations, business models, and markets. Even though these technologies are not the current trend, clearly they have shaped the world that we live in today.

It is in this space the world will now turn and look to India to lead the path, as innovation turns into the substratum for the superstructure that will be global growth, in the future.

Investments and innovation drive digital growth

With support from government and legislative bodies, domestic and foreign investments can assist India to launch as the next global innovator. As far as foreign investment is considered, respondents believe that India’s impact is set to surge.

In a recent survey by law firm Baker McKenzie, commentators highlight the positivity about India’s ability to keep up financial growth and development.

Also Read: China still rules, but will India emulate as a top tech frontier?

With the escalating US-China trade tensions, India is ostensibly turning into an increasingly attractive alternative. Also, increasing the talented workforce could place India in a good position to contend with China for global dominance.

While investors far and wide have previously been reluctant about putting resources in Indian organisations because the nation was ranked as high risk, India is currently home to a young, vibrant startup landscape, with having received more than US$33.4 billion in funding through foreign direct investment.

Domestic investment, on the other hand, is also on the rise, as Indian organizations see through the opportunities presented by the nation’s exponential digital shift.

Looking ahead

Throughout the years, India has figured out how to overcome different complexities, including the lack of proper infrastructure, weak financial conditions, and inadequacies within the system, along with social and cultural hindrances.

India has the settings and tools necessary to be in the leading position on the global technology stage, however, it needs to conquer a few adversities in order to come to its full potential. Creating the right regulatory infrastructure and financial support from foreign investors together with offering customised training programs and increasing the talented workforce would drive successful digital growth. The path to being a global pioneer in the innovation and technology space is not forthright, not without tough competition from rivals, but India is headed to becoming a real contender.

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Jakarta-based developer school Hacktiv8 today announced that it has raised a US$3 Million Pre-A series round led by East Ventures with participation from Sovereign’s Capital, SMDV, Skystar Capital, Convergence Ventures, RMKB Ventures, Prasetia, and Everhaus.

Hacktiv8 plans to use this newly acquired funds to build more schools and offer what they dubbed as the first Income Share Agreement (ISA) programme in Indonesia, an alternative to traditional student loans.

An ISA contract allows students to raise the money they need to pay for their education in exchange for a percentage of their future post-graduation income. ISA provides a unique “profit-sharing” approach that aligns institutions with getting their graduates hired.

With ISA, students are allowed to pay back money if they earn over a certain amount, and those who are successful will never pay back more than a capped limit. This means that the incentives are aligned between the student and the institution.

“If our graduates get a well-paying job, we will earn a good return on our investment,” said Ronald Ishak, CEO of Hacktiv8.

Also Read: Facebook launches “hangout spot” for startup, developer communities in Jakarta

Started in 2016 by co-founders Ronald Ishak and Riza Fahmi, Hacktiv8 provides a solution to turn absolute beginners into job-ready web developers in 12 intensive weeks.

As both experienced frustrations of developer poaching practice that is rampant among tech companies at that time, Ishak and Fahmi came up with the programme that helps students learn JavaScript, Node.js, Vue.js, and Facebook’s React framework through hundreds of hands-on lab exercises.

Hacktiv8 offers a “Bootcamp” model that lets students spend upwards of 10 to 12-hour days, five to six days a week, for 12-18 weeks. This model is claimed to enable only the best participants to graduate from the programme.

It claims to have close to 8,000 applicants, but only “a portion” is able to be admitted as they put forward quality.

The company also notes that on average, job-seeking graduates at Hacktiv8 are commonly offered multiple jobs offers with an average salary of IDR11 million (US$900) gross within two to three weeks after graduating.

It also stated that graduates with honours distinctions are commonly hired within days of completing the programme, as corroborated through CIRR, an international student-outcomes reporting group that audits outcomes of code-schools globally, in which Hacktiv8 is the first participating school in Asia.

Also Read: Alibaba, Facebook co-founders back East Ventures’s new US$75M fund focused on Indonesia

Hacktiv8 works with 250 hiring partners who have signed agreements to employ its graduates, as well as participate in a curriculum advisory board to help keep Hacktiv8’s curriculum relevant and up to date. Hiring partners include Tokopedia, Gojek, Bukalapak, Midtrans, Payfazz, Xendit, and KoinWorks.

For scholarships, the company partners with big corporations such as CIMB Niaga, Hana Bank, and Siloam.

According to a survey by McKinsey in 2018, 15 from 20 Indonesia tech company executives reported struggling in hiring local tech talent, while 10 of them having trouble retaining local tech talent.

Google and Temasek projected there will be around 200,000 skilled professionals employed in Southeast Asia’s internet economy by 2025. Currently, this gap is still filled by senior professionals from banks, retailers, and global technology companies.

Willson Cuaca, Managing Partner of East Ventures explained​, “Indonesia is one of the countries with a low number of engineers per million population. Not only because Indonesia has a large population, but Indonesia produces a small number of STEM-related programme graduates.”

“To fill the talent gap of Indonesia’s digital economy, developer bootcamp such as Hacktiv8 is a quick solution that addresses the problem and works closely with all industry players for the placement,” Cuaca continued.

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Image Credit: Hacktiv8

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