Indonesia Weekly Review: 4 Archipelago Startup Stories You Don’t Want To Miss This Week [24 April – 29 April]

Indonesian startups have made a name for themselves as the digital powerhouse of Southeast Asia. Here’s all the important snippets of this week’s startup news in the archipelago.

500 Startups Lead Pre-Series A In Stockbit – The Social Network For Stock Brokers

Indonesia-based social network for stock market investors Stockbit has raised an undisclosed amount in its Pre-Series A round of funding from early-stage VC fund, 500 Startups.

The round also saw participation from existing investors including Ideosource and Braavos Ventures.

As per a report by Deal Street Asia, the startup will deploy the raised funds towards business expansion. It also plans to launch on Android and iOS in the near future.

The startup further plans to launch a new service: a social investing platform targeting millennial users.

Based in Jakarta, the startup was launched in 2012 by Wellson Lo and Johnny Susanto. It is an investment community platform for investors and traders to share information and their ideas. Users can follow each other and copy the trades of those more proficient and successful than them. It currently has a freemium subscription model.

Rework Opens Second Branch In Jakarta

Jakarta’s coworking spaces chain Rework has launched its second office in the city in Kuningan, South Jakarta, reported e27. The first office is located in Sudirman area.

The newly launched hub provides amenities like an open space and nine private offices. It also offers facilities such as meeting rooms, a reading corner, Skype rooms, and a coffee bar.

Rework has also launched a mobile app which will allow users to book and access Rework’s coworking spaces. The app also offers access to an open member directory, content, and services. It is free for everyone, though the premium features will be accessible via subscription only.

It is currently available on Android and iOS.

Go-Jek Announces Winners Of Go-Hackathon, Awards $9K To Winner

Indonesian ride-hailing service Go-Jek has announced the three winners of its first hackathon, Go-Hackathon, that was held from February to March 2017.

The three teams were selected from 36 finalists of the total 415 applications the company claimed to have received.

The three winners are SAILLY – that developed a tracking system via Bluetooth, SSXCeria – that developed an IoT-enabled smart helmet for ojek drivers, and Quantum Sigmoid, that developed a cloud-based food image recognition technology that allows users to identify the name of a meal displayed on an image.

Where SAILLY’s team won $9K, the other two teams received a Macbook Pro and Google Pixel for their team members, respectively, as per an e27 report.

East Ventures And SGInnovate Join Hands To Create Startup Launchpad

Indonesian VC firm East Ventures and Singapore-based SGInnovate have entered into a partnership to open a joint launchpad for startups, reported Deal Street Asia.

Under this new alliance, East Ventures’ managed coworking space EV Hive will be connected with BASH, a startup space operated by SGInnovate and will be open to startups.

Additionally, startups can also seek funding support beyond Series B stage EDBI, the global investment arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board.