Indonesia
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East Ventures announces new $30M fund to continue investing in Indonesia
East Ventures is back at it again with another new fund to invest in early-stage companies in Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy and the world’s fourth most populous country. This new $30 million fund is the firm’s sixth to date in Southeast Asia, and remarkably its second in 2017 alone. Read More
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China’s UrWork invests in Indonesia’s ReWork via $3M deal as WeWork rivalry heats up
UrWork, the unicorn that is competing with WeWork in China, is following its American rival’s lead by extending its reach in Southeast Asia after it took part in a $3 million funding round for Indonesia-based ReWork. The round, which is described as pre-Series A, was led by China-U.S. firm ATM Capital and Indonesia’s Convergence Ventures. UrWork was a participant alongside U.S. Read More
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Chatbot startup founder sees Southeast Asia potential despite slow start worldwide
Chatbots may have underwhelmed thus far, but the impact of the technology still has bags of potential in international markets where mobile messaging has been mainstream for years. That’s the view of one startup that’s working to bring the benefit of bots to the mainstream in Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous country and the largest economy in the growing region… Read More
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Uber’s Asian rival Grab loses its head of engineering
Grab may be in the process of raising a huge $2.5 billion investment round, with SoftBank, Didi and Toyota confirmed as participants, but Uber’s Southeast Asia-based rival has lost its head of engineering. Arul Kumaravel, VP of engineering at Grab, has left the company for personal reasons, according to a source. It’s not yet clear what his next plan is. Grab confirmed the… Read More
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Indonesian Uber rival Go-Jek closes in on new $1.2 billion round
Go-Jek, the on-demand transportation company that rivals Uber and Grab in Indonesia, is getting close to pulling in its next huge funding round. That’s because JD.com, the China-based e-commerce firm that rivals Alibaba, has agreed to join Go-Jek’s upcoming $1.2 billion round, a source with knowledge of discussions told TechCrunch. The news was first reported by The… Read More
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Google expands its public Wi-Fi program for emerging markets to Indonesia
Google is launching its public Wi-Fi program, which offers free connectivity at railway stations and other locations such as universities, in Indonesia, the company announced today. The Indonesia launch is the first expansion of ‘Google Station’ — as the program is called — since it debuted in India some 18 months ago. The project is quite simple, it offers a free way… Read More
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This startup is bringing Alipay-style QR code payments to Indonesia
The growth of digital payments and banking in China, where it has become mainstream and spawned numerous on-demand industries, is inspiring companies to pursue similar opportunities across. Indonesia, the world’s fourth largest population and Southeast Asia’s largest economy is a primary focus for many. Beyond bigger players such as Alibaba, which has a joint fintech venture… Read More
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Alibaba leads $1.1B investment in Indonesia-based e-commerce firm Tokopedia
Alibaba has continued its push into Southeast Asia after it led a $1.1 billion investment in Tokopedia, an e-commerce firm based in Indonesia. A valuation for the deal was not announced, but the companies did say that Alibaba has become a minority shareholder. Tokopedia, which was founded in 2009, operates a marketplace that allows small retailers and large brands to sell to consumers in… Read More
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PAYFAZZ wants to build a network of distributed bank agents in Indonesia
Hendra Kwik is hoping to tap into the excitement of on-demand companies like Uber and distributed workforces — except instead of ridesharing, he’s hoping it will work for banking. That’s the theory behind PAYFAZZ, which coordinates with banks to create a distributed network of bank agents that can operate from wherever — even their own homes. Once that person is… Read More
Latest Crunch Report
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Alibaba and Tencent are carving up Southeast Asia’s startup ecosystem
Two global tech forces are putting their mark — and money — into Southeast Asia’s nascent startup ecosystem, but they may not be the Western names that you expect. Rather than Google, Facebook or Microsoft, increasingly Chinese duo Alibaba and Tencent are the driving forces behind the importing of large sums of capital and vast business experience into Southeast… Read More
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Chinese brands have invaded Indonesia’s fast-growing smartphone market
If you’re looking for a market with smartphone sales growth potential then India usually comes to mind, but the market is moving forward with much promise in Indonesia, the world’s fourth largest country. A new report from IDC shows that smartphones sales in the country accelerated by 13 percent year-on-year during the first quarter of 2017. A total of 7.3 million devices shipped… Read More
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Intudo Ventures launches $10M fund for Indonesia’s fast-growing startup ecosystem
Indonesia is one of Southeast Asia’s most promising startup ecosystems and today it gained a new investor. Intudo Ventures’ debut fund has more than $10 million to invest into about 12 to 16 early-stage Indonesian startups, as well as joint ventures with overseas companies that want to break into the market. Read More
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Garena rebrands to Sea and raises $550 million more to focus on Indonesian e-commerce
Garena, one of Southeast Asia’s biggest tech startups, has picked up $550 million in new funding and changed its name. The Singapore-headquartered consumer Internet company told Bloomberg that it is now called Sea Ltd. to reflect is global expansion plans (and also because SEA is an acronym for Southeast Asia). Its new valuation was undisclosed. Read More
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Crunch Report | Go-Jek Raises $1.2 Billion
Go-Jek raises $1.2 billion, Soylent raises $50 million, wheelchairs get a makeover from Izzy Wheels and Uber attempts to make UberPOOL a little less like a game of Russian roulette. All this on Crunch Report. Read More
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Indonesia’s Uber rival Go-Jek raises $1.2 billion led by Tencent at a $3 billion valuation
Go-Jek, the motorbike on-demand startup that is battling Uber and Grab in Indonesia, has closed a new round of $1.2 billion led by Chinese internet giant Tencent, two sources close the company told TechCrunch. The deal, which we understand was signed last week, values the company at $3 billion post money. It is expected to be officially announced “soon.” Go-Jek declined to… Read More
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Alibaba’s Ant Financial to develop services in Indonesia as global expansion continues
Ant Financial, the fintech company affiliated with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, is continuing its global expansion. The firm has taken its first official step into Indonesia today after it announced a joint venture to develop local financial services. The company has partnered with conglomerate Emtek, Indonesia’s second largest media firm and an investor in -major e-commerce… Read More
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Uber rival Grab makes first major acquisition to build out its payments platform
Grab, Uber’s biggest rival in Southeast Asia, has completed its first major acquisition after it bought up Indonesian startup Kudo to boost its nascent mobile payments platform. Neither party is giving a figure for the size of the deal, which was first rumored in February. Initial reports at the time suggested Grab would pay over $100 million for Kudo, but two sources close to the… Read More
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Uber agreed to, then scrapped, a non-compete deal with Indonesian unicorn Go-Jek
Uber may have a reputation for steamrolling its competitors, but it can be conciliatory at times. In 2015, a year before its retreat from China via the sale of its Chinese business to rival Didi, the U.S. company agreed to a non-compete deal with Go-Jek, a fast-growing on-demand service from Indonesia that’s valued at more than $1 billion, TechCrunch has learned. In a bid to… Read More
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Indonesia’s Printerous raises $1.4M to digitize traditional printing
Printerous, an Indonesia startup that is bringing the country’s printing industry into the digital era, has raised $1.4 million. The round was led by Golden Gate Ventures with participation from U.S. firm Sovereign’s Capital and Indonesian conglomerate Gunung Sewu Kencana. The two-year-old company is using the internet to make traditional printing more efficient and convenient. Read More
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Grab is buying Indonesian payment firm Kudo in its first major acquisition
Uber’s Southeast Asia rival Grab is in the process of buying up Indonesia-based online payment startup Kudo in its first major acquisition. A source close to discussions confirmed to TechCrunch that talks are ongoing and a deal could be announced as soon this week. Reuters first reported the deal, which it said would be over $100 million however our source suggested that the figure… Read More
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