Indonesia Has Largest Number of Startups in ASEAN

Minister of Research, Technology, and Higher Education Mohamad Nasir presents awards to the participants of Indonesia Startup Summit (ISS), at the Jakarta International Expo, Wednesday (10/4). (Photo by: Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education PR)

Indonesian startups has grown very rapidly in the last 5 years and currently the country ranks first in ASEAN and fifth globally in number of startups, according to  Minister of Research, Technology, and Higher Education Mohamad Nasir.

“Indonesia has the largest number of startups in ASEAN and ranks fifth in the world,” Nasir said at the opening of the 2019 Indonesia Startup Summit (ISS) at the Jakarta International Expo on Wednesday (10/4).

For the past five years, Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education through the Technology-Based Starter Company (PPBT) program have supported the development of startups in Indonesia in the field of information technology as well as other fields outside the IT, including food and agriculture, medicine, transportation, and so on. Until today, the Ministry has fostered approximately 1,307 startups from those fields.

On the event which attended by approximately 5,000 participants and featured sixty startups by Indonesia’s millenials, Nasir also conducted a trial of the Gesit electric motorbike, an invention from a startup company by the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS). The Gesits are produced by PT. Wijaya Manufacturing and planned to be officially launched this April.

Besides the Gesit, in the transportation field there is a flat plate ship developed by the Naval Engineering of University of Indonesia and PT Juragan Kapal. Currently, PT Juragan Kapal has a turnover of Rp6.5 billion, the second highest after PT Meta Sukses Pratama (MSP) which produces Smart Security with a turnover of Rp7 billion.

“We just launched the flat plate ship from Jakarta to Bintuni, Papua. The ship survived the sea with four meters waves. The captain said that the ship is the most comfortable ship during his fifteen years’ service,” said Nasir in front of hundreds of participants.

Another collaboration between a university and an industry is the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) and PT Pertamina which invented a product in energy sector called Merah Putih Catalyst.

“Meanwhile in the field of advanced materials including nanotechnology is carried out by researchers who produce innovations in the fields of health and advanced materials. In the field of energy are ‘solar cell’ and batteries, while in the field of renewable energy are palm oil which can be used as gasoline, diesel fuel, avtur and Merah Putih Catalyst which initiated by ITB Professor named Subagjo,” said Nasir.

In the field of agriculture, PT Djava Sukses Abadi successfully created ‘Mangano Tempe’ brand that has been exported to South Korea.

“Usually, the tempe can only have a shelf-life of 3-4 days, but the Mangano Tempe’s shelf-life can reach one month without any chemicals,” Nasir added.

He went on saying that his Ministry does not only provide capital and guidance to the startups, but also assistance to get other incentives including tax deductions so that the company can generate more capital and profits for research purpose.

“I have submitted a regulation proposal to the President, Minister of Industry and Minister of Finance to provide tax facilities to the future startups so that they are not burdened by the tax. After the issuance of the new regulation, hopefully, the startups can enjoy the tax returns by the Government,” Nasir said.

In addition, he stated that the 2019 ISS is a milestone for Indonesian startups and they are the hope for the Indonesian economy.

On the occasion, Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education announced and awarded the five most inspiring startup works supported by the Ministry through the Technology-Based Starter Company (PPBT) Program. Those five most inspiring works include:

1. The Most Inspiring Startup: Compac Motorcycle by Suwanto, assisted by Diponegoro University.
2. The Most Breakthrough Startup: Flat Pelat Ship by PT Juragan Kapal and Naval Engineering Study Program of University of Indonesia.
3. The Most Social Impact Startup: Aruna Indonesia, an application that connects fishermen and consumers directly, developed by Farid Naufal Aslam, a Telkom University’s graduate.
4. The Most Growing Startup: GESITS which is developed by the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) and produced by PT. Wijaya Manufacturing, a joint venture company of PT. Gesits Technologies Indo (GTI) with a state-owned subsidiary, PT Wijaya Karya Industri dan Konstruksi (WIKON).
5. The Most Competitive Innovation: Merah Putih Catalyst invented by Professor Subagjo of Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB). (Kemenristekdikti/EN)

Translated by : Fairuzzamani Inayatillah
Edited by : Estu Widyamurti, Yuyu Mulyani