The current global health crisis has driven businesses in Indonesia to rethink their commercial and non-commercial strategies for the past year and a half. The lingering effect of the pandemic is felt by organizations of all sizes, from mature companies to newer ones like startups. Despite headwinds in the country’s business environment, several exceptional, new startups are surviving through the pandemic and even showing prominent growth in the meantime. Startups are potentially the ‘next great thing’ you should be paying attention to. If you’re looking to gain experience and find exciting opportunities from new business ventures in Indonesia, Chris C. Anderson and Yunita Ong have compiled a report for LinkedIn Top Startups 2021 list.
15 Top Indonesian Startups in 2021
The startups included in this report should be eligible for several criteria: they must be 7 years old or younger, have at least 50 employees, and be privately headquartered in Indonesia. The list compiled in this article is sorted based on the number of employees as provided by the companies firsthand.
1 . Ruangguru
Established in 2014 with almost 5,000 full-time employees, Ruangguru became one of the startups in Indonesia with the most rapid growth for the past two years. Ruangguru provides education-based services in Indonesia with 15 million users and manages more than 300,000 teachers in more than 100 subject areas. In April 2021, Ruangguru acquired a US$ 55 million investment. Some of the most common job positions offered by this startup are Educational Consultant, Master Teacher, and Graphic Designer.
2 . Sociolla
Sociolla is Indonesia’s well-known e-commerce platform specifically for beauty and personal care products that have shown its prominence as a startup. By far, it has had a total of 1,000 employees since it was founded in 2015 by Chrisanti Indiana. Through quick, agile, positive ownership, and continuous development, Sociolla developed the business core value as a basis for employees. Some of the most common job positions offered by Sociolla are Beauty Advisor, Graphic Designer, Network Specialist.
3 . Kopi Kenangan
A startup is all about innovation, and Kopi Kenangan did it right and become one of the pioneers in a franchised coffee business. Founded in 2017, Kopi Kenangan provides coffee and tea from small store outlets and now has over 400 outlets in 26 Indonesian cities. With that many branches, Kopi Kenangan has made the ‘iced coffee’ trend available for everyone to purchase from stores and online delivery services. It is estimated that more than 887 people are employed in this startup and the number keeps on growing along as more franchises open.
4 . Tanihub
Tanifund is an agribusiness integrated with technology that helps farmers gain more profit for their work by eliminating middlemen in the selling process. It was founded in 2016 and has been growing ever since. At the beginning of the pandemic, where access to traditional markets and grocery stores was limited, Tanihub grew very rapidly and continues to do so nowadays. Its online marketplace enables businesses such as restaurants and supermarkets to purchase vegetables directly from farmers and have them delivered to their door. Some job positions Tanihub often opens are Commercial Specialist, Supply Chain Specialist, and Back End Developer.
5 . Shipper
If Amazon is known worldwide for its dynamic supply chain and logistics management, Indonesia has a similar national startup named Shipper. Founded in 2017, the company offers retailer services such as package pickup, shipment handling, and order tracking. With the latest total of 469 employees, Shipper offers job positions of Sales Manager, Senior Sales Manager, and Warehouse Supervisor for those who want to kickstart their career in the logistics industry.
6 . Lemonilo
With more and more people being aware of their physical health, Lemonilo takes the chance to be one of the leading startups in this movement beginning in 2016. Lemonilo, a health food business, distributes its goods both online and in retail stores and is “on a journey to make a healthy lifestyle accessible to everybody”. Interestingly, many open positions in Lemonilo are not a nutritionist or food scientist, but more on titles: Software Engineer, Product Manager, and Quality Assurance Analyst.
Read Also: Startup Checklist: What You Need to Know Before Joining a Startup
7 . HappyFresh
Similar to TaniHub, Happy Fresh is an Indonesian agribusiness technology startup that has also spread its business to Malaysia and Thailand. First established in 2014, HappyFresh is among the first e-grocery marketplaces in Indonesia. In its 7th year of business operation, HappyFresh often recruits talents that have skills in programming, such as Java, Python, PHP as Software Engineer and Operations Analyst. This is probably due to its software and program optimization to ensure online commerce goes well.
8 . Sayurbox
Sayurbox is another agribusiness technology startup that started its venture at the same year as TaniHub in 2016 with more than 300 employees per today. As it already has an established system and supply chain management, Sayurbox now focuses its workforce to maintain the quality and stability of its mobile application. This explains why Sayurbox regularly posts job openings requiring skills such as Analytical Skills, Data Analysis, and Adobe Photoshop.
9 . Mamikos
With the growing numbers of dormitories and boarding houses being rented in Indonesia, Mamikos seized this opportunity and has started its venture since 2015. Mamikos is an Indonesian listings site for kost – boarding houses where renters rent a room and share living areas with other residents in the same building. Mamikos remains to be the most popular application in this industry with millions of downloads since it was first launched.
10 . Ula
Becoming a newcomer to the commerce industry since its debut in 2019, Ula becomes one of the Indonesian new startups that has gained quite prominence these past two years. Even Jeff Bezos of Amazon is finalizing his million dollar investment in Ula recently. With around 300 employees so far, Ula strives to help small entrepreneurs reduce inefficiencies in sourcing and purchasing goods by allowing them to buy store items wholesale. Some of the common jobs in Ula are Supervisor, Project Manager, and Software Engineer.
11 . Buku Warung
With the growing number of small to medium enterprises in Indonesia, Buku Warung makes it easy for these entrepreneurs to go digital by offering financial tools. The services include bookkeeping, invoices, and online payments on its platform. Individuals with Data Analysis, Social Media Marketing, or Adobe Photoshop skills may have a shot in working at this 2019 established Indonesian startup.
12 . CoLearn
CoLearn is a new education tech startup in Indonesia that strives to follow the success of big similar startups like Ruangguru and Zenius. The emergence of CoLearn in 2020 was a big hit due to the demand for education assistance during remote learning among Indonesian students. Tutors from live courses and submitted videos on the app can assist students with homework and examinations in many subjects. Aside from teachers, some available roles CoLearn usually offers are Solutions Specialist, Quality Assurance Specialist, and Sales Executive.
13 . Flip
Becoming the leading financial technology startup in Indonesia since 2015, Flip has made its reputation steady and even growing these days. Flip makes it hassle-free for users to send money safely between Indonesia’s largest banks without paying transaction costs. For business clients, Flip offers a low-cost access point to more than 100 Indonesian banks. IT graduates can find job opportunities in Flip as Support Specialist, Transaction Specialist, and Back End Developer.
14 . Ajaib
With increasing financial literacy and enthusiasm in the stock market, Ajaib successfully escalates to be a new startup that competes with other leading securities in Indonesia. By 2021, Ajaib has more than 1 million investors within 3 years of its debut. Moreover, Ajaib has recently obtained US$ 153 millions of Series A funding that makes it a new unicorn startup.
15 . Andalin
Other than Shipper, an Indonesian new startup in logistics and supply chain that is ranked as top-performing is Andalin. With more Indonesians relying on online shopping and demanding more shipment services available, Andalin strives to make imports and exports simple for businesses. Andalin has helped over 300 businesses, ranging from small enterprises to large corporations such as Hitachi and Electrolux.
There are many other startups developing in Indonesia, but these 15 startups can best be examples of how newcomers should not be afraid to start their business. If they have the right strategy that accurately fulfills the demand of the public, new startups can compete with other more mature startups. If you’re passionate about being an agent of change, you can always start your startup journey on Startup Jobs Asia.
