Ride-hailing is getting into content in Southeast Asia – slowly. Grab recently relaunched its app to include a news feed that features articles and selected Youtube videos (some appear self-produced.)
Go-Jek a few months agoannounced Go-Play, a content platform on which it wants to publish original content. What sounded like a very vague idea then is slowly taking shape: For example, the firm plans to co-finance theproduction of 22 short documentaries(link in Indonesian), in collaboration with the Docs by the Sea programme, and Indonesia’s creative economy agency (Bekraf).
Takeaways:
- The SEA ride-hailing duopoly branches out into yet another war zone – content
- While it’s too early to say how this will turn out, it seems both are seeing this as an opportunity to become distribution platforms for third-party or user generated content, while also getting into original content production
US-born AtozPay mobile wallet to spin off unit in Indonesia
In thisstrange piece of news, a less than one year old mobile wallet in Indonesia is reportedly exploring an IPO. AtozPay was created by US software companyWeyland Tech. Its Indonesian enterprise PT Weyland Indonesia Perkasa secured acollaboration with OK Oce, (link in Indonesian) a program targeting SMEs initiated by current Jakarta vice-governor Sandiaga Uno.
AtozPay has yet to make a significant dent in the Indonesian ewallet space. It’s probably not even licensed – at least it doesn’t show up in the Indonesian Central Bank’s license database yet. That doesn’t mean it’s illegal, but without e-money and digital wallet licenses, it will have limited features.
However, the announcement has helpedboost Weyland Tech’s own share price a little.
Bizzy funding
Indonesian B2B ecommerce and logistics platform Bizzy raised a US$8 million pre-Series B funding round, writesDealstreet Asia, citing anonymous sources. Sinar Mas Digital Ventures (SMDV) is said to be the lead investor, which would make sense. The Indonesian Sinar Mas conglomerate has astrong relationshipwith Ardent Capital, the VC/Venture builder who financed Bizzy’s seed round.
Moladin funding
The platform caters to the growing number of motorcycle owners in Indonesia. (Now more than 100 million. Dramatically higher than private car ownership, which is at 15 million.) Moladin helps make purchase decisions, find service stations, spare parts and so on. Now the firm has securedUS$1.2 million in seed fundingfrom East Ventures and others.
Goodbye Aquila, hello Facebook Satellite
When Facebook (Aquila, a solar powered drone) and Google (Loon, a fleet high altitude balloons) each had lofty plans to provide internet services to remote areas, Indonesia was always a part of the debate. The massive archipelago is just the perfect testing ground. But Aquila was scrapped, and the tests Loonplanned in Indonesianever really took off. (It’s inKenya now).
Facebook is still determined to play a role in bringing the rest of the world online, but it’s now focusing ontried-and-tested technologies like satellites.