Accounting Startup, Amvesindo: The Potential for Growth is Still Wide

Start-ups in the accounting field need to implement a segmentation selection strategy to be able to boost their business growth in 2021.

Treasurer of the Indonesian Venture Capital and Startup Association (Amvesindo) Edward Ismawan Chamdani said the potential for accounting startups to grow is quite large, especially in 2021 because the government has also encouraged MSMEs to go digital and increase new startups to continue to nourish the existing ecosystem.

The reason, he assessed, is that understanding good finances gives companies an understanding of managing the right business model and that makes adaptation more effective.

“The potential for accounting startups is quite large, but the segmentation strategy and market access need to continue to be considered because this sector has actually been around for a long time, and there are players who are dominant but not fully implemented with the SaaS pattern as happened abroad,” he said, Sunday (16/6/2021).

Investors See Great Opportunity for Startups

Not only that, he assessed that BukuWarung, which recently received Series A funding of US$ 60 million or equivalent to IDR 870 billion, and BukuKas, which also received Series B funding of US$ 50 million (equivalent to IDR 709 billion).

It means that investors also saw great opportunities for startups. This is to answer the government’s target of creating MSMEs to go digital and the birth of new startups in the country.

“[In order to grow] players need to focus on the strategy for selecting segmentation of accounting needs according to the needs of MSMEs, such as point of sale first before entering a more complete and complex bookkeeping process so that it can be a good door for adoption,” he said.

Edward said that the main problem for most potential users is literacy, so an easy and simple interaction pattern is needed.

“For example, Bukukas, which focuses only on recording incoming and outgoing funds, is very simple, but the potential for databases of consumers and their habits is immediately registered,” he said.

According to him, players need to focus on horizontal usability segmentation, where the features of the released products can be used by all MSMEs and new startups in various sectors and provide ease of use for practical solutions that are in line with the growth of users and their business going forward.

Venture Capital is still Passionate about Financing Startups

The action of venture capital companies to finance domestic startups does not seem to have stopped. Some venture capitalists even continue to monitor the performance and actions of current startups.

Most recently, there is BRI Ventures, which is one of Grab’s strategic investors. Although the amount of funds disbursed is not stated, this venture capital company owned by BRI has the goal of accelerating financial inclusion and Indonesia’s digital economy through empowering the startup ecosystem.

Chairman of the Venture Capital Association for Indonesian Startups (Amvesindo) Jefri Sirait said, currently venture capital companies continue to monitor the strength of the ecosystem in startups.

But until now, he said these companies are still continuing to pitch and finalize to provide funding for startups. “Currently, we are waiting for start-ups that will IPO,” said Jefri, last weekend. Jefri said this venture capital will continue to finance startups this year.

He also mentioned that there are several startup sectors that may still attract investors, starting from the health sector, logistics, agritech, and renewable energy. However, everything returns to the appetite of investors,” added Jefri.

One of the venture capital companies that seems unlikely to stop investing in startups this year is Mandiri Capital. This subsidiary of Bank Mandiri has made a new investment in e-commerce BukaLapak in the first quarter yesterday with an undisclosed amount of funds.