East Ventures Injects TipTip Startup a Funding of 143 Billion Rupiah

TipTip, a platform for content creators in Southeast Asia, announced that it has raised $10 million in seed funding (approximately IDR 143 billion).

The figure is claimed to be one of the largest early-stage funding ever. This round was led by East Ventures, with participation from Vertex, EMTEK, SMDV, and several leading family offices.

TipTip was founded by Albert Lucius, the former founder of Kudo which was successfully acquired by Grab in 2017. Currently, TipTip operates in Indonesia and Singapore, with a team of more than 70 employees.

Make It Easy For Creators To Monetize

TipTip is here as the platform of choice for content creators to monetize their hobby through personalized video sessions, selling premium digital content, and the opportunity to interact directly with their followers.

TipTip is here to fill the gaps in some of the key features that content creators in developing Southeast Asia face, such as the lack of monetization opportunities, limited local payments and KYC integration, as well as challenges related to content creation and distribution via smartphones.

The company greatly appreciates the support and trust we received in this funding round prior to TipTip’s public launch.

“Their belief further strengthens our vision of the creative economic potential, and how the solution offered by TipTip can be a one-stop solution for all content creators in the Southeast Asia region,” said TipTip Founder Albert Lucius in an official statement, Tuesday (29/3).

According to Albert, the company will use the fresh funds to accelerate TipTip’s growth in reaching and empowering the creative economy in the region. Also, expand the team and accelerate platform adoption.

The TipTip application itself has not been publicly inaugurated, an exclusive launch (invitation only) is planned to be held in April. This was followed by a public launch for the Indonesian market the following month.

East Ventures believes in the potential of the creator economy in the region, especially after seeing the rapid growth of the potential market during the COVID-19 pandemic.

East Ventures Co-founder & Managing Partner Willson Weather said, “It is clear to us that some of the consumer behavior that was shaped during the pandemic will continue after the pandemic. TipTip is well positioned to capture just that. TipTip is a product for a post-pandemic world designed during a pandemic.”

Meet Brands And Influencers

Currently, the demand for digital marketing activities, especially those that utilize influencers, is growing significantly.

Based on data compiled by the Influencer Marketing Hub, the pandemic has accelerated the growth of influencer marketing in 2020, and this number is expected to continue in 2021.

From just $1.7 billion in 2016, influencer marketing is expected to have grown to a market size of $9.7 billion by 2020 and is expected to soar further to $13.8 billion by 2021.

In Indonesia, there are already several platforms that provide a place for content creators, influencers, and brands to take advantage of marketing activities with this concept.

Starting from platforms such as Partipost, AnyMind Group, Hiip, Indonesia Creators Economy made by IDN Media, to Lynk.id which aims to provide integrated tools for creators.

The technology company Gojek also announced a collaboration with the influencer marketing platform Allstars to make it easier for Gojek’s MSME partners to connect with influencers to carry out marketing activities.

Allstars is here to provide a platform to connect brands with influencers for promotional purposes on social media. Not only benefiting brands, influencers also need to be bridged, especially for those who have just switched professions.

Founded in 2009, East Ventures has provided early-stage and advanced-stage investments to more than 200 companies in Southeast Asia. East Ventures is the first investor in Indonesian unicorns, namely Tokopedia and Traveloka.

Other companies in the East Ventures portfolio are Ruangguru, SIRCLO, Kudo (acquired by Grab), Loket (acquired by Gojek), Tech in Asia, Xendit, IDN Media, MokaPOS (acquired by Gojek), ShopBack, KoinWorks, and Sociolla.