Johnny Plate Hoped Indonesia Has Hectocorn Startup Soon

Johnny G Plate has become the new Minister of Communication and Information to substitute Rudiantara. As a Minister of Communication and Information, Johnny has ambitions for Indonesia’s startup development in the future. He hoped there would be a hectocorn startup in the next few years.

This was conveyed when the handover of positions with Rudiantara in the office of the Ministry of Communication and Information.”Indonesia must be able to produce more unicorns – decacorns. If possible, we will have a startup that has a scale of USD 100 billion (hectocorn),” he said.

Hectocorn itself is a nickname for startups that have a valuation of USD 100 billion. To make this plan come true, Indonesia must merge 10 companies as big as Gojek. Currently, the Gojek valuation is USD 10 billion or holds decacorn status.

At this time, Indonesia has four startups with unicorn status including Tokopedia, Traveloka, Bukalapak, and OVO. Meanwhile, Gojek which was previously a unicorn has held the title of decacorn. Johnny also shared his strategy to generate more unicorn and decacorn startups in the country.

Johnny’s Strategy to Generate More Unicorn Startups in Indonesia

Johnny said that the strategy in creating more unicorn startups in Indonesia was to make the Ministry of Communication and Information a facilitator. “The role of regulators can also be a facilitator to accelerate opportunities, especially in the digital economy for smooth millennials,” he said.

Johnny also mentioned that to present a good opportunity for millennials, regulations that allow accelerating the opportunity are also needed. “I believe this Ministry of Communication and Information can be a prime mover, for the development of our economic progress,” he added.

However, when asked about how many targets of unicorn startup in the country in the next five years, he was reluctant to comment further. “Mr. Rudiantara knows it better, but I haven’t known it yet,” he said. He also said that the ministry will continue previous programs.

First is about the matter of primary legislation. For example, there is the case of the Draft Law on Personal Data (RUU PDP) which until now has not been completed. “I will communicate with parliament to speed up (the rules),” he said. The second is about infrastructure development.

According to him, there are still some blank spots that need to be followed up by him as the new Minister of Communication and Information. “As ICT development spending in Indonesia is still 0.1% of the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and our satellite is only one,” he said.

Johnny Invited the Public to Participate As Well

Besides, Johnny said that his ministry would also continue to invite the public to participate in the development of Indonesia’s telecommunications and information technology. Currently, the Palapa Ring project has been completed and the first broadband satellite is being prepared.

For information, there has not been a hectocorn startup in the world. Initially, Uber was predicted to be the first hectocorn. Before its IPO (Initial Public Offering), the valuation of Uber had touched USD 80 billion. But after the IPO, its share price dropped and its valuation fell.

Uber’s share price plummeted because shareholders were disappointed with Uber’s bloody financial performance. Even in the financial statements ending in June 2019, the company recorded a loss of USD 5.24 billion. After this event, the share price of Uber has been continuously dropping.

The startup with the highest valuation in the world today is Bytedance (the parent of TikTok) with a valuation of USD 75 billion. Then, there is also Didi Chuxing (Chinese ride-hailing) with USD 56 billion and JUUL Labs (US electric cigarette producer) valued at USD 50 billion.