OVO Became the Fifth Unicorn in Indonesia

Indonesia already has five startups that carry the title “Unicorn”, a nickname given to startups that have a valuation of over USD 1 billion. The Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Information previously targeted there would be five startups from Indonesia who hold the Unicorn title before the end of 2019.

The target seems to have been achieved thanks to OVO. This startup becomes the Fifth Unicorn Startup from Indonesia after GoJek, Tokopedia, Traveloka, and Bukalapak. OVO is a provider of electronic payment services created by the Lippo Group. The valuation is estimated to be USD 2.9 billion.

“I have talked to the founder, and it is confirmed that OVO has become a unicorn,” Rudiantara said. According to CB Insight, the valuation of USD 2.9 billion has been achieved by OVO since March 2019. This startup offers a digital wallet and it is also used for Grab payments.

Recently, OVO has also been selected as the top payment platform and digital financial service among the other fin-tech brands. This assessment was given by the YouGov Brand Index from the result of a survey conducted for a year to get the brand with the most positive Word of Mount.

The New Unicorn Occupied Fin-tech’s Top Positions with the Most Positive Image

“OVO is grateful for the positive appreciation of the community for our products and services. This is one form of continued increasing public trust and convenience in digital transactions,” Harianto Gunawan, the Managing Director of OVO, explained in a press statement.

As a company that serves the Indonesian people for two years, Harinato added that OVO will continue to encourage the achievement of equitable financial access for the whole community and encourage the growth of Indonesia’s digital economy. The YouGov Brand Index survey itself was conducted in one year.

In conducting the research, the YouGov Brand Index asks respondents directly about their perceptions of a brand, and whether they have talked about it with many people around them within a certain time frame. Then, OVO was ranked second out of the 715 most popular brands in Indonesia.

This score takes into account consumers’ positive perceptions of OVO from advertising, news, or word of mouth, as well as how often OVO becomes part of their daily conversation either through personal discussion or on social media. With this score, OVO ranked first when it comes to fin-tech brands.

It is no secret that the popularity of OVO digital payment and financial service has continued to increase since the strategic partnership with Grab and Tokopedia in 2018. Then, this startup is now known as another unicorn from the country.

The Next Indonesian Unicorns After OVO

Recently, two startups in the health and education sector are announced to have the opportunity to become the next unicorns in Indonesia. Both will add to the list of startups valued at more than USD 1 billion from the country, which now has five companies in total.

Based on the Startup Report 2018 released by DailySocial, several startups in Indonesia have this opportunity. However, when it comes to the health and education sectors, there are only Halodoc and Ruangguru, which have valuations of more than USD 100 million.

Halodoc, which serves online health consultations, was established in 2016. The startup has conducted three series of funding and has 13 investors. Meanwhile, Ruangguru which has been operating since 2013 provides online tutoring for students in Indonesia. Funding has been carried out in six series and supported by five investors.

These health and education startups are potential new unicorns because of their large market prospective. The potential came from the high budget allocation in the 2020 state budget. In this case, the allocation is IDR 132.3 trillion in the health sector and IDR 505.8 trillion for education.