Sampingan Startup Receives Funding of IDR 72 Billion

The odd job provider startup, Sampingan, received series A funding of US$ 5 million or around IDR 72 billion. This startup’s business tripled in the last year amidst widespread layoffs due to the corona pandemic.

The funding was led by Altara Ventures. Other participating investors are Golden Gate Ventures, Antler, Access Ventures, XA Network and iSeed SEA.

“We will use the fresh funds for product development for both workers and companies, as well as reach more consumers,” said Co-Founder and CEO of Sampingan Wisnu Nugrahadi as quoted from a press release, Tuesday (12/1).

“With this new funding, we believe we can have the best infrastructure and are ready to support post-pandemic Covid-19 recovery.”

Sampingan provides a comprehensive solution from the service of finding, managing and retaining blue-collar workers. This startup company has more than 850 thousand working partners, both contractual and permanent.

“Sampingan shows the future of work in Southeast Asia. In the 2010s there was a “Gig Economy” trend in customer service, which will continue to grow from a business perspective in the 2020s today, “said Gavin Teo, General Partner, Altara Ventures.

One individual user, Muhammad Fikri Hidayatulloh, who joined in September 2020. Previously she ran a wedding organizer business. However, his business went out of business due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“My friend recommended Sampingan. I joined as a canvasser on various projects through the application. For the first time in my life, I am getting a steady salary and stable income, ”said Fikri.

Collaborating with Large and Small Scale Companies

Sampingan also attracts more than 100 large and small scale companies through three main services, namely Manpower, Solutions, and Systems. One of the corporate users of Sampingan services, namely LinkAja. LinkAja Head of Customer Operations Group Siti Khairani Samsurizal said this platform allows companies to acquire merchant partners more quickly.

“Without Sampingan, the process we have to do takes more time and money, especially for programs in small cities,” he said. Altara Ventures General Partner Gavin Teo assessed that it managed to match thousands of freelancers in Indonesia with jobs in various fields such as logistics, supply chain and local services.

“We are honored and excited to support their journey,” he said. Golden Gate Ventures Partner Justin Hall added, Indonesia is a fast-growing labor market. “We are very impressed with the growth and ability of Sampingan to measure the needs of workers and companies,” he said.

Meanwhile, Antler Co-Founding Partner Jussi Salovaara said, Sampingan helps the community to find and get jobs remotely through a network of partners. “We are sure that Sampingan will continue to grow and have a tremendous impact on the workforce in Indonesia,” he said.

Various Types of Work Can be Selected

The types of jobs that can be selected through the Sampingan platform are data collection, project acquisition, and sales agents. Later, there will be a field team leader from Sampingan who will monitor the agent’s performance and maximize efficiency. Wisnu explained that his company carried out three main principles which are speed, quality and cost.

He claims, his service saves the costs of his Sampingan partners by up to 70%. He said, Moka increased the number of users by up to 20% after using the Sampingan service. From an agent’s point of view, he said, Sampingan could provide an additional income of up to IDR 9 million a month.

However, it takes more effort to get maximum income. Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) in 2020, there were 29.12 million people affected by the corona pandemic, either losing their jobs or experiencing reduced working hours and wages. Due to layoffs and reduced salaries, the number of Sampingan partners increased.