Startup Studio Indonesia Batch 4 Graduates 15 Alumni at Milestone Day Event

The Ministry of Communication and Information (Ministry of Communication and Informatics) has held the highlight of Milestone Day as the final part of the Batch 4 Startup Studio Indonesia (SSI) incubation program series.

After five months of training, the 15 selected startups had the opportunity to present their business and achievements during this program in front of government agencies and venture capitalists.

SSI is a Ministry of Communication and Informatics program that aims to assist and nurture early-stage startups for 15 weeks. This training is conducted so that they can find product-market fit (PMF).

Until now, SSI has completed 4 training batches with a total of 65 alumni. In addition, the total funding channeled to SSI alumni startups Batch 1-3 to May 222 reached Rp 332.1 billion.

From each batch, 30 to 40 percent of alumni have secured early-stage funding. The Ministry of Communication and Information will also continue to monitor the progress of participants through the Alumni Program after this program is completed.

Through this program, startups will conduct additional training sessions and regular meetings every month for a year with the SSI team. The curriculum is also designed based on the unique needs of startups in each batch.

“Many people think that the current economic climate isn’t favorable for startups. However, we want to instill a mindset in founders to continue to maintain a long-term vision,” said Digital Startup Coordinator, Sonny Hendra Sudaryana during the Milestone Day event which was held virtually.

He further said, Kemkominfo will also always be committed to supporting startups that want to solve real challenges in society, namely by determining the right regulations, training digital talents, providing access to a network of startup experts through the SSI program and forming communities.

Startup Studio Indonesia Batch 4 which are now officially alumni are Wilov, Transporta, MUFIT, Allure, Envio, Paygua, Ternakesia, OkeGarden, Seryu, Kendali, Surplus, Friendchised, Universitas123, Aksel and Kibble.

“We will target more participants and better quality. This is because we see more and more innovative startups with high potential emerging from various regions with innovations in various fields, especially the government sector and public services,” said Sonny.

Many Startup Layoffs, 3 Aspects so that Businesses Can Survive

On the other hand, recently a storm of layoffs has hit the digital startup industry. The Ministry of Communication and Information (Kemkominfo) considers that business sustainability is currently one of the challenges faced by digital startups or startups.

Therefore, Johnny G. Plate said, digital startup actors need to pay attention to three aspects of governance so that companies do not experience problems.

“The three aspects are business principles or products and services, financing schemes, and management,” Johnny said in a dialogue on Tuesday night, quoted from a press release, Thursday (16/6/2022).

According to the Minister of Communication and Information, if these three aspects are not managed properly, the company will experience problems. Johnny emphasized that the application of business principles is the key to sustainability in all sectors.

Government Assistance

“For what? Business principles, you have to prepare the product and service properly, have an adequate financing scheme, whether it’s equity or a combination and the debt person (debt), as well as the sponsors (founders) and management,” he added.

Furthermore, Johnny said, when a company experiences problems, the easiest solution is to layoff or reduce employees. In fact, according to him, employees are no longer assets but capital for a business.

“That’s why the issue of layoff is so sensitive at the moment. Moreover, the issue of layoff is related to the startup bubble,” said Johnny.

The Minister of Communication and Information also said that the government is also preparing assistance so that the digital startup ecosystem continues to grow and develop.

According to him, the government together with telecommunications operators are actively building digital infrastructure at the upstream or upstream level. This is intended so that people can optimize the digital space.