Telkom Prepares Up to IDR 2 Billion Funding through Indigo Batch 2

Telkom again opens the digital startup incubation/acceleration program through the Indigo Creative Nation program. This program is still present even though Indonesia is still in a situation of the Covid-19 pandemic. Indigo Creative Nation itself is “The Most Complete Startup Program in the Region”, preparing an end-to-end program for startup incubation/acceleration.

It is an incubation/acceleration startup program that carries the principles of creativity in business, from nurturing creativity to the Follow-on-Funding (FoF) stage. This program was first held in 2013 and consistently comes twice a year. For this year, Telkom offers funding of up to IDR 2 billion for each startup that goes through the selection process.

“Indigo Creative Nation is our annual initiative with the aim of increasing competitiveness, independence, and national economic growth through the development of a creative digital industry,” said Telkom’s Digital Business Director, Fajrin Rasyid, in an official statement, Wednesday (21/10/2020).

This program is looking for startups that have the potential to become new engines of growth. These startups also get not only funding, but also training with mentors in a professional manner.

According to Fajrin, in Indigo Batch 2-2020, startups from six categories will be looked for. Later, the selected startups will receive an incubation program, acceleration, so they can explore their digital business.

“Not only will they get funding, startups that have successfully entered the Indigo Creative Nation program will also get training activities with well-known mentors who we have curated professionally,” he continued.

This program is claimed to be the most complete startup program. This is because Telkom presents a comprehensive program for startup incubation/acceleration at Indigo Creative Nation.

This program has fostered 31,748 digital talents spread across 17 DILo (Digital Innovation Lounges) throughout Indonesia. At least 177 digital startups have entered the market incubation and acceleration program located at 4 DiVa (Digital Valleys), namely in Jakarta, Bandung, Jogja, and Makassar.

Indigo Batch 2-2020 registration

For information, Indigo Batch 2-2020 is the second and final batch for this year. The first batch of this program started in May 2020 and at least 201 startups have registered.

Telkom carried out a screening process starting from on desk selection to pitching to get 35 startups. Then, as many as 18 selected startups were included in the Indigo Batch 1-2020 program.

Meanwhile, for this second batch, the programs held were not much different. Telkom prepares funding for growth and early stages of startup development. There are six categories that become Telkom’s focus in this program, namely logistics, finance, education, travel and tourism, agriculture, and health.

For information, the Indigo Batch 2-2020 registration program is open until November 13. Telkom will conduct an on-desk selection from November 16 to 19, 2020, then pitching will be held on November 24 to 26 2020.

Telkom’s Plan for Indigo Batch 2-2020

For startups who want to take part in the Indigo Batch 2 2020 program, Telkom has opened registration from October 1 to November 13 through the indigo.id website. Apart from funding, startups that have successfully participated in the Indigo Batch 2-2020 program have the opportunity to take part in the mentoring, funding, and synergy programs that have been provided by Telkom.

“We face high uncertainty in the development of digital business and digital economy, so it takes a lot of exploration and cooperation, which we call the term Open Innovation, which is to partner with digital startups to jointly fill the digital ecosystem in Indonesia,” explained Fajrin.

Not only that, startups that are included in the Indigo Creative Nation program will later get access to 180 million Telkomsel users, 7.5 million IndiHome users, 200 thousand corporate customers including UMKM Telkom, and 800 thousand outlets in Telkom Group Market Access.