Ideabox: Turning Local Innovation into World Class Start-ups
Indosat, member of Ooredoo Group, passionate about developing a strong digital ecosystem in Indonesia
Jakarta, Indonesia & Doha, Qatar
After 4 months of intense mentorship, workshops, product building, and customer validation the first four Start-ups under the Ideabox programme as chosen by Indosat, member of Ooredoo Group, are ready to pitch to investors.
In its first cycle, Ideabox selected and accelerated these startups out of over 100 applicants. The four selected companies included Dealoka, an innovative mobile coupon application; Ngomik, a digital comics platform; Shoop!, a hyper social ecommerce platform; and Unyu a sticker based communication service for feature phones.
Indosat’s Ideabox is a premium accelerator that chooses three to six mobile technology start-ups every six months to go through a rigorous 120-days-acceleration programme. The programme, which is part of a portfolio of initiatives to build a strong digital ecosystem across its broadband network, provides funding, dedicated facilities and most importantly mentoring from both local and international start-up experts. Companies graduating from the accelerator get priority access to Indosat’s infrastructure and customer base, so they can scale-up rapidly. The program is managed by Mountain Partners, a global technology incubator and investor which has launched and invested in hundreds of technology start-ups in both developed and emerging markets.
The world class standard of the programme is already evident with one of the programme’s incubator companies receiving a valuation exceeding USD 1 million from an international investor and two of the others are discussing international expansion with Ooredoo Group. The programme also achieved international industry recognition in May when it was awarded a prestigious GTB (Global Telecom Business) Innovation Award.
“Indosat is committed to building one of the strongest digital ecosystem in Indonesia”, said Alexander Rusli Indosat’s CEO and President Director. “We started seven years ago with IWIC, Indonesia’s first innovation competition, encouraging Indonesian youth to be more innovative and passionate about digital technologies. We now have one of the broadest technology programs in the region, spanning the IWIC idea completion, early stage investments through Ideabox and growth stage investments through the Softbank–Indosat Fund. We will continue to develop this adding other initiatives such as crowdsourcing for digital innovation in Indonesia with other equally credible partners.”
“As a Group we are focused on the social and economic benefits innovation can bring to underserved communities and continue working to introduce cutting-edge services in areas like, finance services, entertainment and education.” said Dr Nasser, Group CEO Ooredoo. “A wave of digital development is currently transforming our day-to-day lives and no more so than here in Indonesia. Innovation is essential to keeping ahead of this and as such we are excited to have seen such early success for Ideabox in Indonesia. Having recently introduced the Ideabox initiative in Myanmar we are particularly encouraged by this display of world-class talent and hope to see this trend continue in both countries.”
After having graduated from Ideabox, all four companies are now working closely with Indosat to launch joint bundles and promotions. In addition some of the companies are already in advanced discussions with potential investors, both local and international, for their next round of funding. Applications for participation in the next batch are open at www.ideabox.co.id
In Myanmar Ooredoo has joined hands with Singapore-based online start-up platform Silicon Straits, and Australian-based accelerator Pollenizer to extend its ICT innovation programme to the market and foster grassroots innovation by supporting local entrepreneurship. Following an overwhelming response, the first round of applications to Ideabox Myanmar recently closed. Later in 2014 the selected start-ups will be able to provide first wave of services to Myanmar consumers as they access the internet via Ooredoo’s ultra-fast 3G network.
Dealoka is a mobile application and marketing platform service provider that delivers highly relevant personalized offers in the form of e-vouchers to consumers’ mobile devices instantly, contextually and in geographically relevant manners. It offers a simpler and customized experience to consumers compared to the other daily deals or e-coupon service providers. Customers can redeem the offers directly at merchant outlets and do not need to print the voucher and pay the service provider up front to claim the promo. Very simple!
Shoop! is a social mobile ecommerce platform delivering personalized and fun, browsing and shopping experience for smartphone users. Shoop! helps merchants sell their product easily over mobile phone over many market places and online sellers through a single session and quickly responds to buyer interest using chat and notifications. For Buyers, Shoop! provides discounts by through social media and a visual and user friendly interface, so shoppers can find items they are interested in easily and quickly.
Ngomik.Com is a web and mobile based digital comic distribution platform which offers a digital comic reading experience with a user friendly interface optimized for smart-devices. The platform carries both local and international content.
Unyu is a fun chat app for both feature phones and smartphones. Unlike current popular messaging apps, Unyu incorporates a comic based style and a number of special effects. Chat messages automatically appear as comic conversation with characters and speech bubbles. Unyu can send chat messages and stickers over both data and through SMS, so it works even when there is no data connection.
About Ooredoo
Ooredoo is a leading international communications company delivering mobile, fixed, broadband internet and corporate managed services tailored to the needs of consumers and businesses across markets in the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia. As a community-focused company, Ooredoo is guided by its vision of enriching people’s lives and its belief that it can stimulate human growth by leveraging communications to help people achieve their full potential. Ooredoo has a presence in markets such as Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Algeria, Tunisia, Iraq, Palestine, the Maldives, Myanmar and Indonesia. The company was named “Best Mobile Operator of the Year” at the World Communication Awards 2013.
The company reported revenues of US$9.3 billion in 2013 and had a consolidated global customer base of more than 95 million people as of 31 December 2013. Ooredoo’s shares are listed on the Qatar Exchange and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.
Twitter: @Ooredoo
Facebook: facebook.com/ooredoogroup
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/ooredoo
YouTube: www.youtube.com/ooredoogroup
