Anton Soeharyo, CEO of TouchTen: Getting Investors is a Very Long Journey

Mobile games developer TouchTen recently announced it has got Series B funding led by CyberAgent Venture, an investment company from Japan. Anton Soeharyo, CEO of TouchTen, told DailySocialn some time ago about this company's two-year journey before getting funding. Here's an excerpt of the interview:

Q: What do they see (Cyber ​​Agent Venture) from TouchTen?

J: They looked at TouchTen, firstly because the company can compete globally. The next reason they see the potential in the Southeast Asian regional market, especially Indonesia as a big market. They hope that with the funding and mentorship, we can become game publishing platforms in Indonesia.

Q: How many already game do you have?

J: 17 game. 10 of 17 game it is game free. Six out of ten game It also made it into the top ten in the United States.

Q: For how long to stay in the top ten?

A: Hold it up and down. There always is marketing push to make it last, after that if you don't do anything the ranking will drop.

Q: Many people often talk about investing. Throughout the observation DailySocial Most Japanese investors only target two types of companies, e-commerce and game, is such a fact?

J: It can be said that in the case of Indonesia, not many people want to invest in game companies, mostly e-commerce. I think it's E-commerce all. I think this is very reasonable because for them the level of risk is small. Because after all, there will be many people who fulfill their needs by shopping online. For game themselves, many of them are attracted globally with great sales. However, for Indonesia, it has not been proven as a mature market.

Q: That's why TouchTen sells to global market instead of local?

J: Yes. That's also why it took two years to approach Cyber ​​Agent Venture before they finally agreed. Two years is a long time, because actually we were rejected several times by them. And after that there was a period of hiatus for five to six months we didn't communicate with each other. I still hoped to pass, but it didn't.

Q: Then what happened?

J: After six months they reevaluated, and they said why don't we try something else. They rejected us at first because back then we were only focused on making game. They don't think it's a problem, but they believe we can do more than that. So, the second time we talked, I offered publishing platform. Bring game Indonesia abroad and game outside in.

Q: Wasn't this mentioned at Binus some time ago with Pak Andi (Boediman)?

J: Yes, I might give a little leak at that time. What I want to do is want to build an ecosystem. But it doesn't have to be a "big brother" (for game developer). I want to share knowledge on how to market products globally for those who want to join. We're not saying everyone should join us because we're great. If you like us and the system we offer please join us. If not, you can still do it yourself and we wish you the best of luck, because we know it's a wilderness out there. Lots game developer Indonesia has not yet reached overseas and I want to improve it. You could say that there are more amateurs than pros compared to para developer abroad. I want everyone to be able to make money from this field and hopefully with publishing platforms I can make that happen. That is the main idealism of this.

Q: Is that why Cyber ​​Agent Venture finally said yes?

J: Yes. After two years and it's not an easy yes.

Q: How is TouchTen related to Ideosource?

J: Ideoasource is still our investor. As you know Ideosource is a Series A investor, so their share is now smaller. I am happy because Ideosource is an ideal investor for startups. Because they do not interfere much in operational matters. They were there when needed, if we had any questions they answered. I think the decision to join Pak Andi, Pak Edward, and Pak Andreas is the best decision. No complaints so far.

Q: Anything else you want to share with us and DailySocial readers?

J: For me, it's been a long journey, four years managing TouchTen and two years doing fundraising. This is a small victory for me personally, because I believe that Indonesia is more than people think. Indonesia is not just copycat, or limited to consumer countries. With deal this, we think we are a company game the first to get investment from outside. For me, it means that Indonesia has started to be recognized.