Assumptions Get Initial Funding from East Ventures, Focused on Technology Improvement

East Ventures today (15/9) announced its initial stage investment for digital media startup Assumption. No mention of the amount of funding provided. This fresh capital will be used to accelerate the process of developing technology products, with a mission to become a sustainable media ecosystem. This includes recruiting technology talent and building technical infrastructure.

Targeting young readers, Assumption many raise the topic of current events around social, political, and cultural issues. Founded in 2017 by Prince Siahaan, the company currently claims to have 10 million visits per month on its website, with an average of 3,2 million monthly views on its YouTube channel.

"The assumption believes that the key to a sustainable media business is a combination of quality content and technological innovation. We have tried our best to create high quality content that meets journalistic standards to offer an alternative to mainstream media. However, we are aware that this is only a partial solution. ' said the Prince.

Breakthrough business model

The increasingly widespread internet access provides advantages and challenges for the digital media industry. The advantage is clear, it allows every company/startup to reach its readers more efficiently. Meanwhile, the challenge is that there are more and more media – good mainstream nor niches—making the advertising pie (as a legacy of the revenue model) smaller. So business strategy innovation needs to be intensified.

February 2020, Assumption launch YourMedia, allowing users to make donations towards serving content that they think is worthy of appreciation. Simply put, the company released the platform through crowdfunding to invite readers to participate in building the Assumption business. The program was launched after the company joined the Google News Initiative program.

To DailySocial The Assumption team said, after almost 8 months of release, YourMedia platform is getting pretty good traction. "We managed to get funding hundreds of millions of Rupiah from the audience. This shows that there is actually a drive and willingness from the audience to reach into their pockets for media content that they consider quality if using the right approach."

Another issue that was raised about the digital media industry was the dependence on social media. On the one hand, platforms like Twitter, Facebook etc. facilitate the process of distributing content and connecting with viewers, but on the other hand the emergence of individual content creators has tightened competition in an industry that has been competitive for a long time.

"Therefore, we had to think beyond the usual approach. This investment gives Assumption the ability to build a technology infrastructure, which gives us an edge while maintaining the quality and unique approach that sets Assumption apart. Assumption wants to create a news platform powered by analytics and monitoring sophisticated," added the Prince.

When asked further about the details of the system, the Assumption party still did not disclose. Apart from that, they have several other plans in the coming months. Two of them released technology products and created new media (content) verticals.

“Assumption plans to help other independent media to create and monetize content by immediately opening the YourMedia platform to them. Assumptions also plans to help audiences better understand and consume quality news content. This is not limited to our own content, but also quality content on other platforms.”