Get to know Oval, a Social Media Platform Special for Discussions About Investment

The domino effect seen from increasing number of new investors during a pandemic is the need toupgrade themselves in accessing financial content. These sources of information can be obtained both free and paid. However, the struggle to obtain it is scattered in various sources. Who would have thought that the investment experience turned out to be this quiet, especially for novice investors.

These problems became the forerunner of the establishment of Oval, a social media platform specifically for investment. The idea for this startup came from three people, namely Arestyo Reza (CEO), Danny Sudarsono (COO), and Vivian Secakusuma (CSO). The three of them are colleagues with backgrounds who support each other across the financial industry until successfully launching Oval.

Ariesyo has strong experience in the financial sector, having worked at the London Stock Exchange, a VC from Singapore, MUFG, and graduated from the London Business School. While Danny was a co-founder for a personal financial management application, and Vivian previously served as the highest leader at BNP Paribas.

"ProblemWe ourselves find out when there has been a boom in investor growth since the pandemic. Then, let's see experience invest so far lonely experience. People definitely go looking for a community that matches their interests but there is no one place for them yet,” said Ariesyo to DailySocial.id.

Research on community

Quoting from a survey conducted Tokenomy and Indodax in 2021, it was found that the presence of a community containing a certain group of investors is important because it helps them understand technical fluency. Because, later it can shape the way they make investment decisions and help the adoption of new technologies in the future.

The survey also found that one out of every three respondents stated that they are not familiar with the concepts behind blockchain. On average Indonesian investors are part of one to three different online communities (Telegrams, Facebook groups) — these communities are used for integrated marketing campaigns and educational purposes.

Another report compiled by YouGov titled The Power of Virtual Communities 2021, showing that more and more people around the world are finding meaning and a sense of belonging especially in online groups. In the survey, about 1.000 respondents in each of the 15 countries were asked whether the most important groups they belonged to were online, offline, or both.

As a result, 11 out of 15 countries stated that the largest proportion of the most important groups for them was online channels. Of the 11 countries, three of them hold the proportion of 50%. They are Brazil, Morocco and Mexico. Indonesia itself is included in the respondent group, the majority of which choose the channel online as much as 49,28%. Then followed by the mix (online-offline) as much as 32,57%, and offline alone (18,15%).

Furthermore, the findings of another survey indicate that the group online those that generate the greatest sense of belonging are, counterintuitively, groups with ties to local communities and cities. A total of 38% of respondents nominated the group category as producing “a fair amount or a lot of sense of belonging”, while only 12% of respondents nominated a global group.

Another thing that is quite interesting, they reveal that the online group they follow has a strong and inclusive leader. The three most important qualities in a leader are accepting differences of opinion among members, being visible and communicating well, and acting ethically at all times.

Oval Solution

Based on the findings above, the Oval concept is formed which emphasizes the community element. Ariesyo said, Oval provides social media platform to facilitate learning and interaction between investors and financial experts and influencers (key opinion leader/KOL) verified in one group.

Like social media platforms, Oval is open to discussing all types of investment products, either paper assets nor physical assets, in order to increase literacy and the number of investors in Indonesia. There are 10 asset classes that can be discussed between users, ranging from stocks, mutual funds, gold, property, FX, and crypto currency.

Users can upload posts, put links, and comment on each other with fellow users. Available OvalCelebs who are experts or market enthusiasts in their field to provide quality content. OvalSeleb are inspirational accounts that are ready to guide novice investors in starting and developing their investment journey, as well as sharing friends.

Another feature available is OvalGroup. This is a community led by financial experts and KOL to educate and invite investors to discuss about the investment world. Through this feature, users can easily access exclusive content in the form of articles, discussions, and education from OvalSeleb which cannot be accessed on other platforms.

To guarantee quality and credibility, OvalGrup utilizes a subscription base. The subscription period for exclusive content from OvalSeleb is not binding and will be renewed every month.

However, before the experts have an account, the Oval team will select their credibility in the financial industry. So, it is certain that those who have official accounts at Oval have proven their work in the industry, not only being famous on social media platforms in general.

The added value that Oval offers is basically to unite all financial experts and novice investors in one platform. So far, to communicate with members/followers, you have to switch platforms. For example, using Telegram for discussion, then Instagram/Twitter for easier visibility, and using Zoom when holding webinars. The experience was long and inefficient.

“These KOLs can manage their own groups and communities. They can provide real time investment info, be it stocks, gold or crypto. Here we apply a platform fee of 5%-10%. From our research, 50% of interactions in this premium group have e-books, webinar classes, the prices start from Rp. 25 thousand to Rp. 2,5 million. This is a potential for us to bridge.”

The concept offered by Oval, according to Ariesyo, is claimed to create a new category in social media where there is social media that combines paid content management. Thus, creators can freely upload quality content, which in principle can be sustainable. Even in the global market, there is nothing quite like the Oval. “You could say that we are Public.com x Patreon, but we are adjusting it to the segment in Indonesia specifically for investment and finance.”

Ariesyo continued, “Another unique thing that we use is the gamification approach. There is daily challenges Earn & Learn for users to follow and can collect OvalCoins which can be exchanged for various prizes. This is what we will develop further because it has succeeded in encouraging people to use Oval.”

Next plan

Since the Oval application opens the waiting list (waiting list) at the beginning of this year for a month, claimed to have gathered 14 thousand people who signed up. Then, the application was officially released on March 23, 2022, successfully gathering 1000 people within three days. The number of KOLs who joined reached tens consisting of individuals and companies.

This achievement will continue to be boosted by the company because Oval itself has ambitions to become the largest investment social media network in Indonesia. This dream will be achieved by penetrating the investment community that is aggressively throughout Indonesia and so far it is still fragmented across various platforms for investment convert to a single application in the Oval. This step will also be supported by fundraising which is planned to be held soon.

It was stated that Oval had received funding with an undisclosed nominal and investor identity. However, Arestyo said that there were several angel investors who injected Oval in mid-2020, when Oval was still an initial idea. The Oval team now has 30 people. "Later on, we will use the funds for support growth Oval for the next 12 months, recruiting talent, and releasing new features that still revolve around social media," he concluded.