Talking with Aryo Ariotedjo, the Brain Behind Grupara and Freeware

Some time ago we had the chance to hear Groupara who invests in men's fashion startup, Maskoolin, which is also the second portfolio of Grupara besides Gravira. We talked with Aryo Ariotedjo, a mastermind from Grupara and also a FREEWARE coworking space located in Ampera, South Jakarta.

Aryo's journey in technology began in 2010 when he and several colleagues started a business in the digital payment sector. Aryo, who was previously in the energy and mining business, was so enthusiastic about entering the world of technology, which at that time looked very interesting. In the process, Aryo met with Christopher Satriandaru (CEO of Gravira) who has technical expertise for web development and established a strategic partnership with Christopher.

At that time, the MEDCO Group was also interested in entering the technology industry and Aryo managed to persuade the big energy group to invest in several startups that could become profitable companies. MEDCO also believes and provides sufficient capital funds for Grupara to start its operations in the technology industry in Indonesia. "The MEDCO Group provided capital funds and also gave us a very strategic place in the MEDCO building, Ampera as our base of operations".

Given a strategic and spacious place in the MEDCO Building, Aryo and the Grupara team, which only consisted of less than 5 people, were confused about how to use the area. From there, the Grupara team took the initiative to open an open workspace for Indonesian startups to be free to work, "We want this place to be a center of activity and a place for hangout founders in Indonesia. We also had a chance to survey several startup founders, and office space is one of the things they always need," said Aryo. With internet and electricity facilities, plus a comfortable working atmosphere, the Grupara team decided to open this co-working space for free. only, which is one of the reasons this place is called Freeware."Many also do not believe that working at Freeware is completely free of charge," said Aryo who received countless emails from people who don't believe that Freeware is free.

When it started, Grupara could indeed be called an incubator for technology startups, but apparently they have left the incubator business. "Since last September 2012, we have switched to a pure investment model and not incubation", said Aryo.

When asked about the criteria for startups that can receive investment from Grupara, it seems that they seem quite open. Grupara opens itself to startups that need funding ranging from seed funding up to level Series A/BUnfortunately, not many Indonesian startups have been able to survive to this stage Series A/B. "For Grupara, we also focus on the business side of the startup. Forseeable profitability or having a proven business model in the local market/other countries," added Aryo.

The business side is often forgotten by startup founders, unfortunately time has proven that startups with a good business model can last much longer than startups that don't have a business model. Likewise with Grupara, after all a good investment is an investment that generates value, and Grupara intends to last a long time in Indonesia.

For more information about Grupara, please visit the website or visit Freeware in Ampera, South Jakarta.