IDEAL Founder Talks About Incubating Ideas, Products, and Innovations

Recently, IDEAL debuted after obtaining pre-start funding worth $3,8 million or worth 57 billion Rupiah. IDEAL will use the funding to accelerate the digitization of the financing process and mortgage management in Indonesia.

IDEAL was founded by Albert R. Surjaudaja, Ian Daniel Santoso, Indira Nur Shadrina, and Jeganathan Sethu. The new IDEAL application launched in mid-July 2022 with an initial focus on new or primary residential products. This year, IDEAL has also appointed a Chief Technology Officer and increased the number of its team.

DailySocial.id had the opportunity to have a short chat with IDEAL Co-founders Albert Surjaudaja and Indira Nur Shadrina to explore the journey in the first year of building the platform.

Problem validation

The idea to develop IDEAL started from observations of people founder towards the market consumer lending in Indonesia. According to Albert, the market consumer lending has not been optimally absorbed and the process has not been fully digitized. The banking sector still uses traditional methods to distribute credit and mortgages.

Apart from that, many digital platforms in Indonesia focus on consumer loan products, paylater, and P2P lending. This situation provides a great opportunity for them to deliver experience better on consumer lending.

Based on a Bank Indonesia report, the local mortgage industry is worth $39 billion with projected growth of 17% in the next five years. Meanwhile, Gen Y and Gen Z are predicted to dominate the working population in the next ten years, which will also be the main target market in the property sector.

Then, the IDEAL team continued developing the idea by conducting market research in July 2021. The aim was to validate the idea and collect feedback comprehensive experience regarding KPR applications.

"From our survey, we tried to validate the problem of whether our idea was possible Helpful for them. Moreover, it is rare for people nowadays to buy a house with hard cash. So, we think everyone has problem The same. Well, we want to help every stage of people's live, but not with consumer products," said Indira.

MVP product

For the initial stage, IDEAL developed a product to help simplify the KPR application process for new (primary) residences. The primary market is considered to be entry point which is appropriate because the ecosystem is better prepared than the secondary property market.

Apart from that, said Indira, purchasing a primary residence does not go through a house price assessment process (appraisal) so that physical presence only needed when signing credit. This is different from secondary housing which requires a third party because there is a process appraisal.

For founders, this is the right momentum because digital acceleration has occurred a lot during the pandemic, for example data verification can be done online online through Dukcapil or the Directorate General of Taxes (DJP). The primary market is also considered to be starting to gain interest due to the boost in productivity with the implementation of working and schooling from home.

IDEAL seeks to simplify and digitize the complex and time-consuming KPR application administration process. IDEAL offers a number of superior features, such as applying for KPR to several banks and instant credit checking. Apart from that, IDEAL has also implemented ISO 27001 for data security.

For now, added Albert, IDEAL is still focused on achieving product-market fit in the next few months. His party will also encourage market education regarding digital KPR applications considering that this method is still considered new to the public.

Furthermore, IDEAL will expand its services to the secondary residential market and transfer of ownership (takeover). It will also strengthen its service ecosystem by adding more bank partners and developer.

Innovation

Albert assesses the current growth proptech in Indonesia, many are driven by platforms that facilitate buying and selling or renting houses. In the context of innovation, startups try to develop features listing or property search to simplify the user experience.

He also highlighted that the property market, especially in Indonesia, is still in need human touch. Even though the process has been digitized, the average person still needs to inspect property directly. "We can not eliminated human touch. What we can help is Maintain that and help them narrow down the choices. That way, they already know which one they want to see. There is no need to delay any longer," he added.

Reflecting these developments, IDEAL strives to improve search results in order to provide experience better. They also maintain aspects human touch to get trust from users. In terms of financing and mortgage options, IDEAL has curated it so that it can display accurate property choices according to the needs of prospective buyers, for example properties that collaborate with certain banks.

"No customer experience is the same or standardized. Everything is individual and agent-driven experience. However, this will help IDEAL to understand customer needs journey process which is more standardized. Remembering this big purchase, we still provide IDEAL specialist for customers who communicate further," said Indira.

Currently, the company is applying for a Digital Financial Innovation (IKD) license to the OJK to strengthen the credibility of its services. Meanwhile, IDEAL has an Electronic System Operator (PSE) license from Kominfo and is registered as a member of the Indonesian Fintech Association. (AFTECH).