Identifying "Centaur" Startups in Indonesia

Centaur or aspiring unicorn is a term for startups that have reached a valuation of more than $100 million (1,4 trillion Rupiah) and under $1 billion (14 trillion Rupiah). Valuation itself is measured based on funding obtained from investors.

The rapid development of the ecosystem in Indonesia has brought many startups to funding later stages – round series A or above. The good implication is that now many Indonesian startups have succeeded in holding titles centaur.

Although not listed, according to a report by Temasek, Google and Bain & Company, there are currently around 70 startups centaur in South East Asia. As for Indonesia, based on research conducted DSResearch earlier this year, there were at least 27 startups, most of which have been confirmed to have a valuation above US$100 million.

Here is a list of startups centaur the:

Business vertical analysis

Judging from the business verticals that are carried out, the scope is quite diverse even though fintech and E-commerce so that dominates. The trend is still the same if you look at the list unicorn existing locale, 3 of 6 players are in the field E-commerce. Meanwhile, if viewed from the business model, aka the channel, revenue streams reliable, the distribution is also quite balanced, as many as 13 startups apply the B2C model, 10 startups in the B2B model, and the rest (4 startups) target both through B2B2C.

For the B2B model there are three , two SaaS, and one each for marketplace, logistics, media and fintech payments. Although each offers services to businesses, in fact some are closely related to transactional business at the consumer level.

Di p2p loans for example, although the funds collected from the players above focus on being distributed to SMEs, their funds are still collected from individual investors. The platform was developed with the aim that anyone can access the flow of capital and act as an investor even though it (possibly) does not provide direct profit, because loan interest and other fees are charged to the borrower.

Likewise Moka in the SaaS corner. Although the features presented embrace micro-entrepreneurs, applications and road services to accommodate consumer transaction needs in Indonesia offline merchant. His business manages transactions and cash flows within the business.

For B2C, this is even more obvious, because it charges consumers for the products or services provided. No doubt businesses based on buying and selling, financial transactions or subscriptions are the most widely developed.

Market momentum

The basic reason that makes businesses centaur moncer is market readiness. If the penetration was done 5 or 10 years ago maybe the results would not be this fast. Take Payfazz for example as one of the startups that accelerates its business fast enough.

The Payfazz application allows partners (average shop owners) to be able to serve the sale of various virtual items, such as credit, electricity tokens, insurance payments, money transfers and so on. In Indonesia itself, according to Kemenkopuk, there are around 64 million SMEs with 46,27% of them in the trade sector, including shop owners. In the corner of the customer community, the services provided are familiar with daily needs. Economic values ​​are spinning in related commodities.

The big business cake is now being contested by other giant digital players, such as platforms E-commerce who flocked to strengthen partnership programs with warungs – have been run by Bukalapak, Tokopedia and now Shopee.

Online shopping which has become a culture also has a good impact on E-commerce that provide more specific services. For example, what HappyFresh serves, through the application, it allows people to get food ingredients that are guaranteed to be fresh. However, until 2025 the GMV projection for this business will continue to be high reached US$82 billion.

While for fintech It is very clear that at least 92 million adults in Indonesia have not been touched by financial or banking services (unbankable) service targets.

The right business direction

In fact, there are more startups that have been operating for years but haven't touched the valuation yet centaur. This phenomenon had become a hot discussion, because it was allegedly funding gap. Namely the failure of startups that have passed funding early stage to gain investor's trust later stage.

In the advanced phase, the numbers presented in the metrics become important for investors. And those numbers will rise sharply if the business presented does indeed handle the things that are needed by many people, no matter how sophisticated the solutions are offered.

Intuition founder to execute the business in the right momentum is one of the keys why in the end the 27 startups may soon be following their seniors, join the ranks unicorn.