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Five years past, five years ahead
We believe there are still many verticals that can be revolutionized through the application of internet technologies.
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Digital landscape of Indonesia has grown remarkably. (Shutterstock/File)
I
ndonesia, like China in 2008, has many ingredients for tremendous digital disruption. arrived in Indonesia in 2012 attracted by the opportunity of a giant market untouched by disruptive internet-enabled businesses.
Fast forward five years later, the digital landscape of Indonesia has grown remarkably. A trio of “unicorns”— Go-Jek, Tokopedia and Traveloka (GTT) — have become household names, acquired multi-billion dollar valuations and transformed the way people move, shop and travel.
While this trio may be on the path to a “mega” platform for Indonesia resembling the BATs (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent) of China and FANGs (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google) of the United States.
We believe there are still many verticals that can be revolutionized through the application of internet technologies.
When assessing the potential in Indonesia, it is important to bear in mind some first principals. Firstly, it is an enormous domestic market. It has a population of 260 million people, 70 percent of whom are under the age of 35, and it is forecast to be the world’s fifth-largest economy by 2030.
Secondly, it is a relatively open market that has seen strong adoption and penetration of several global internet businesses. Most notably Google and Facebook have highly entrenched products that can severely limit the potential for local ventures offering similar services.
Hence, businesses that require strong localization, on-theground operations and address large consumer needs will represent the greatest opportunities for entrepreneurs in the next five years. So what are the areas that we are most excited about?
