“Many startup companies close down within a year [of operation]," said Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) deputy of infrastructure Hari Santosa Sungkari at the GDP Venture Power Lunch held on Tuesday in Jakarta.

Hari explained that these startup companies closed down as most of them did not have a legally binding founders agreement.

“A legal founders agreement is [important] as it [contains] each of the founder’s rights and responsibilities,” said Hari.

Hari also shared that only 16 percent of startup companies had registered as limited liability firms, locally known perseroan terbatas (PT), and only 14 percent of startups had registered as Commanditaire Vennootschap (CV).

Hari stressed the importance of legal documents as most investors consider them a requirement, and advised those who had just started a company to create a legal contract.

Motivated by how some startup or small and medium enterprise (SMEs) owners were not familiar with legal services, law graduate Rieke Caroline established Kontrak Hukum, a legal tech startup that aims to provide affordable, accessible, quick and good quality legal services.

Read also: Expert tips before launching startup company

“Startup companies are [everywhere]. Therefore, I was thinking of [providing] legal services that can be easily accessed by everyone,” said Rieke.

Prior to Kontrak Hukum, Rieke founded Buatkontrak.com in 2016. Upon realizing that her clients needed services beyond contract agreements, the former news anchor rebranded the company to Kontrak Hukum in 2017.  

Kontrak Hukum currently offers three services, namely business contract and agreement, business entity and intellectual property (IP) registration.

“We curate legal professionals, so it [will meet] our clients' needs,” said Rieke.

In regard to the fee, Rieke explained that they offered various prices.

“We have a Startup Package with a starting price of Rp 15 million (US$1,075). It includes a free legal consultation, which is usually charged hourly [by a law firm],” she said. (wng)