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UnionSPACE, Stone & Chalk jump on RI’s fintech bandwagon
Working together: New South Wales Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Water Niall Mark Blair, who is also Minister for Trade and Industry (second right) talks to UnionSPACE CEO Albert Goh (second left), while Indonesian Fintech Association executive director M
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span class="inline inline-center">Working together: New South Wales Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Water Niall Mark Blair, who is also Minister for Trade and Industry (second right) talks to UnionSPACE CEO Albert Goh (second left), while Indonesian Fintech Association executive director M. Ajisatria Suleiman (left) and Kejora Venture founding partner Andy Zain listen during an agreement signing between UnionSPACE and Australian co-working space Stone & Chalk in Jakarta on Friday. The partnership enables its users to utilize co-working spaces in locations provided by both companies, including five in Jakarta, three in Manila and one in Kuala Lumpur, while they also plan to open the first one in Thailand in May. (JP/Adeline Sunarjo)
Singapore-based coworking space provider UnionSPACE will team up with Australian non-profit financial technology (fintech) firm Stone & Chalk to support its coworking spaces aimed at developing fintech startups in Indonesia.
UnionSPACE’s chief executive officer Albert Goh said in Jakarta on Friday that with the collaboration, the two companies would jointly create a platform to support the growing activities of fintech startups in Indonesia and Australia so that they are able to expand their businesses to other countries in Southeast Asia as well as in their own respective countries.
“We invited Stone & Chalk to collaborate with us to support the growth of fintech in Indonesia, as the number local startups continue to grow,” he said after signing the cooperation agreement with Stone & Chalk at Centennial Tower in South Jakarta on Friday.
Aside from allowing its members to access coworking spaces in other locations, Goh also said that Stone & Chalk will help his company introduce its members to venture capital so that they can attract investors.
Chief executive officer of Stone & Chalk Alex Scanndura said he felt upbeat about the collaboration, hoping it could help fintech communities in Indonesia and Australia.
“Hopefully, this collaboration can attract other countries to join us in improving the fintech community,” he said.
Commenting on how coworking spaces could improve Indonesia’s fintech sector, the head of Mandiri Institute Moekti P. Soejachmoen said the initiative could help other people who want to start their own fintech business by learning from and sharing ideas with other startups.
“I think it’s a great initiative since coworking spaces enable people to gather and discuss their ideas with other startups,” she told The Jakarta Post in a phone interview on Friday.
Moekti also said coworking spaces will provide an opportunity for people to build networks.
“Seeing that the local fintech sector is growing, I think we need a platform like this to encourage fintech startups — especially those who are still struggling — to improve and learn from the experiences of others,” she said.
Moekti believed that the local fintech sector would improve this year because of support from financial regulators, such as the Financial Services Authority (OJK) and Bank Indonesia.
She said the OJK had provided sandbox regulations in which startups would be able to test their business models before offering it to the public.
Established in 2016 under the name Cre8 Community + Workspace, UnionSPACE currently offers coworking space facilities such as serviced office space, meeting rooms, function rooms, and film and photography studios.
The facilities are targeted at fintech startups at the PIK Avenue Mall in North Jakarta and Metropolitan Tower in South Jakarta. Startup companies can rent the coworking space starting from Rp 800,000 (US$56) monthly.
The company will open another coworking space in five new locations this year, three of which are in Barito Pacific Tower in West Jakarta, Satrio Tower and Telkom Landmark Tower in South Jakarta. The remaining two will be opened in Bandung, West Java, and Surabaya, East Java. (dpk)
