Investment Notes: BintanGO

We’re excited to share a look inside our latest investment in BintanGO, a startup out of Indonesia building an all-in-one creator platform. Investible is proud to co-lead this US$2.1 million seed funding round together with eWTP Tech Innovation Fund, with participation from Farquhar, Plug and Play, Aksara, Redbadge Pacific, Moonshot Ventures, Mulia Sky Capital and United Creative.

BintanGO is a holistic creator management platform, enabling creators to manage every aspect of their business activity. This includes both a marketplace for fans and SMEs to engage directly with creators, as well as a business management platform that allows creators to seamlessly manage their various content and income streams. The platform is equally suitable for all types of creators, whether a nano-creator trying to build presence or a mega creator managing numerous engagements.

This investment marks Investible’s third portfolio company focused on the Indonesian market, hailing the fast-growing Indonesian startup scene, with more on the horizon.

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Proven operators within Indonesia's flourishing tech ecosystem

The founding team has a strong understanding of the Indonesian market, having had past success in starting up thriving businesses in this market, and with deep connections into creator networks. Jason Lee, Co-founder & CEO, has been on our radar since he co-founded CoHive, Indonesia’s largest coworking and community platform. Jason grew the business to +75,000 sqm in office space and +10,000 members before exiting post Series B.

BintanGO’s second co-founder and Senior VP Commercial, Oktorika (Rika) Mandasari, is also a second time founder, having previously established a marketing & advertising agency. Rika’s presence is critical in opening doors and building momentum within creator circles.

Last but not least, Rahul Bansal, the Chief Technology Officer, has over 15 years of technology experience spanning both seed and growth stage startups. He joined BintanGO to oversee technology development and direction. Previously, Rahul served as CTO and key roles at portfolio companies including Genflix and Nanovest under Sinar Mas, one of the largest conglomerates in Indonesia, as well as Head of Engineering at OVO, a leading Indonesian financial services platform.

The founding team’s lived experiences and knowledge of the Indonesian market, as well as their reputation, is a powerful asset which can not be understated.

Betting on creators in Indonesia

Our investment in BintanGO reflects our bullish outlook on the Indonesian creator economy, a space which is expected to experience significant growth over the coming years as it matures. The sector contributes 7% to overall GDP, and the Indonesian government is eager to scale this number.

Southeast Asia is a fertile ground for the influencer economy due to their large but young ‘digital native’ demographics, increasing access to the internet and growing digital economy. These favourable macro tailwinds are expected to catalyse a multi-billion-dollar industry within the next few years, providing ample opportunities for creators and enablers to advance in this growing sector.

BintanGO is a ‘first mover’ with no CRM system for creators in Indonesia to help them manage their work at present. The product is uniquely positioned because it’s adapted to the Indonesian market, is all encompassing and offers a novel unified product.

Leaving creators to focus on creating

BintanGO’s vision is to empower the creator economy by providing the tools to manage and scale their activities and by aggregating data required to overcome existing limitations regarding productivity, monetisation and funding.  

Creators in Western countries earn most of their income by advertising (i.e., YouTube ads) and subscriptions (i.e., Patreon). This is vastly different from Indonesian creators who earn most of their income from businesses, fan engagement, brand deals and endorsements as the ad revenue is significantly lower than other developed markets. Managing these various activities and revenue streams is particularly onerous, distracting creators from growing and monetizing their followers.

Through countless discussions Jason and Rika held with creators, it became apparent that the single largest pain point was the lack of digital infrastructure to support them. What sets the platform apart from others is rather than focusing on businesses as customers, the core focus at BintanGO is creating solutions and solving the crucial pain points experienced by Indonesian creators themselves. Creators join the BintanGO platform because they see value in what the platform can do to help them manage their business better. The startup offers opportunities to all creators, regardless of the number of followers, so creators on the platform are eligible to grow and advance their creator careers.

Today, many Creators are not equipped with the tools required to engage with clients professionally. Hence, being able to share their social media statistics easily and professionally, or creating an invoice in seconds are tools available on BintanGO for creators to use. Invoice financing solutions are offered as well. This is where BintanGO steps in to fill the gap so creators can enjoy better cash flow and focus on what they do best – creating great content, securing more projects and growing their earnings.

We are excited to back BintanGO and look forward to supporting Jason, Rika, Rahul and the team on their mission to empower creators to exceed their potential.

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