The Tuesday session of Indonesia’s national pitch competition HighPitch 2020 saw event ticketing app Goers and legal compliance SaaS HAKITA winning in the Jakarta chapter, which covers the Greater Jakarta area, West Java and Banten provinces.

As regional winners, the two startups will join an immersive bootcamp that will prepare them for the November 25 national final, alongside other regional finalists, including Monday’s winners in the Medan chapter, Pasar20 and Appskep.

Founded in 2016, Goers has been competing in a fast-growing space against local and global players like Loket and Eventbrite. Goers has begun developing a wide array of digital tools, from booking to ticket sales management, for tourist attractions and offline event sites, equipping them with their own online infrastructures.

The other Jakarta finalist, HAKITA, launched just this year. Seeking to help companies automate processes related to legal compliance, its SaaS lets clients automate the creation of contracts and other basic legal documents, as well as digitally sign them. According to HAKITA’s pitch, the company already has 24 paying corporate users.

The Jakarta chapter showcased a wide variety of innovations and business models, from flexible tour bookings and programmatic advertising to game development and manufacturing services. Newly established startups also had the opportunity to stand on the same stage as their more experienced counterparts, competing on equal footing.

HighPitch is jointly organized by Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (Kemenparekraf/Baparekraf) and investors UMG Idealab and ALTIRA.

Goers: Quick adapter to Covid era for events and tourism

In an interview after the pitch competition on Tuesday, Goers’s COO and co-founder Niki Tsuraya Yaumi said the company recently expanded into digital services for corporate users. Popular local tourist attractions such as Sea World and the Dunia Fantasi theme park, both of which are located in the Ancol beach area of Jakarta, are already clients. Goers is focused on long-term exclusive contracts with these venues, charging a commission of 3–5% from each transaction.

“We position ourselves not as an OTA, but as a tech partner,” Yaumi said. “We are helping these companies develop a system where they can own a database of customers, an online reservation system, and a point-of-sales system for onsite transactions.”

Goers also reckons that online conferencing would remain popular even after the pandemic. The startup is developing Goers Space, a virtual events platform, which will provide clients and event attendees with interactive features. Goers says some clients have already tried the product prototype, and plans to launch Goers Space in January 2021.

In a separate interview, two VC investors who sat on the panel of judges praised Goers’ quick adaptation to the Covid situation. Yudi Tandi Anugrah, Investment Manager at Kejora-SBI Orbit, said he ranked Goers highest among the startups that pitched in the first half of the afternoon.

“The market [for events] is very fragmented, and some of the event partners are not the most technologically advanced,” Anugrah said, noting that Goers is the one helping these event organizers make their transition online.

Eldo Wana Kusuma, Associate at Gayo Capital, a new fund by VC Ideosource, highlighted Goers’ expansion into other market segments from events as a strong point. “They’re going into movie ticketing, tours, tourist attractions; these things fit the Covid-19 situation, with everything being done online.

“They also mentioned that online events will go up 10 times compared with pre-Covid times, and I can believe that. Ideosource has the Ideosource Entertainment arm, which works a lot with GoPlay [Gojek’s streaming service]. Fortunately, during this Covid period, the traction for that has been increasing.”

HAKITA: Legal compliance made easy

Though HAKITA launched only this year, it has already attracted 24 corporate clients, amounting to a total annual subscription revenue of more than $70,000. The company targets startups and large corporates in the manufacturing, retail and trading, and financial services sectors.

Since HAKITA focuses on optimizing document workflows, its team is working to develop integrations with clients’ existing systems, especially HR systems. In particular, one feature HAKITA is developing lets employers pull data from employee records to create new contracts, while updating HR records immediately each time a document is digitally signed,  CTO Ivan Harka said.

To demonstrate HAKITA’s HR integration capabilities and potential for further development,the startup is building its own proof-of-concept HR management system. The system will process attendance records, payroll, projects and other data, and will be integrated with HAKITA’s legal compliance system.

Chief Business Development Officer Thor Yumna said the proof of concept will also demonstrate the potential benefits of collaboration with other lawtech startups and law firms: “If other law firms or legal tech startups want to collaborate with us, we’re open to the opportunity. We are focused on handling the document workflow.”

Tania Shanny Lestari, Venture Capital Investment, at Openspace Ventures, who sat on the panel judging HAKITA, praised the quality of HAKITA’s pitch. “They didn’t only address the pain points of the industry that they’re trying to solve, but also in a way that addresses everything: business plan, current traction, the go-to-market strategy,” she noted.

“The startups presenting today were all more or less at a similar stage of development. The difference was how well they could present their story to the investors.”

Other VC firms that formed Tuesday’s panel of judges for the Jakarta chapter were: #5Ventura, Kejora Ventures, Finch Capital, BAce Capital, Grab Ventures, BRI Ventures and AddVenture VC.

Some takeaways from VC judges on Jakarta’s pitch session:

• Startups should make sure they are solving an important, “material” problem, and convey that their solution is the right one. Yudi Tandi Anugrah, Investment Manager at Kejora-SBI Orbit, advised that if a startup finds that its business model isn’t working, founders should not be afraid to let go of their original idea to search for a better business model, or make changes.

• Eldo Wana Kusuma, Associate at Gayo Capital, noted that Gorry Holdings, one of the startups pitching on Tuesday, as a successful example of a pivot. The startup did not perform well with its Gorry Gourmet meal catering business, but found greater success with Gorry Wellness, which provides dietary and lifestyle recommendations for B2C and B2B users.

• Many startups are waking up to the potential of big data. Tania Shanny Lestari from Openspace Ventures noted that “the majority” of startups she met with have big data monetization as part of their strategy. However, she cautioned that without sufficient data points, it would be difficult to monetize any resulting insights, since they risk inaccuracy. Big data startups in Indonesia have to grapple with high operating costs and dearth of talent, Kusama added.

• Kusuma noted that technologies in agriculture, aquaculture and waste management show great potential. More Indonesians are caring about healthy and sustainable lifestyles, which includes waste recycling and food sustainability. Agriculture is also a major contributor to Indonesia’s economy, as shown in how the sector maintained good growth during the Covid-19 pandemic while other key sectors like manufacturing and automotive shrank.