The ‘Uber for laundry service’ startup will represent the region in the grand final round in Silicon Valley on March 2017
Ahlijasa founders with Anis Uzzaman (General Partner & CEO, Fenox VC) at the awarding ceremony
Fenox VC, together with Indonesian Agency for Creative Economy (Bekraf), today announced Ahlijasa as the winner of Startup World Cup Indonesia, the regional finale round of Startup World Cup.
The startup is set to represent the Southeast Asia region at Startup World Cup grand finale event in Silicon Valley on March 2017, getting the opportunity to win US$1 million worth of investment, among other prizes.
Ahlijasa itself is an on-demand platform for laundry service operating in Greater Jakarta Area. Founded by Jay Jayawijayaningtyas and Made Dimas Astra Wijya, the startup is currently participating in the GnB Accelerator Programme, held by Fenox VC and Infocom.
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The Indonesia round of the Startup World Cup event claimed to have received about 800 applicants from all over Southeast Asia.
Ten startups from Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries made it to the final round, including Qlue, U-Hop, ProSehat, Kashmi, Talenta, RecomN/Sejasa, KlikDaily, Kioson, and Taralite.
A special feature of the Indonesia round is the Wildcard Round, where the event selected five local startups from Indonesian cities outside of Jakarta to present their business pitch in front of judges, consisting of Arya Ariotedjo (Founding Partner, Grupara Inc.), Ferry Hutomo (Deputy of Capital Access, Bekraf), Jeff Quigley (SEA Regional Manager, Fenox VC), and Anton Soeharyo (CEO, Touchten). Bekraf is going to send the startups to Silicon Valley to take part in the workshop session at Startup World Cup.
Three startups came out as winners of the Wildcard Round: Azzam Trade (Bandung-based online trading partner for Muslim clothing wholesaler), Paprika (Medan-based online cashback platform), and Ojesy (Surabaya-based on-demand motorbike taxi service for women).
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The judges for the main part of the event consisted of Ricky Pesik (Deputy Chairman, Bekraf), Khailee Ng (Managing Partner, 500 Startups), Kevin Aluwi (CFO, Go-Jek), Patrick Walujo (Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Northstar Group), and Leon Hermann (Associate, Global Founders Capital).
“When I first heard of this event, I thought it was a football event. I thought I was going to send my companies to play football!” Khailee Ng, Managing Partner at 500 Startups, said during the press conference.
“Back in the days, tech companies are like a different niche … But today startup is also a form of spectator sport,” he added.
He also stated that he chooses the winning startup based on their potential for growth.
The Indonesia round of the Startup World Cup event is the first of several rounds in 15 countries leading to the grand final in March.
The next round will be held in Tokyo in late September.
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