Jakarta, February 18, 2020 – As an annual agenda forecasting future business trends, MDI Venture held the "Digital Trends 2020 from The Eyes of VC’s and Telcos" event at GoWork FX Sudirman, Jakarta (17/2). The event presented a view on the digital landscape in 2020 to about 100 participants. MDI Ventures is a venture capital company, a subsidiary of PT Telkom Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (Telkom), which has invested in 38 startups from 11 countries and contributed significantly to TelkomGroup’s digital transformation. 

The event featured panelists such as Bukalapak Founder Achmad Zaky; and three startups representing the MDI portfolio, namely Co-Founder Kredivo (fintech startup projected to be a unicorn in the near future), Akshay Garg; CEO & Co-Founder of Kata.ai (artificial intelligence startup), Irzan Raditya; and COO PrivyID (digital signature startup), Amanda Novia. Telkom Strategic Portfolio Director, Achmad Sugiarto and MDI Ventures Portfolio Director, Sandhy Widyasthana opened the event with a keynote speech. 

Telkom Strategic Portfolio Director, Achmad Sugiarto explained during the opening of the event about TelkomGroup’s important role in building a digital ecosystem in Indonesia. "In recognition to the rapid development of technology that has affected TelkomGroup's business, we are transforming into a digital telco company. Not only building digital connectivity through telecommunications infrastructure, Telkom also continues to build digital platforms and digital services. There is a very big room for for Indonesian startups to innovate and become the next digital entrepreneur in 2020 and TelkomGroup is ready to collaborate," Achmad Sugiarto said.

Meanwhile, MDI Ventures Portfolio Director Sandhy Widyasthana conveyed his company's views and focus in 2020. "This year we continue to look for potential startups with a primary focus on fintech, healthcare, logistics, new retail, edutech, and deep tech sectors, and other possible portfolios. The main thing is that it will be beneficial for the startups to be aligned with TelkomGroup delivery channels, such as Telkomsel, Enterprise, Consumer, Wholesale and International," Sandhy said.

Other panelists in the event presented their overviews about trends. Achmad Zaky, as a representation of e-commerce business people, expressed his opinion that the current much-more advanced digital ecosystem makes it easier for players to develop startups. According to Akshay Garg, currently Indonesia is entering the second wave digital revolution era. Startups are not only required to have a product-market fit, but also should be able to see the regulator as a partner.

In the panel Irzan Raditya said, "We are grateful to MDI Ventures and Telkom for supporting Kata.ai from the start, and providing access to TelkomGroup to introduce our technology to a broader enterprise client." Amanda concurred, saying that "PrivyID is grateful to be part of the synergy generated by MDI Ventures with TelkomGroup".

Moreover, Achmad Sugiarto said, "The 5R Startup Principles Right Market, Right Business Model, Right Management & Team, Right Moment and Right Strategic Partner is important for startups to become  unicorns Indonesia, and that is where Telkom Indonesia plays ist role for Indonesia."

Telkom is committed to building and developing digital platforms and digital services. Telkom is ready to introduce the National Digital Platform as a digital platform where all industry players including startups can use. Telkom is currently focusing on developing digital platforms, such as Data Centers, Big Data, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence, Cloud, Security and Payment/Blockchain. This initiative is expected to support the government in accelerating the digital economy, as well as supporting industry 4.0. This is Telkom's contribution to supporting Indonesia to become the largest digital dconomy in Southeast Asia.
 

(Left-right) Telkom Strategic Portfolio Director Achmad Sugiarto, MDI Singapore Managing Partner Kenneth Li, Founder of BukaLapak Achmad Zaky, Co-founder of Kredivo Akhsay Garg, CEO & Co-Founder of Kata.ai Irzan Raditya, and COO PrivyID Amanda Novia were the speakers in "Digital Trends 2020 from The Eyes of VC's and Telcos" event in Jakarta, Monday (17/2). The event presented a view on the digital landscape in 2020 to about 100 participants.

Telkom Strategic Portfolio Director, Achmad Sugiarto gave an explaination about TelkomGroup’s important role in building a digital ecosystem in Indonesia the during the opening of "Digital Trends 2020 from The Eyes of VC's and Telcos" event in Jakarta, Monday (17/2).