Ideabox makes the chop, narrows list of finalists down to 8

Indosat headquarters in Central Jakarta.

The Ideabox accelerator program (co-organized by Indonesian telco Indosat, venture capital firm Mountain SEA Ventures, and communications company Ooredoo) narrowed down its second batch of finalists to eight startups last night at the Indosat headquarters in Central Jakarta after a two-day boot camp event.

During the weekend-long gathering, local entrepreneurs took advice from mentors and fine-tuned their investor pitches. Each of the 18 candidates delivered a five-minute-long final pitch to persuade judges why their idea, team, and market positioning in Indonesia are worth investing in.

The startups that made the cut were:

• Financial report app Hartaku


• Women’s business participation product Wobe


• Local transport efficiency company Indojek


• Travel and adventure booking site Gogonesia


• Business analytics app Pawoon


• Data mining wifi product Wifimu


• Photo editor Cupslice


• Company benefits initiative PerkBox (formerly Imbalan).

See: Indonesia’s Ideabox accelerator unveils 2nd batch of finalists, featuring transport apps and foodtech

Indosat CEO and President Director Alexander Rusli says he is proud that Ideabox is getting local and international recognition. He claims that Indosat now has one of the largest technology programs in Southeast Asia with its early stage investments through Ideabox and growth stage investments through a Softbank–Indosat Fund.

Ideabox’s eight remaining startups will advance to a final round, where an unknown number of them will be selected to join the accelerator. The selection process will culminate tonight back at Indosat headquarters during a Jakarta StartupLokal meetup.

Ideabox makes the chop, narrows list of finalists down to 8