BEKRAF Held BEKUP Once More to Support Digital Businesses in Indonesia

Yogyakarta, 16 August 2019—The development of startup companies is affected by the growth Indonesia’s digital economy. Hence, BEKRAF for Pre-Startup (BEKUP) was held to strengthen the competencies of Indonesia’s startup founders and to integrate their businesses with the existing economic system.

BEKUP will be held in three cities. Bandung is the first city to be visited on June until August, while Yogyakarta is the second city to be visited, which will be held until October. Meanwhile, Bogor is the third city, in which this event will be held from October until December. BEKUP was designed to take two months to complete. This programme is consisted of five parts, which are bootcamp, team consultation, mid-evaluation, routine review journey and final evaluation. Competences such as business plan drafting, market analysis and prospective consumer observation are the focus in BEKUP.

This programme, which was held in the Fisipol Auditorium on the 4th floor of Fisipol UGM building, took place from the 16th until the 17th of August. This programme was held under a cooperation between BEKRAF and C-Hub (Fisipol Creative Hub). Menhariq Noor, the Head of the Subdirectorate of Planning of BEKRAF’s IT Division, believed that the public needs to know that startups do not always revolve around IT experts. “Hackers”, “hipsters”, “hustlers” and sometimes even “troublemakers” are essential in a startup company. Menhariq stated that the myth that startups are only made by IT experts should end, since the nature of startup companies in Indonesia is multi-disciplinary.

Furthermore, Muhammad Neil El Himam, the Director of Facility and Infrastructure of BEKRAF’s IT Division, also attended BEKUP. According to him, this programme can speed up the progress of startup companies, from the incubation to the pre-startup phase. BEKRAF hoped that this programme can create digital economy practitioners that are strong, reliable and innovative.

According to BEKRAF, minimum government intervention is important for the startup ecosystem. Therefore, BEKRAF hoped that the existing startup companies can survive independently after this programme. BEKRAF also stressed the importance of longevity over expansion. A startup company’s life depends on its ability to survive, not on its size, according to BEKRAF.