Yogyakarta, 27 September 2019—Startup companies are becoming more popular, especially in major cities in Indonesia. By using innovations in the digital economy, startup companies try to fulfil the demands of the market. Hence, running a startup company requires a multidisciplinary approach. To address this, C-Hub aims to help those who are starting their own startup companies by inviting experts to share their expertise.
This edition of C-Hub Sharing Session invited representatives from Block71 and Agradaya. Block 71 is a startup incubator, and was represented by Sazali Johari, the Director of the Indonesia Branch of Block71. Meanwhile, Agradaya is a startup company that focuses on agriculture, and was represented by Andika, the founder and CEO of Agradaya. Representatives from several social entrepreneurship-based startup companies also attended this event.
Sazali noticed how there are differing characteristics when it comes to startup companies in the three cities where Block71 operates: Jakarta, Bandung and Yogyakarta. Jakarta-based startup companies tend to focus on e-commerce. Bandung-based ones lean towards the creative industry, such as developing computer games. Meanwhile, Yogyakarta-based startup companies prefer to focus on social entrepreneurship.
Meanwhile, Andika has a different experience in running Agradaya. His startup company focuses on improving human resources in villages, especially in the agricultural sector. The name Agradaya itself can be roughly translated as empowering the agricultural sector. He stated that he founded this company because he was deeply concerned with the current condition of the farmers.
Around 5 million farmers have quit farming to work in other sectors. Furthermore, the younger generation also have shown little interest in farming due to the relatively small amount of income in this sector. Hence, Agradaya founded the Anak Bumi community to spark interest in farming among children. Today, Agradaya focuses its operations in Gunung Kidul and Trenggalek.
Hanif Janitra, a student from the Department of International Relations and a representative from Pandawa.id, conveyed that this event has greatly helped him. He believed that they have gained numerous new insights and technical knowledges that are substantial. Hanif and the other members of Pandawa.id have consulted with Sazali about their startup company. His startup company focuses on fundraising activities to help students that are unable to pay their tuition fees. Hanif conveyed that the insights that he has gained from this event will help him in running his startup company, which is currently still under development.