National University of Singapore (NUS) Enterprise has teamed up with the Indonesian conglomerate Salim Group to launch start-up incubator BLOCK71 in Jakarta.
Modelled and named after the original BLOCK71 start-up hub in Singapore, the facility in Jakarta is almost twice as big at over 1,500 sq m. It is located in Kuningan, where much of Jakarta’s tech community is at.
Housing 24 businesses, the incubation facility aims to support entrepreneurship development and innovation in both Singapore and Indonesia and tap combined experience and resources of NUS Enterprise and Salim Group.
Salim Group, NUS Enterprise’ partner for BLOCK71 Jakarta, is an Indonesian conglomerate which has diverse businesses across industries spanning food, retail, telecommunications, hotels and others.
NUS Enterprise chief executive Lily Chan said to The Straits Times ,"Block71 Jakarta is open to all start-ups and entrepreneurs who are keen to explore the Indonesian market. In particular, we strongly encourage companies which are developing innovative technology solutions with the potential to scale globally to apply."
According to a press statement, some 20 startups are based at the facility already, with half of them originating from Singapore. Examples of startups working at the facility are Carro, Viddsee, Circles.Life, HelloBill, pslove company, and 8villages.
One such Singapore start-up, pslove, is already in discussions with an established Indonesian company to bring its products – heat patches to ease back, neck and menstrual pain - into the Indonesia market.
“Indonesia is so different from Singapore, so being able to plug into the support and community here, it really helped us with initial problems, such as different cultures and nuances that we had to cope with,” said Ms Tan Peck Ying, 29, founder of pslove.
Axton Salim, Executive Director of Salim Group said to Kontan, "We started this initiative because we want to support entrepreneurs and encourage new developments in Indonesia," he said.
Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang and Indonesia’s Minister of Trade Enggartiasto Lukita officiated the launch ceremony in Jakarta.
It will cost about S$80 a month to rent a desk there.
BLOCK71 Jakarta marks the fourth BLOCK71 facility globally. The other three are in Singapore (which opened in 2011), San Francisco (2015) and Suzhou.
