[RECAP] UNLEASH Innovation Lab 2018

UNLEASH Innovation lab is a global non-profit initiative that brings together 1000+ passionate young talents, experts and facilitators from all around the world to collaborate on ideas and solutions for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNLEASH was first held in August in Denmark in 2017. This year the UNLEASH Innovation Lab was held in Singapore from May 30, 2018 to June 6, 2018. It featured 1000 carefully selected talents from 100+ countries and diverse backgrounds, who participated in 8 days of intense ideation to unlock the power of collaboration and human innovation to provide solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. I was fortunate enough to be selected from a pool of more than 7,000 applicants to attend and participate in the UNLEASH Innovation Lab in Singapore this year.

Inspiring and thought-provoking speeches from experts and leaders such as President of Singapore Halimah Yacob, former President of Timor Leste, Jose Ramos-Horta, Academy Award winning actor Forest Whitaker and the social humanoid robot, Sophia, were some of the highlights of this year’s event.

This year, UNLEASH focused on 8 SDGs: Zero Hunger, Good Health and Well Being, Quality Education, Clean Water and Sanitation, Affordable and Clean Energy, Responsible Supply Chain and Production, Sustainable Cities and Communities, and Climate Action. The participants, called Unleash talents, were divided among these 8 categories. In a team consisting of amazing 6 individuals, I worked on SDG 12, Responsible Supply Chain and Production, and developed a solution to tackle the problem of food waste by supermarkets at the consumer level. My team created ‘Second Life Shelves’, an offline and online platform that enables supermarkets to connect with consumers to sell the food that is approaching the specified date (use by, sell by or best before) using a dynamic pricing algorithm.

During the eight-days program, the teams followed a structured innovation process facilitated by content and business experts to co-create innovative ideas and solutions for the designated SDGs. UNLEASH’s innovation process consists of five steps: problem framing, ideation, prototyping, testing and implementation. The teams were carefully formulated to ensure diversity in terms of experience and strengths. Many people might argue that innovation and ideation cannot be structured via pre-determined activities and steps, however, UNLEASH believes that with the help of a structured set of activities and design thinking, teams can co-create and innovate to develop viable solutions for a variety of problems.

Although my team did not win awards for the solution that we developed, I brought home invaluable experiences and gained immense knowledge about how innovation and collaboration can be used for creating an impact and changing the world. I am so glad to have participated in UNLEASH 2018, and to have met so many amazing, inspiring and like-minded individuals that I, now, can call my “UNLEASH Family”.

 

UNLEASH is a global non-profit initiative that is supported by various global actors, including UNDP, Deloitte, Carlsberg Foundation, and Dalberg. UNLEASH will be hosting the innovation lab every year until 2030 with an aim to tackle the SDGs. It’s exciting to see UNLEASH creating a wave of change around the world and inspiring thousands every year to create a better and more sustainable world.

Find out more at www.unleash.org

If you would like to know more about my experience at UNLEASH, shoot me an email at riaz@angin.id

[EVENT RECAP] Insider’s Guide Launch Event!

On Wednesday (6/6) , ANGIN was cordially invited to Dila Karinta and Bettina Herz’ launch of their book Insider’s Guide to Jakarta Startups. While Bettina was unfortunately absent during the launch, Dila Karinta was accompanied by various speakers, including the Managing Director of Phoenix Communications, Alistair Speirs, Bizzy’s cofounder, Norman Sasono, the cofounder of Andalin, Rifki Pratomo, and others. The launch was held at what Speirs called “the first coworking space”, Starbucks. While the launch covered topics within the book, it included personal insights from each of the speakers on the startup environment, including the difficulty in making a startup, the necessity of perseverance in the face of failure, and many other topics.

Here are some important highlights from the event:

  1. The first question that should be asked before making a startup is “Do you really want to start a startup”
  2. “A startup is a newly formed business with particular momented behind it based on perceived demand…The intention of a startup is to grow rapidly as a result of offering something that addresses a particular market gap”
  3. It is difficult to create a startup by yourself –– build a team consisting of 2 or 3 people covering the technical, business development and creativity/marketing side
  4. Startups does necessarily have to be tech oriented but must use tech in order to be scalable
  5. It is important to have conviction and belief that your startup will succeed
  6. Because of Indonesian regulation (once a startup gets money from abroad, it becomes foreign), a lot of Indonesian companies are no longer Indonesian (Tokopedia is Chinese, Go-Jek is Singaporean)
  7. When startups get easy funding, they fall into the trap of over/reckless spending
  8. Indonesia’s startup landscape differs from Silicon Valley’s in that it tackles real world problems

ANGIN will continue to support efforts made for mentoring startups in Indonesia.

[REPORT] ANGIN Team Member to Participate in UNLEASH 2018

We are excited to announce that one of our team members, Riaz Bhardwaj, is invited to be a participant in UNLEASH 2018! ANGIN will continue its commitment to support positive social impact related to the Sustainable Development Goals.

About UNLEASH

UNLEASH is a global innovation lab that brings together people from all over the world to transform 1,000 personal insights into hundreds of ideas, and build lasting global networks around the Sustainable Development Goals.

Every year, UNLEASH chooses different themes that are related to the SDGs for the talents to work on. They will also be provided guidelines for impact.

The themes this year is SDG 2: No Hunger, SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being, SDG 4: Quality Education, SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation, SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy, SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG 12: Responsible Supply Chain and Consumption, and SDG 13: Climate Action.

You can find out more about UNLEASH here.

 

[Upcoming] Oracle Startups Festival – Cloud Acceleration Day #Jogja

Oracle cordially invites you to meet our international and local teams in Yogyakarta while we network and dine together. Join our first thought leadership event in Yogyakarta titled the “Oracle Startups Festival – Cloud Acceleration Day”.

Join the Oracle Executive Director Team and the Head of Indonesia’s Angel Investment Network (ANGIN), David Soukhasing and gain unique insights about technology, the venture investment landscape, startups in Indonesia and what they need to do to scale and grow.

Our goal for this event is to support the Startup ecosystem in Yogyakarta and we will share some valuable insight about:

  • How startups compete on a global scale and what they need to do to keep up
  • How cloud platforms are not merely an online storage medium but an ecosystem of tools that enable significant competitive advantages over peers
  • Learn new insights about innovation and future economic landscape, particularly in Asia Pacific.
  • Learn how David can compete against Goliath
  • Network with peers who have diverse insights

Please see below for the event details:

Date: Wednesday, 9 May 2018

Time: 12:00 – 15:30 (GMT + 7)

*Venue will be informed after registrations

Meet and network with our global team as we enjoy coffee and high tea.

For additional questions and other inquiries, please feel free reach out via email Dali@oracleevents.id.

Register here:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/startups-festival-cloud-acceleration-day-jogja-tickets-44180940382

 

[RECAP] ARISE Conference 2018

On Thursday (26/04), ANGIN was invited to the annual event hosted by Instellar, ARISE. ARISE is short for Awaken & Rediscover Indonesian Social Enterprises, and as it name suggests, it is an event that focuses on everyone who are making positive changes in Indonesia’s community and environment. This year ARISE raises the theme of “Impactful Technology For A Sustainable Future” and it was really insightful to see the discussions of the panelists in this event.

One of the highlights of this event is the launch of ASEAN Social Enterprise Structuring Guide in Indonesia which is developed together by British Council with United Nations ESCAP, Trust Law, Tilleke and Gibbins, and local partners in each country. The panelists consists of Ari Sutanti (Senior Programme Manager at British Council Indonesia), Gita Syahrani (Founder of Socolas), Nancy Margried (CEO of Batik Fractal), and Peter Ptashko FRSA (Director of Global Social Entrepreneurship Network). One of the key points from this discussion is how social enterprises in Indonesia has minimum access to regulatory framework information, hence making it difficult for them to operate. With the launch of this guide, we are hopeful that it will inspire support and growth of social enterprises in Indonesia.

Finally, the peak of the event was the Demo Day Rise Inc. Stars 4. 23 social enterprises were to present their pitch deck to a panel of judges and our very own Head, David Soukhasing, was one of the judges. ARISE is a platform for these Rise Inc. Stars to showcase their products and services. All 23 social enterprises presented their pitch deck for 3 minutes each and received substantial feedback from the judges. It was exciting to see the ideas of these social enterprises and how social impact drives them to do their business. We wish them all the best in their future endeavors!

 

[OPINION] Six reasons why it is important for the UN and financial sector to partner on SDG financing

Original Article available here: http://www.daghammarskjold.se/six-reasons-why-the-un-and-financial-sector-must-partner-on-sdg-financing/

The financial sector is a critical partner for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is especially true when it comes to financing. Defining the SDGs as a trillion dollar investment opportunity rather than a funding shortfall may seem obvious to business but the United Nations is just starting to catch on. It began with the Addis Ababa conference on Financing for Development that took place in 2015, and since then, annual meetings – happening now – of the ECOSOC responsible for follow-up.

Commercial financing is not only ‘nice to have’ but an essential prerequisite for achieving the SDGs. As a matter of urgency, UN reform must equip the UN to partner with the financial sector for channeling financing to where it is needed most. This is work UNDP have in fact begun in Indonesia and which we recently shared with UN colleagues and other financial sector partners during a workshop organised by the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation and the UN Development Operations Coordination Office (UNDOCO).

For two days we sat together in the Foundation’s Centre in Uppsala with the portrait of the second Secretary General looking over us in support. We were tasked to take a critical, honest look at how the UN and private capital can work together for sustainable development and identify the UN reforms that are needed to make it happen. Indonesia was invited as one of three countries, the other two being Armenia and Kenya, where the UN has advanced work around innovative financing with financial sector partners. But why is this partnership important?

Six reasons

The financial sector and the UN represent different worlds, with different languages, cultures and interests. This makes the collaboration at once challenging but also potentially groundbreaking. Here are six reasons why we should collaborate:

  1. Filling the development financing gap: Investments can fill the funding gap but also bring a new kind of resources for development projects that are demand driven and more likely to provide long-term solutions. In Indonesia, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Angel Investment Network Indonesia (ANGIN) designed an SDG Impact Fund which is to provide financing to social enterprises in the agricultural value chain. These social enterprises are part of the ‘missing middle’ – they do not want grant funding and are ready to receive investments but are too large for micro-finance and do not have liquid enough assets for accessing finance from banks.
  2. Providing new deal flow that scales development initiatives: Investors increasingly demand a robust rate of new business proposals and investment opportunities, which finance professionals refer to as deal flow. The UN can help bridge investors and deal flow by building and sharing a pipeline of projects and enterprises in need for growth and expansion capital. In this way, the financial sector can scale viable projects when Government and development organisations exit. UNDP and ANGIN held a Roadshow in Sumatra and Sulawesi earlier this year to identify social enterprises that can become a pipeline of investments.
  3. Harnessing capital’s transformatory potential: Together we can harness the transformatory potential of capital and change the overall approach to finance. For the UN, influencing the entire continuum of capital so investments are made greener, more sustainable and inclusive, is influencing large scale change. UNDP, in countries such as Indonesia and Armenia, brings innovative tools to financing SDGs such as impact bonds and impact funds and is exploring how blending commercial finance with concessionary finance or grants opens up new investment possibilities by addressing investor concerns about risks. In Indonesia, UNDP supported the Ministry of Finance in issuing the world’s first sovereign green Islamic bond (sukuk) thereby channeling investment to combating climate change and are now encouraging the private sector to follow suit and issue corporate green bonds.
  4. Enhancing transparency and accountability: The introduction of new technologies, standards, certifications and oversight measures by the UN can enhance accountability and transparency in areas where their absence is a main risk factor increasing costs of doing business and inhibiting investment. For example, UNDP is exploring with partners blockchain technologies as a means to enhance transparency in the management of religious funds such as zakat and waqf to increase trust in institutions managing those funds.
  5. A conducive policy environment: The UN is well positioned to work with the Government to provide a conducive policy and regulatory environment for SDG financing based on the private sectors understanding of the policy gaps, hindrances and expected incentives to investment. In Indonesia, UNDP collaborates with the Financial Services Authority of Indonesia to enhance the policy environment for private investment in SDGs, by for example putting in place regulations that will support impact investment.
  6. Promoting innovation: Partnership between business and the UN is essential for innovation. Innovation isn’t created in a vacuum but comes from collaboration between unusual partners with aligned missions. For example, id is a platform created by ANGIN and UNDP to connect investors and enterprises, while also providing entrepreneurs with learning materials and resources for growing their business.

A partnership built on similar values

In Indonesia, we (ANGIN and UNDP) initiated a partnership two years ago when UNDP began exploring the social finance eco-system in Indonesia. We began collaboration by conducting joint research, which identified the disconnect between investors and enterprises as a key challenge. Our partnership developed as we worked together to design an impact fund that would address that disconnect by bringing capital to women-led enterprises that were investment ready but could not access capital to grow.  For ANGIN and UNDP, having aligned values; recognising our complementary competencies; having honest, clear communication and defined roles and accountability have been important to our partnership.

For UNDP, the partnership has opened doors to investors and enterprises. ANGIN has brought access to the Indonesian investor and enterprise ecosystem, expertise in early stage investing and capacity building, resource mobilisation with private sector investors and an efficient, lean startup mentality that is execution-centric and KPI oriented.

For ANGIN, UNDP has played a catalytic role for their growth. The UN brings access to a global community and ecosystem, expertise in SDGs, impact measurement and innovative financing, access to government counterparts, resource mobilisation with donors and concessionary investors, a network and infrastructure in the country, neutrality and the UN brand. Together our partnership has achieved a lot but it has at times been constrained by certain UN policies and these need to change.

Four changes needed to UN policies

UN reform must support partnerships for SDG financing such as ours, which now actually take place in spite of UN policies and procedures. We recommend four changes to UN policies:

  • The UN must be equipped with the appropriate legal and financial policies to engage with investments and recover costs for our engagement.
  • The UN has to build its strong cadre of finance experts and facilitate the dispersion of this expertise across the 193 countries where it works.
  • Due diligence processes need to stop seeing private sector as good or bad but instead scrutinise how the collaboration is creating positive change in the way investments are made.
  • Partnership agreements should reflect collaboration not as a procurement or funding arrangement but an offer to support to each other that is equal and mutually beneficial.

In countries like Indonesia, Armenia and Kenya, the UN and finance sector partners have started exploring investments in SDGs. The financing of the SDGs requires us to learn from and build on these early experiences for a more systematic approach across the countries where the UN works.

 

[RECAP] GK-Plug and Play Expo 2.0

One of the most hotly anticipated events all year, the GK-Plug and Play Expo 2.0 demo day on Friday, April 20 did not disappoint. Showcasing its Batch 2 participants, the event was comprised of both a tabling area where startups could showcase their products and services as well as a live pitching session. There, founders pitched to a mixed crowd of investors, startups, and institutional players on the Djakarta Theatre XXI stage. The startups showcased included: Cheers, Danabijak, IndoGold, Manpro, Datanest, Duithape, Periksa.id, Gringgo, Trukita.com, GandengTangan, and Weston. We are proud to say that two of these – Duithape and GandengTangan – are ANGIN portfolio companies.

Pitches were passionate and networking was lively – an excellent event for all who attended. ANGIN is excited for GK-Plug and Play Batch 3, which we are actively helping to source startups for. If you are a founder and would like to apply, please email nadira@angin.id with your updated pitch deck. Until next batch!

 

[RECAP] Kick Off The NextDev 2018

On Mon (16/4), The NextDev 2018 finally had their Kick Off at Empirica, SCBD. The NextDev is in search of the best Indonesian tech startup in the field of social impact. The winners of this competition would have access to mentoring, market opportunities, and will receive equity-free funding for their startup!

Here are the things you need to know about The NextDev:

  • The NextDev incorporates incubation and accelerator program in their competition to give enough foundation for startups to access the market and various stakeholders.
  • They are raising the topic of social impact, meaning startups should consider what kind of social impact they are trying to target.
  • Currently, the problems startups are facing are lack of talent pool & resources especially in technology and business development, lack of access to funding, and lack of access to mentorship and network. The NextDev aims to provide all that to the startups joining them.

FUNDRAISING OPPORTUNITY!:

The NextDev 2018 is now holding their roadshow to various cities in Indonesia which includes Surabaya, Semarang, Denpasar, Batam, Samarinda, Yogyakarta, and Jakarta. Don’t miss their deadlines as they are approaching soon! To apply, just submit your information and pitch decks to Connector.ID and mention NextDev in your application. If your startup makes the cut, we will follow up with you on next steps and then recommend you to the NextDev team. It should take you no longer than 10 minutes. Best of luck!

Media talk about it:

https://www.liputan6.com/tekno/read/3475819/ada-yang-berbeda-di-ajang-kompetisi-the-nextdev-2018-apa-itu

http://www.tribunnews.com/techno/2018/04/17/20-aplikasi-bertanding-di-the-nextdev-academy-2018

https://inet.detik.com/telecommunication/d-3974198/dicari-20-startup-yang-bisa-bikin-dampak-sosial-positif

https://www.brilio.net/komunitas/ajang-ini-ngajak-anak-muda-bikin-dampak-sosial-positif-untuk-indonesia-180418b.html

https://swa.co.id/swa/trends/nextdev-2018-bidik-startup-berdampak-sosial-kuat

https://technologue.id/segera-bersiap-telkomsel-kembali-cari-startup-terbaik-di-the-nextdev-2018/amp/

 

[RECAP] Pedals.ID x Connector.ID Branding Workshop

Last Saturday (13/4), Meredith from Connector.ID and Nadira from ANGIN held their first workshop about branding in Bandung in collaboration with Pedals.ID. Titled ‘Brand or Bust: How to Build Your Brand & Stand Out to Investors’, the 2-hour long workshop was filled with young Bandung entrepreneurs who are keen on developing their own brand.
Some key takeaways from the workshop:

  • You need to know the reason behind why your brand exists. Why should anyone care about your brand? Define the problem statement that your brand will solve!
  • Clarify your unique selling point: what does your brand have that others don’t?
  • Find out how your brand can be ‘superior’ to other brands out there.
  • Define your users! You need to understand your target market in order to better cater their needs. The more specific the better. Creating user personas can help.
  • Don’t forget you need to be able to identify your brand & how it fits in the market. This means creating a thorough competition analysis and positioning your brand in the market.
  • Finally, build a brand message that is emotionally appealing so that people will remember your brand.

This is only the beginning of future workshops held outside Jakarta. We plan on creating more workshops for aspiring entrepreneurs out there in Indonesia and provide more mentoring and resources for them. Best of luck to the Bandung participants that attended the workshop; we hope to see you all soon!

[RECAP] Universitas AMIKOM Yogyakarta x ANGIN

On April 9 – 10, Meredith Peng from Connector.ID and Nadira Dinisari from ANGIN were invited as guest speakers at Universitas AMIKOM Yogyakarta Career Day. Bringing up the subject on how to be a successful entrepreneur and professional, Meredith talked about how entrepreneurship can be done in all aspects of life while Nadira shared her hacks on how to be more happy at work.

Meredith’s talk pointed out ten ways to be entrepreneurial in everyday life: from staying mindful to constant learning, realizing your founder-market fit and not shying away from mentorship and help. These tips can be applied not only to entrepreneurs but really anyone who has an entrepreneurial mindset in constantly creating and taking ownership of one’s life.

The strongest point from Nadira’s discussion is how important it is to be grateful even for the little things. A grateful heart will lead to being happy in work, and subsequently in life. Counting our blessings is one of the sure fire way to be grateful each day. Another important point is that it is important to know why you’re doing what you’re doing. It serves as a purpose that would always guide you back to your path, be it in your career or life in general.

Aside from speaking to the soon-to-be graduates, Meredith and Nadira also met with promising startups and entrepreneurs that are part of the AMIKOM Incubation Program. It was refreshing to see the ideas that these university students have come up with. As ANGIN, we hope that this is only the start to mark our presence there. In the future, we aim to expand our ecosystem to Yogyakarta and other cities in Indonesia as well.