Minister Predicts Next Unicorn May Born from Startup in 3 Sectors

TEMPO.CO, Kuta - Unicorn, a digital startup with a valuation of US$1 billion, was said to be born from education, health, and financial sectors.

Communication and Informatics Minister Rudiantara said the second generation of unicorns would come from those three sectors. To date, Indonesia has had several unicorns, namely Gojek, Bukalapak, Tokopedia, and Traveloka that capable to develop and expand its business to larger markets.

Rudiantara noted startup companies in the education sector could gain large benefit even if it could seize 10 percent of the education budget. The reason, he said, the state expenditure in this sector amounted to 20 percent of the total yearly budget or averagely reached Rp400 trillion in a year.

“People always ask me who the next unicorn will be. The first clue is from the education sector. Why? 20 percent of our State Budget is allocated for this sector which is this year worth Rp400 trillion,” said Rudiantara in the Next Indonesia Unicorn event in Bali, Saturday, October 13.

Then, startup companies from the health sector because the Indonesian government set 5 percent of the total budget for this sector every year.

Lastly, a unicorn would show up from the financial sector, seen by the current developing financial technology or fintech. Rudiantara mentioned investors were interested in areas which presented high growth within a short period.

“Fintech gains high traction and investors are interested in it,” he added.

Therefore, the ministry supported the existing startups to be at the next level through investors’ funding. The ministry further invited venture capitalists from 13 countries willing to invest in startups that offering high growth potential.

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