Startup Series: Bringing about change - one team at a time
Antler is in the business of enabling the world's most exceptional people to build technology companies that solve real problems, and have a strong impact on the world. Last year we had the chance to start working with some truly amazing entrepreneurs: Wisnu Nugrahadi, Margana Mohamad and Dimas Pramudya. In only twelve months, they have built an incredibly fast growing company working with 150,000 agents across Indonesia. So what makes Sampingan special?
Author
Magnus Grimeland
Sampingan, which directly translates to side-job in Bahasa Indonesia, is a platform that has been able to provide thousands of Indonesians with jobs across the country. The company was formed during Antler's first Singapore cohort, which kicked off in July 2018. They pitched at our inaugural Demo Day in January 2019.
Sampingan taps on their agent-partners across Indonesia to get access to on-demand workers in order to help businesses complete specific tasks. They count Go-Jek and OYO as their clients and help them with tasks like merchant acquisition in an efficient, transparent and rapid manner on their platform.
Barely a year since they started, they now have over 150,000 agents, 100 employees and have raised two rounds (US$ 2 million) with Golden Gate Ventures, Antler and a number of notable angels.
The founders
The Sampingan founders make a perfect team for the business they are building. The value the 3 brought together in terms of product building, operations and in-depth knowledge of their market and what the larger tech companies needed has been integral to creating an innovative solution in the labour force.
Wisnu had witnessed the gaps in the market first hand and he and his co-founders Margana and Dimas have been very clear about their mission - to build the most trusted workforce solution in Indonesia. Not only are they brilliant and ambitious, they have shown enormous drive in the way they have scaled their business in such a short time. I was impressed by them from day one.
What makes their business model compelling?
Sampingan's clients say using their platform reduces operational costs significantly. The speed, quality, and cost of their offering has been an important part of their business model.
Together with their agent-partners, Sampingan has collectively completed 200,000 different jobs.30% of Sampingan's users are female and in a country where the average minimum monthly wage is US$250, a Sampingan super-user makes up to US$650 per month. Their pay-performance model further incentivizes people to work.
We invest in people and give them a support system to ensure they build and grow their companies, the best way possible. I am very excited to follow their journey going forward as this is just the start of a company that is having and will continue to have a great impact on their economy, and I feel they are only just beginning.
