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The Philippines-based startup beats five other finalists at the recent Tech In Asia Jakarta 2016 event — which includes an Uber-for-tailor and the sharing economy’s answer to space communications

The Philippines-based Horsepower has been announced as the winner of Tech In Asia Jakarta 2016 Arena Startup Pitch Battle today at Balai Kartini, South Jakarta.

Receiving US$5,000 cash prize, the startup defeated five other finalists in the round that was judged by the like of Adrian Li (Convergence Ventures), Edward Ismawan Chamdani (Ideosource), Dave Ng (B Capital Group), and Oko Davaasuren (Techstars).

Horsepower is a platform that help SMEs, startups, and freelancers to manage benefits. It allows them to perform tasks from paying bills to getting legal consultation in just one platform.

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“I have talked to several startups, SMEs, freelancers [during my work at Freelancer.com], and all of them had the same pain points: Benefits. It’s one thing that they are missing from corporate jobs,” explained Jojy Azurin, Founder of Horsepower, during his presentation.

The second-place winner of the competition is Japanese space communications startup InfoStellar. The startup implements the sharing economy concept to satellite by acting as an online marketplace for satellite downtime. It recently raised a US$600,000 seed funding round.

The third-place winner is Australian mobile SAAS video platform VeNA. The startup helps apps to monetise by enabling video ads in their platform; it has received a grant from the Australian government and is looking to set up an office in Jakarta.

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The (online) marketplace remains crowded

Based on e27’s observation on the remaining finalists, it seems like online marketplaces is still a trending sector in the Indonesian startup scene.

There was Sevva which is an online rental marketplace for temporary needs. It provides escrow service for products in the Travel, Baby, Fashion, and Camera categories.

Its founder Eric took inspiration from his past business of baby gears rental service, which offers products such as strollers or baby beds. These are examples of products that people will only use temporarily; thus open up opportunities for rental services focussing on the products. Even today, Sevva claimed that 90 per cent of its clients are in the Baby categories. Other examples of products rented in the platform are luggage, cameras, or designer bags used only on special occasions.

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Uber-for-tailor startup Kostoom was also one of the finalists at the competition. Interestingly, while Kostoom was a B2C company when e27’s interviewed them in March, today they have shifted their focus into B2B sector.

Instead of handling individuals as clients, Kostoom is now connecting fashion designers and entrepreneurs to home-based tailors. According to the startup, it is more convenient as there is no need for personalised measurement when ordering bulk of clothes to the tailors, as fashion designers require a standardised sizing for all its clothes.

The post Horsepower races to the top as TiA Jakarta 2016 startup pitch battle winner appeared first on e27.

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