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GNI Startups Lab Indonesia welcomes ten fantastic teams

What does the local news startup scene in Indonesia look like? And how are Indonesian news startups faring given the complex geo-political backdrop and increasing importance of digital transformation? Besides operational challenges when shifting to online platforms, news organizations need to build holistic business models that thrive in a new digital ecosystem.

The first GNI Startups Lab Indonesia aims to empower 10 promising news startups in Indonesia to tackle these challenges and build lighthouse examples for the Indonesian news industry. Echos Desirables Future Lab and the Google News Initiative are thrilled to announce the ten early-stage news startups of the first ever GNI Startups Lab Indonesia–a sixteen-week program designed to support independent Indonesian newsrooms in their bid for business sustainability.

The program consists of live interactive workshops, individual team mentorships, and networking opportunities with media professionals from all over South East Asia.

The startups selection process

Chosen among 70+ applicants across Indonesia, the ten news startups showcase an array of different journalism types, and focus on areas such as youth, general news, social impact (impact over quantity), sports and daily lifestyle just to mention a few.

After several extensive rounds of evaluation, the selection committee analyzed each applicant through different eligibility requirements to determine the applicant’s overall fit for the GNI Startups Lab program. In addition, criteria such as geography, gender, content and size ensured the diversity of the program’s cohort.

Overview of the news startups

Region
The startups are from several regions across the Indonesian Archipelago; 3 are based in Java Island, 2 in the Sumatra Island, 2 in the Sulawesi Island, 1 in Riau, 1 in Batam and 1in Papua

Age
Average age of 3.5 years

Journalistic Type
Together, the companies cover a wide range of journalistic types which focus on areas such as general news, social issues, sports and daily lifestyle that are published in the Indonesian language

Gender
Gender diversity is present across the different startups with one third of the organizations having female founders and/or executives in the team. While the teams size of the startups vary from 3 to more than 15 people, the participating teams will consist of a maximum of 5 individuals

We’re excited to work with the GNI Startups Lab Indonesia cohort to help them strengthen their business and better serve their communities, starting on October 10th, 2022. The GNI and Echos teams will bring a human-centered approach in supporting these startups, as these startups seek to give a voice to underrepresented communities and become the future of journalism in Indonesia.

Here are the participating news startups (in alphabetical order):

Barakata.id

Barakata.id is a publisher based in the province of Riau Islands (Kepri). They provide content that is fresh and easy to read. While the featured report in Barakata.id is produced by professionals in the field, this publisher remains an open platform for anyone who wants to share their thoughts and experiences.

Audience
Barakata.id focuses on the information needs of the residents of the Riau Islands. However, they also want the crafted news of Barakata.id to be enjoyed by visitors during their stay on the island. This startup has target readers are mainly from urban circles, the younger generation who are technology-literate and environmentally conscious ranging from social communities, education, business groups and workers.

Coverage
Regional

Main objectives
Developing trust among its main audience in Batam.

Founders
Barakata.id is published under the banner of PT Barakata Bintang Media as an online media.The company was established in Batam City, Riau Islands Province in April 2019.

Gofit

Gofit.id is a news channel that focuses on sports and information around leading a healthy lifestyle. Through this channel, Gofit.id encourages community gatherings and ideas to spread healthy lifestyle habits and the importance of exercise to live a happy life.

Audience
Gofit’s audience are mainly sports enthusiasts aged 25-35 years (more specifically, sports activists in the fields of workout, running, cycling, etc.) located in Greater Jakarta as well as other capital cities across Indonesia.

Coverage
Regional

Main objectives
Driving sports as a daily lifestyle choice wtih social content.

Founders
Gofit was founded by a group of sports enthusiasts in 2017. The initiative of Gofit’s establishment was inspired by the founder’s awareness of the importance of exercising which was later developed into a business to establish a sports & healthy lifestyle media company.

Gopos.id

Was born from the importance of distributing accurate and reliable information. Is an independent media company that gives a balanced source of information for the people of Gorontalo and Indonesia in general.

Audience
Gopos.id’s audience profile includes the general public, students, government, private sector, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The audience is mostly people in the eastern part of Indonesia, specifically in Gorontalo, who are in need of information about current events happening locally. 

Coverage
Regional

Main objectives
Acquiring loyal readers.

Founders
Gopos.id is an online media company under the business entity of PT Creative Multimedia Nusantara. The team consists of a former Chief Editor and an editor of the print media Gorontalo Post (Java Pos Group). This company was founded to address concerns about the limitation of print media. They started this company in the hope that the quality of media in the future will grow through the presence of online platforms.

Herald.id

Herald Indonesia is a news portal that provides information on a number of areas. Be it political events, business, law, football, entertainment, lifestyle, automotive, science and technology, Herald.id is here to balance the news that comes from non-media business groups. Initially, its roots were in the business of event organization (EO) but over time it grew into a news portal headquartered in Jakarta.

Audience
After running for 9 months, Herald’s main readers are primarily from aggregators, namely Helo App, and readers who utilize mobile devices. Highest percentage of the readers are within the age range of 24-35 years.

Coverage
National

Main objectives
Grow a network of publishers such as PRMN to then engage in tech channels such as Detik and Kompas (notable Indonesia online news platform).

Founders
Herald.id is a group of team members who are experienced in the media industry. The organization’s main leader is one of the heads of the Indonesian Online Media Association (SMSI) for the South Sulawesi region.

Kabaraktual.id

Kabaraktual.id is an interactive media platform that provides vast opportunities for readers to share relevant current events around them. From Jakarta to Turkey, the platform has a wide range of contributors and presents quality news that is packaged in a professional and modern way.

Audience
The target audience is adults from various socio-cultural backgrounds, with numbers ranging from 1,500 – 3,000 every day. The audience includes people in bureaucracy, politicians, academics, students, activists, the business world, and others.

Coverage
National

Main objectives
Focusing on young-adults, general news, and viral content.

Founders
Kabaraktual.id was founded by journalists and a number of figures who are experienced in the field of journalism and press media.

Keprionline.co.id

This publisher from Karimun, Riau Islands Province (Kepri) provides news that is fast, accurate and reliable. Keprionline.co.id provides national and international news related to business and politics. In addition, this publisher has an opinion column that shares various stories to inspire its readers.

Audience
The audience is the general public, who mostly live on Riau Islands, government agencies and also the private sector of all groups, as Keprionline.co.id is a media dedicated to the locals.

Coverage
Local

Main objectives
General news

Founders
The founder of the company (PT Emwil Seribu Lintas Media) is a former journalist since 2009.

Lampung.co

Lampung.co provides national and international news such as current events, law, politics, economy, education, sports, and others. The biggest goal of the company is to explore agricultural issues, especially the welfare of farmers in the Lampung Province. This Lampung-based publisher vision is to encourage people to be aware of and respond to all forms of information in the digital era. Therefore, the enthusiasm of Lampung.co journalists in reporting is based on facts so that it becomes useful information for the community.

Audience
The audience includes the people of Lampung and all Indonesian people, with the majority of readers aged 18-34 years old.

Coverage
Local

Main objectives
Revival solution to achieve traction benchmarking 2018.

Founders
Rodi Ediyansyah is the son of a farmer who was born and raised in a remote district, the Pesisir Barat Regency, Lampung. He overcame several obstacles, such as intense competition and financial challenges, to establish Lampung.co and furthered his education, while continuing his work in the company. He also successfully recruited several experienced journalists to co-found PT Media Inti Lampung in 2017. 

Project Multatuli

This Jakarta-based publisher is a non-profit organization that provides in-depth research and data-based reports in Indonesian and English. This Project upholds collaboration between media and various organizations that believe in the same values, such as democracy, humanity, social justice, earth sustainability, and equal rights.

Audience
Readers are people who care and want to work together to serve those who are marginalized. In this way, they have a desire to provide checks and balances for the good of the community. The primary audience is the working population, who mostly live in urban areas and have a minimum education of an undergraduate degree.

Coverage
National

Main objectives
Provide impactful slow journalism with 2 to 3 weekly published reports.

Founders
Evi Mariani (Executive Director) worked at The Jakarta Post from 2018 to 2021 while Fahri Salam (Chief Editor) served as Main Editor at Tirto.id until 2021. Both received the Excellence in Public Service Journalism Award from the Society of Publishers in Asia in 2020 and the Tasrif Award 2020 from the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI). There’s also Ahmad Arif who  was a journalist at Kompas Daily. The three decided to come together and created Project Multatuli to raisee the voice of the marginalized in Indonesia.

Seputar Papua

Originating from Timika, Mimika Regency, Papua Province, Seputarpapua.com is a news portal that provides accurate, efficient news and prioritizes the public’s trust. In running its media, Seputarpapua.com serves information and news by prioritizing speed, so that people don’t have to wait until the next day to read updates related to important events.

Audience
Seputar Papua’s audience is the group of working adults across the Papua province, namely Papua, West Papua, Central Papua, South Papua and Papua Mountains. About 70 percent of their audience access news websites via Facebook, 20 percent through the Google search engine, and the rest directly from other social media platforms.

Coverage
Regional

Main objectives
Exploring live streaming development for public service/interest and podcast production with a unique angle on-site.

Founders
The founders are namely Misba Latuapo, Irsul Panca Aditra, Sevianto Pakiding, and Mujiono. They are all former journalists and leaders of print media in Timika. The founders saw an opportunity in the shifting consumer behavior patterns, from print-based media to digital-based media. They established Seputar Papua digital media in 2017 and continue to innovate to this day.

Wiradesa.co

Wiradesa.co is a publisher that focuses on village development in Indonesia. With the tagline “Mandirikan Desa Sejahterakan Rakyat” (that translates to “Make the Village Prosperous for the People”), this publisher focuses on journalism content related to village issues, critically analyzes various village problems, and dares to bring solutions to problems faced by rural communities. Based in Bantul, Yogyakarta Special Region (DIY), they are also ready to ensure that the news is factual, educational, and enlightening for its readers.

 

Audience
Wiradesa.co focuses their news production to provide valuable information to village chiefs, academics, and the general public across the community.

Coverage
National

Main objectives
Giving villagers a voice by discussing topics around economic, policy, and community-building programs.

Founders
Wiradesa.co was founded by Sihono HT who has 30 years of experience as a journalist. Therefore, he holds an important role in the Journalist Competency Examiner (PWI Pusat). Now he dedicates his knowledge as a Founder of Wiradesa Group since 2020.

 

Post by: Luna Diandra and Christine Gunawan

 

 

 

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