Jakarta, 22 September 2022 – Microsoft today reaffirmed the company’s commitment to continue empowering Indonesian startups and the nation’s digital economy, one of which is through the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub program. This program provides access to the latest technology and mentoring with global experts and is created to help the development of startups of all sizes. Support is provided starting from the process of ideation, and development, to scale-up, while accompanying startup founders in tackling the limitations and obstacles that they often face throughout their growth.
Opsigo Empowers Corporations to Manage Business Travel Intelligently
One of the startups joining the Microsoft startup ecosystem is Opsigo, a startup that focuses on the field of travel technology with an integrated platform to digitize the travel and tourism industry. The inspiration behind Opsigo lies in the lack of global system capabilities that have not been able to accommodate the unique business processes that exist in Southeast Asian countries.
About 80% of travel agent consumers are corporate consumers who buy tickets and hotel vouchers for their business trips. Recognizing the need for companies to manage business trips more seamlessly, Opsigo offers Opsicorp, a business travel management platform for corporations. Through this platform, corporations can plan trips, issue tickets or hotel vouchers automatically, and ensure that each business travel complies with the company’s travel policy.
Opsicorp’s superior technology further allows integration with various internal company platforms, including ERP and financial systems. In addition, corporations can view data on business travel patterns to look for efficiency opportunities that can be implemented. All of this is delivered in a user-friendly interface, so no extra skill is required to operate it. As a result, corporations can shorten travel management time and reduce travel costs by up to 20-30%, while guaranteeing compliance with company business travel policies. Several corporations that have benefited from this solution are Avrist, Kanmo Retail, Pegadaian, Pertamina, Sritex, and more.
To ensure a secure transaction process and transaction data storage, Opsigo utilizes Microsoft Azure cloud computing technology as a virtual machine. “Because the product or service provided by Opsigo is tightly related to financial transactions, the company must be able to guarantee the security of data and service systems. Microsoft’s premium security provides assurance that our system will remain secure, thereby preventing losses experienced by customers or the company. Moreover, Opsigo customers, both SOEs and enterprises in general, also utilize Microsoft ecosystem such as Microsoft Azure, meaning Opsigo can be easily integrated with their system,” explained Edward Nelson Jusuf, CEO of Opsigo, in a virtual discussion Empowering Indonesian Startups for Digital Indonesia on Thursday (22/09).
Alkademi Opens Access to Digital Technology Learning to Indonesia’s Foremost, Outermost, and Remote Area
Microsoft through the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub program also accommodates and provides upskilling platforms such as Alkademi, one of the first participants from Indonesia to join the platform. Starting as a digital community in Bandung, Alkademi provides various technology training for young people in suburban areas in an effort to answer the need for nine million Indonesian digital talents by 2030. Now, around 2,000 students have benefited from the classes offered by Alkademi. To bring digital skills to remote parts of the country, Alkademi also works with BAKTI Kominfo to teach young people in the foremost, outermost, and remote areas.
Since its founding, Alkademi has used Microsoft Azure as the foundation for its Learning Management System (LMS). The familiarity and reliability that Alkademi experiences in the Microsoft ecosystem have also encouraged them to participate in the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub in early 2022. In this program, Alkademi gets access to Microsoft’s technology infrastructure, networking, and mentorship forums, as well as go-to-market assistance from global Microsoft experts.
“We choose to use Microsoft technology because we are familiar with this technology. Microsoft Azure, in particular, has a comfortable User Experience (UX) so that the learning process through our LMS becomes an engaging, interactive, and two-way experience. In addition, the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub is very useful for bootstrappers, because it can guarantee technology security, and helps us to reach and empower the startup community regardless of their scale. The registration process for this program is also relatively fast. Within 2 months since the first submission, we have received approval and access to the benefits. With Microsoft’s support through the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub, we hope that Indonesian digital talents will continue to be inspired to make an impact on the future of the nation,” said Dyan Raditya Helmi, community activist and CEO of Alkademi at the same occasion.
Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub Empowering Indonesia’s Digital Solutions
The Microsoft for Startup Founders Hub platform, launched in early March 2022, provides access to personalized technical guidance at every stage of startup development, approaches tailored to company growth, expert guidance, and mentoring on a wide range of business topics—from recruiting to go-to-market strategy, self-learning for founders and teams, and the knowledge they need to move forward to the next stage.
“Microsoft understands the need to turn ideas into tangible, impactful, and scalable solutions. Therefore, the support provided by Microsoft for startups begins with a collaborative approach so that startups from various backgrounds can develop and bring ideas to life, grow their businesses, and increase their scale. We hope that the Microsoft for Startup Founders Hub will become a solution for Indonesian startup companies to be more empowered, in line with our mission and efforts to #EmpowerIndonesia,” concluded Fiki Setiyono, Country Lead Azure GTM, Microsoft Indonesia.
For early-stage startups that have ideas to build and run their business, and want to join the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub program, visit the following link foundershub.startups.microsoft.com
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