Chrisanti Indiana, Elisa Suteja, and Jeff Budiman are listed on Prestige’s 40 Under 40 List

10 October 2019

40 Under 40 is a set of lists issued annually by Prestige Indonesia that recognize 40 rising young personalities of today who will become the nation’s leaders of tomorrow. Led by a singular vision, savoir-faire and diligence, those 40 figures have sacrificed, built, gained and lost, before they stumbled and rose again.

These are three East Ventures’ founders who were included on the 2019 list by Prestige.

Chrisanti Indiana (Co-Founder of Social Bella)

“What started out as a desire to make the beauty shopping experience easier and better for women has grown into something bigger than I could ever have imagined,” says Chrisanti Indiana to Prestige. She’s the co- founder, with John Rasjid and Christopher Madiam, of Social Bella, an online beauty platform. It has an e-commerce brand, Sociolla, and two brick and mortar stores, O2O, at Kota Kasablanka and Lippo Mall Puri. Social Bella offers customers hundreds of brands, from local cosmetics to high-end imports.

“Starting the business at a young age in 2015, and having a lack of experience in this industry, I faced a lot of challenges and self- doubts,” admits Indiana, who is the holder of a Bachelor’s degree from Billy Blue College of Design in Australia. “During the early days, I learned that having the right support system around you is very crucial. Every time I feel stuck I try to put myself outside the box, to see the bigger picture.”

In her role as Chief Marketing Officer, Indiana provides education about beauty and personal care. “While amassing some 3 million users, my team developed a community platform where members become content creators by writing reviews, and articles, and making videos. Earlier this year, we opened our first O2O stores, to get closer to customers.”

By its very nature, Social Bella is an enterprise that has embraced the new technology. If anyone doubts that selling cosmetics online works, consider that the company recently closed its Series D funding round of US$40 million, co-led by Singapore’s Temasek Holdings and venture capital fund EV Growth.

Elisa Suteja (Co-Founder of Fore Coffee)

Coffee and technology might not seem to go together. But for Elisa Suteja, co-founder and Deputy CEO of Fore Coffee, the opposite is true. Using her company’s app means that the days of waiting in line for your favourite brew are over. You simply choose from Fore Coffee’s extensive menu, and your coffee is being prepared while you’re still on your way to the store. Picking it up is just as simple. You just scan the order barcode, grab your cup and go about your day.

“Our goal is to give customers their easy coffee fix, seamlessly,” says 27-year-old Suteja to Prestige, who founded Fore Coffee last year with Robin Boe and Jhoni Kusno. “We support fair trade farmers, buying premium Arabica beans from certified organic producers. Our packaging is reusable, whether it’s the hot or the cold cup. We also have our own tumblers available to buy.”

Suteja and her partners launched their first store in Senopati. They have grown very fast, opening no fewer than 27 further outlets in Jakarta and Tangerang. Says Suteja, a Prasetya Mulya University alumna: “It’s a humbling experience for me to grow this company. I have had to learn to trust the process and to trust my own team. And also to learn from them and to ask for their help in solving the problems we have faced together. As a company, that’s the culture we want to grow – to work together as a team.”

Jeff Budiman (Co-Founder of The FIT Company)

Jeff Budiman - The Fit Company Prestige 40 Under 40

To make it easier for individuals to get fit and live healthier, Jeff Budiman and Prianka Bukit have founded The FIT Company. “We aim to bring fitness and sports as close as possible to people’s hearts because we believe it can unite everyone,” says Budiman to Prestige. The holder of a Bachelor’s degree in Business, Accounting and Banking Finance from Monash University is CEO of the holding company behind the fast-growing 20Fit chain, which says it is the first micro-gym in Indonesia to use Electro Muscle Stimulation (EMS) technology for personal training.

Two years after launching 20Fit, Budiman faced a significant budget deficit. “We were forced to close our underperforming studios,” he recalls. “To survive, we revamped our operational procedure and redefined our internal culture to focus on customers first, which then led to a better customer experience. During that time we also upheld our vision: to make 250 million people live an active and healthy lifestyle and empowering coaches in Indonesia.”

Today, 20Fit has 20 studios throughout Indonesia, and The FIT Company has received funding from East Ventures, a Jakarta-based early stage venture capital firm, for an on-demand health platform. Says Budiman: “Living in this era of technological change opens up so many possibilities. It depends on how we see the opportunities and step up to take our chances. Thanks to the social media, I’m able to expand my network and learn without any limitations.”

Source: Prestige