11 SaaS Startups That Are Helping SMEs and Enterprises Become More Productive and Efficient, Backed by East Ventures
15 April 2019
To enjoy a computer service before the internet era, you would need to install the software and store all of your data on your own device. This made it a burden to go anywhere without your computer, because you would not be able to access the service otherwise.
However, times have changed. With the help of the internet, developers now store their software in the cloud, so it’s accessible anywhere with any device as long as you have internet access. You can even store your data in the cloud. This application is called Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).
SaaS is actually a software distribution model in which a third-party provider hosts applications and makes them available to customers over the internet.
East Ventures, as the leading venture capital firm in Southeast Asia, has invested in a number of startups with this business model since 2013. Here are some of them.
Moka
Moka is a technology company based in Jakarta, Indonesi, providing cloud-based point-of-sale (POS) and payment solutions that empower small and medium-sized businesses to better sell and grow.
Founded in 2014, the company is currently present across 100+ cities in Indonesia with over 15,000 merchants.
Interesting fact: Moka is one of the startups that has the distinction of receiving its investment from East Ventures over a phone call, and is proof that a good deal can and should be executed fast.
Sirclo
Sirclo is Indonesia’s leading ecommerce technology company, empowering businesses to sell online. Right now, it has two main products: an ecommerce solution called Sirclo Store, which enables SMEs to sell products through their own websites; and an end-to-end ecommerce enabler service called Sirclo Commerce.
Today, Sirclo has 240 full-time employees working across four offices located in Greater Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, and Yogyakarta. The company’s revenue is still growing strong, and went up by 4x in 2018.
Jurnal
Jurnal is a tech company delivering web-based accounting solutions for small and medium-sized businesses in Indonesia. It simplifies administrative processes to only the essentials, giving users the convenience of operating their business at any place and time, on any device. Put simply, Jurnal equips businesses with the right tools to be professional.
Jurnal also closed its seed funding over a phone call with East Ventures’ Willson Cuaca.
Jojonomic
Launched in 2015, the cloud-based mobile financial application Jojonomic aims to provide solutions for enterprises by cutting out long, painful administrative tasks and allowing them to focus on what matters – their business. The company is a SaaS business-to-business (B2B) fintech company, serving prominent enterprises throughout the region.
Member
Member is redefining loyalty programs. It helps clients to design, build, and manage long-term, profitable loyalty solutions. Its mission is to change the loyalty landscape in Indonesia by offering capabilities ranging from loyalty program strategy development, design, management, and data analytics, to points issuance and trade.
Member also includes Edy Sulistyo, CEO of Loket.com (a portfolio firm of East Ventures that was acquired by GO-JEK).
See: Member’s CEO, Marianne Rumantir, shared the challenges that was faced by woman in tech business
Sleekr
Sleekr is the number one HR and accounting software company in Indonesia. It is helping modern businesses manage their human resources and accounting functions better. The Jakarta-based company provides a powerful operating system for companies looking to be more effective and efficient. Its mission is to create a more effective working environment for both employees and management through technology.
Synergo
Synergo is a workforce management software and solutions provider that helps your organization unlock the true potential of your most important asset – human capital. Synergo’s software is built for every member of your team to plan, track, and share useful feedback. It provides your organization with global quality solutions without high financial commitment.
With its platform, you can review employees’ performance easily, and gain key insights in minutes. Most importantly, you ensure your employees have clear, measurable, and meaningful goals that align with the overall business strategy.
Zave
Zave is a tech-enabled corporate services firm providing company incorporation, corporate secretary services, bookkeeping, and payroll services to startups, SMEs, and financial services firms in Singapore. It does this through the use of its own technology and third party technology, which includes Xero, of which it has full integration.
Quintal
Quintal is a portal for Indonesian schools, that caters to National and SPK (previously known as ‘national plus’ and ‘international’) schools. It combines the academic and administrative functionalities of Learning Management Systems (LMS) and Student Information Systems (SIS), and serves as a data-sharing and communication platform between the school and its teachers, students, and parents. Each of these roles are uniquely tailored, with different features and means to share data and communicate with each other.
While it started off as an LMS+SIS platform, it now aims to be the backbone of the Indonesian education system one day, by empowering schools with affordable yet effective tools and services to improve the overall system.
Astra.Cloud
With its Managed Service Provider (MSP) platform, Astra Cloud provides unprecedented capability, simplicity, and flexibility for service providers to deploy and manage cloud business solutions to their customers at scale. The platform itself has a dashboard that allow you to monitor and manage all your cameras securely from anywhere in the world, so you can grow with ease. The platform is also equipped with end to end encryption to maintain its safety, and is extremely reliable with a 99.99% SLA.
Eko
Since Eko’s founding in 2012, its main goal is to improve the lives of people around the world by providing them with the digital tools they need to get work done. It believes that everyone – regardless of industry, background, location, or company size – should be equipped with tools for faster and more efficient work. It values work-life balance and aims to make Eko a platform that drives personal productivity and efficiency, thereby enabling individual flexibility and happiness.
Eko is an international company with offices in London, Bangkok, Amsterdam, Berlin, New York, and Kuala Lumpur.