This is how StickEarn revolutionizes Indonesia’s out-of-home advertising industry

StickEarn, an advertising technology company, was founded by Archie Carlson, Garry Limanata, Sugito Alim, and Hartanto Alim in 2017.

They saw enormous potential in Indonesia’s out-of-home (OOH) advertising industry, which lacked innovation compared to global cities like New York and Singapore at the time. They were determined to revolutionize the advertising space through car-based ads that were more affordable for the Indonesian market.

“We weren’t the first in this business, but we’ve grown the fastest and have made car advertising a top choice for out-of-home advertising to this day,” Garry said.

As a solution, StickEarn introduced car advertising services that are trackable, measurable, and scalable across multiple cities. The success of this concept pushed the company to expand into other sectors within the OOH advertising industry. StickEarn has since developed several measurable OOH advertising services, including StickMob, StickMotor, StickBus, StickAngkot, StickPlane, and StickMart.

To date, this offline-to-online (O2O) advertising tech startup has successfully served more than 800 brands, including Coca-Cola, Netflix, HBO, and Unilever, in over 40 cities, with a network of over 20.000 driver partners on its platform.

In just 2.5 years, StickEarn partnered with over 300 clients and brands, achieving revenue growth of up to 300%. In 2019, StickEarn also secured US$5.5 million in funding from East Ventures.

“I’ve always believed that in business, you shouldn’t be afraid to fail. Learn from that. Use it as part of your learning curve. Second, a business must be scalable fast—and don’t limit yourself,” Garry explained.

As StickEarn’s co-founder and CEO, Archie led the company’s growth from a small team to over 250 employees. Over seven years of operations, the company has reached a cumulative revenue of US$5 million.

Despite the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, Archie helped StickEarn navigate the crisis, recover from a 90% revenue drop, and achieve profitability since 2021, continuing to grow year after year.

Archie led the team in developing and launching Playlog, Indonesia’s first comprehensive OOH platform. It aggregates more than 27,000 OOH inventories across the country and provides clients with a campaign monitoring dashboard.

In 2024, StickEarn also launched Lynx SSP, the first programmed digital out-of-home supply-side platform (DOOH SSP) in Indonesia.

Speaking to Fortune Indonesia, Archie Carlson and Garry Limanata—both featured in the Fortune Indonesia 40 Under 40 list—shared that integrity is their core principle in building the business. By upholding this value, a company can build trust and form strong, long-term relationships.

“Trust is considered the foundation of every successful partnership, so staying true to one’s principles remains a priority—even in difficult situations.”

Additionally, sustainable growth is seen as a key factor in navigating the ever-changing business landscape. Embracing a mindset of continuous learning, developing new skills, and staying attuned to industry trends enables a company to remain adaptable and innovative.

By staying open to new opportunities and actively seeking feedback, a company can face challenges with fresh perspectives, drive innovation, and ensure long-term sustainability.

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The original article was published on Fortune Indonesia, on 4 April 2025.