Ooredoo's Ideabox launches second round of accelerator programme in Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia, Sept. 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Ooredoo and Indosat today announced the successful launch of the second cycle of homegrown startup accelerator Ideabox, continuing their work to power Indonesia's startup ecosystem.

In under a year, Ideabox which is backed by Ooredoo, Indosat and Mountain Partners has taken great strides to establish itself as the leading startup accelerator in Indonesia.

Kicking-off its second cycle Ideabox invited 18 finalists to a rigorous 48 hour boot camp in Jakarta which took place on 13^th and 14^th September. These were selected from a pool of 300 applicants, triple those received for the first cycle. 

Following the conclusion of the accelerator bootcamp up to 6 winning startups will be placed in Ideabox batch #2, starting in November this year. This follows a successful graduation for the first batch, which saw all participants secure strong commercial contracts, and two startups attract funding from foreign investors within a couple of months of graduating.

"There is a hunger within Indonesia's vibrant startup ecosystem for strong accelerator and incubator programmes. Through Ideabox we are committed to providing strong commercial support to all the startups we incubate, helping them to find their place in Indonesia's mobile services ecosystem. We look forward to seeing the innovative content created during the bootcamp and hearing more about those selected to go through to the next stage," said Alexander Rusli, CEO & President Director of Indosat.

He continued: "Indosat is fast becoming an industry leader for powering innovation.  In addition to Ideabox, which focuses on seed stage companies, we have also established a venture capital fund to invest in growth stage companies in Indonesia and plan to launch a crowdsourcing platform very soon."

Dr Nasser, Group CEO, Ooredoo commented: "As a Group we are committed to powering the creation of homegrown content in all of our markets, encouraging human growth through innovation.  Indonesia's tech scene is developing at a rapid pace and Ideabox helps ensure that we stay at the forefront.  We are very proud of the local and international recognition, and interest, our accelerator programme has received with applications for this cycle coming from neighbouring countries like Malaysia as well as places further afield such as the United States.  We were encouraged by the display of world-class talent in the first cycle and are confident this second batch of entrepreneurs and innovators will keep the trend alive." 

The Ideabox accelerator offers an intensive 4 month acceleration program which provides 24-7 mentoring, seed funding, facilities, a structured curriculum and access to an extensive network of local and international startup founders and advisors. Following graduation the startups continue to receive strong support from Indosat and Ooredoo. This support includes commercial partnerships, co-location, payment integration and mobile advertising support to help them achieve success and access millions of Indonesian mobile customers.

To attract startups to its second batch, the Ideabox founding partners and the Ideabox support team ran roadshows and seminars on building million dollar companies in 7 major Indonesian cities attracting hundreds of participants from local startups and developer communities. The participants from Ideabox batch #1, Ngomik!, Shoop, Dealoka and Unyu also accompanied the roadshows to share their experiences with budding startups.

Details on those selected will be announced at a later date. Further details can be found at www.ideabox.co.id 

About Ooredoo Group

Ooredoo is a leading international communications company delivering mobile, fixed, broadband internet and corporate managed services tailored to the needs of consumers and businesses across markets in the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia. As a community-focused company, Ooredoo is guided by its vision of enriching people's lives and its belief that it can stimulate human growth by leveraging communications to help people achieve their full potential. Ooredoo has a presence in markets such as Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Algeria, Tunisia, Iraq, Palestine, the Maldives, Myanmar and Indonesia. The company was named "Best Mobile Operator of the Year" at the World Communication Awards 2013.

The company reported revenues of US$9.3 billion in 2013 and had a consolidated global customer base of more than 95 million people as of 31 December 2013. Ooredoo's shares are listed on the Qatar Exchange and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.

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About Indosat

Indosat, the largest operating company in the Ooredoo network, is the leading telecommunication and information operator in Indonesia that provides cellular services, fixed line, data communications and internet (MIDI). In the first half of 2013, the company had 56,5 million mobile subscribers through a variety of brands, among others; IM3, Mentari and Matrix. Indosat operates international direct dialing (IDD) through the access codes 001, 008 and Flatcall 01016. The company also offers corporate solutions that supported by integrated telecommunications network throughout Indonesia as well as satellite services via satellite Palapa-C2 and Palapa-D. Indosat's shares are listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX: ISAT).

SOURCE Ooredoo