Edtech has it rough in Indonesia

Check out the top articles for the week. [Read from your browser]( Top Stories of The Week Hello {NAME} Writing about Indonesia is always a humbling experience for this born-and-bred Singaporean. How can I not be awestruck by a country that has a student population of nearly 10 times Singapore's total population? On macro trends alone, success for an education tech business in Indonesia would seem inevitable! Yet there are also constant reminders of the difficulties that businesses face. Less than 5% of people who use freemium edtech products become paid users. This week, Indonesia was hit by widespread protests over the introduction of a new law that is meant to attract foreign investment, partly through easing the country’s notoriously restrictive labor laws. Progress seems to come in fits and starts. The [second part of our feature on Indonesia edtech]( explores the strategies that companies are using to address the unique problems they face in the country. Some of these are decidedly old school: Advertising on television is still the best way to reach older audiences. Investors in the space are interested to see how startups are tapping technology to improve their products and services. Meanwhile, many edtech companies are counseling patience - after all, Rome wasn't built in a day. Watch this space for more coverage of this nascent sector! -- Simon Huang, Tech in Asia journalist  ---------------------------------------------------------------  THE BIGGEST STORIES 1️. [Indonesian edtech’s biggest challenges]( The country’s nascent edtech sector is lucrative but hard to tackle, though that hasn’t deterred some startups from entering the space. 2️. [Chinese tech giants are hungry for Southeast Asia’s fruits]( The demand for imported fresh fruit is on the rise in China, and the country’s ecommerce players are eager to capture rich pickings in Southeast Asia. 3️. [After Topica, Vietnam seeks its next edtech breakthrough]( Despite Topica’s setbacks, Vietnam edtech is on the radar of some regional investors. 4️. [Reliance Retail to receive US$1 billion from GIC, TPG]( The latest investment gives Reliance Retail a pre-money valuation north of US$58.4 billion. 5️. [London bans India’s Ola over safety concerns]( This comes after Uber won a legal bid to operate in the capital nearly a year after its application was rejected over safety concerns. 6️. [Vietnamese podcast startup Waves has ceased operations, co-founder confirms]( Waves originally planned to ride on the podcasting boom in Southeast Asia. 7. [KKR raises US$13 billion for Asia-focused fund, exceeds its target]( The new fund has beaten Hong Kong-based Hillhouse Capital's US$10.6 billion fundraise in 2018. 8️. [Walmart’s Flipkart buys land for fulfilling center worth US$59 million]( It plans to set up a 5 million square feet logistics park on the plot of land over the next three to five years. 9️. [Bukalapak launches new fintech subsidiary Buka Investasi Bersama]( Bukalapak is the first ecommerce platform to receive a license to sell mutual funds in Indonesia. 10. [Revolt against Apple, Google app stores gathers steam in Asia]( A battle has been brewing between India's startups and Google. We take a deep dive into this global trend of startups vs. app stores.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  IN PARTNERSHIP WITH The second-time founder who built another winning company It’s not often we get a founder who's a pro gaming champion. But John S. Kim, co-founder and CEO of chat API Sendbird is one such entrepreneur. After securing the title of Korea's no. 1 Unreal Tournament champion and the world's no. 3 in World Cyber Games Challenge 2000, he went on to establish Paprika Lab, a social gaming company that was acquired in 2012 by Japanese gaming giant Gree. In 2013, he launched Sendbird, a chat solutions provider that’s used by [companies including]( Gojek, Carousell, Traveloka, Reddit, NBA, and Yahoo Sports. Now Kim wants to share the founding story of Sendbird at the [Tech in Asia Conference 2020](. So grab your tickets and join 3,000 other attendees to find out the lessons he’s picked up from his startup journey and what road he took to global expansion. If you’re a Core or Live subscriber, you can [join the event]( at no additional charge.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  UNLOCKED PREMIUM ARTICLE Every week, we unlock a premium article for our awesome community. Here's this week's read: [Demystifying Omise parent Synqa’s plans to disrupt payment networks](. In the past seven years, the firm previously known as Omise Holdings has been many things. Is it finally on the verge of a breakthrough?  ---------------------------------------------------------------  EVENTS HAPPENING - Tech in Asia Virtual Conference from October 19 to 22. 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