Is the IDX ready for tech listings?

More: WhatsApp encounters more privacy policy shenanigans, and Samsung’s heir is headed back to the big house [Read from your browser]( Daily Newsletter Hello {NAME} When the term “IPO” is brought up, ringing the bell at the New York Stock Exchange is probably the first thing that comes to mind. Even if you bring things a little closer to home in Asia, Hong Kong is the exchange of choice. But what about the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX)? With dual listings now being a viable option for many companies - Gojek and Tokopedia are apparently considering it - maybe more Indonesian startups will think about going the homegrown route. (Also, “IDX” is a pretty rad-looking acronym in my opinion.) Today we look at, - The case for Indonesian tech companies to [get listed on the IDX]( - Deliveroo packing in more funding into its pouch - Other newsy highlights such as the delay of WhatsApp’s new privacy policy and confirmation of jail time for Samsung’s heir  ---------------------------------------------------------------  PREMIUM SUMMARY  Keeping things local An IPO for an Indonesian tech giant seems to be on the cards this year - Tokopedia, Gojek, Traveloka, and Bukalapak are a few prominent examples. Pandu Sjahrir, commissioner of Sea Group and the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX), thinks that local retail and institutional investors will welcome internet companies to the IDX as they’ve been salivating at the prospect of putting money in tech. - Success stories: Tourism marketplace startup Pigijo was able to raise US$850,000 via its IPO in January 2020, while payments startup Cashlez pocketed US$6.2 million when it went public in May 2020. - Transformation: The growing number of listed tech firms in Indonesia marks a change from an old economy dominated by banking, oil and gas, and fast-moving consumer goods firms. - Not for a quick buck: Sjahrir cautions that companies shouldn’t list in haste. Instead, startups should get their fundamentals right before considering it. VCs can provide this mentoring function, advising on business models as well as corporate structure and governance, among other things. Read more: [Sea Group commissioner: Why now is the time for local unicorns to IPO](  ---------------------------------------------------------------  STARTUP SPOTLIGHT  A fatter pouch for this kangaroo Online food delivery company Deliveroo has [completed a US$180 million series H round]( led by Durable Capital Partners and Fidelity Management and Research Company, which puts the startup’s value at over US$7 billion. That’ll get us a lot of pizza delivery. - IPO plans? This investment comes ahead of a potential initial public offering as the company is seeing increasing consumer adoption, the firm said in a statement. - Expansion plans: With the fresh capital, Deliveroo plans to expand the kitchen sites of its delivery-only business, Editions, work with more partners, and bring its subscription membership services to new geographies. It will also expand its on-demand grocery services and launch new initiatives to support its riders. - A massive pie to have a piece of: The online food delivery market is expected to reach US$154.3 billion in 2023, according to a Research and Markets report. Major players in the space include Berlin-based Foodpanda, which raised US$749.5 million in total funding as per Crunchbase, and the US-based Uber Eats, which is owned by ride-hailing major Uber.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  LISTEN TO Deep Dive: How CoAssets lost its investors millions of dollars In the last weeks of 2020, hundreds of retail investors were shocked when they discovered that Singapore-based investment platform CoAssets had disposed of over US$30 million of their investments to a virtually unknown debt recovery firm. Numerous affected parties have filed police reports against the company and its former CEO Getty Goh, but many are still asking: How did this happen? On this episode of Deep Dive, Tech in Asia editor-in-chief Terence Lee discusses the events that led to CoAssets’ closure and the alleged mismanagement of investor money at the firm. Listen here: [Spotify]( | [Apple Podcast](  ---------------------------------------------------------------  2,007 hours are invested into bringing this free newsletter to you each year. That’s the amount of time we take to write, design, and set up the email. If you would like to support us and keep this newsletter free, you can do so for just US$1 when you start your [30-day trial subscription]( today.   ---------------------------------------------------------------  QUICK BYTES  1️⃣ WhatsApp’s privacy policy foibles Facebook’s WhatsApp is [delaying an update]( aimed at increasing business transactions on the platform after a storm of concern from users who feared that the messaging platform was watering down its privacy policy in the process. The launch of the new policy will be pushed back from next month to May 2021. The company also stated that the update focuses on allowing its users to message with businesses and will not affect end-to-end encrypted personal messaging.  2️⃣ Go to jail, do not pass go, do not collect US$200 Samsung Electronics heir Jay Y. Lee has been [sentenced to two years and six months in prison over bribery charges]( concluding a years-long graft trial. The Seoul High Court first jailed Lee in 2017 after convicting the billionaire for his role in a corruption scandal that toppled former president Park Geun-hye. He served a year in prison but was released in February 2018 after his original five-year term was halved and suspended. The Supreme Court overturned that verdict and ordered a retrial in 2019.  3️⃣ A couple more Huawei restrictions for the road The Trump administration has notified Huawei suppliers, including chipmaker Intel, that it is [revoking certain licenses to sell to the Chinese company]( and intends to reject dozens of other applications to supply the telecommunications firm. It’s the latest in a long-running effort to weaken the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker, which Washington sees as a national security threat.  4️⃣ Can’t put a price on health (but you can, apparently, on healthtech) India-based healthtech startup MFine has [raised US$16 million]( in a new financing round led by Heritas Capital. The company was also backed by the Singapore-based family office of YS Investment. Founded in 2017, MFine is an artificial intelligence-driven platform that provides access to virtual consultations and connected care programs from different hospitals.  5️⃣ China’s economy beats expectations China’s economy picked up speed in the fourth quarter of 2020, with the country’s growth beating expectations as it ended a rough coronavirus-stricken year [in good shape](. It remains poised to expand further this year even as the global pandemic continues. Official data shows that China’s gross domestic product grew 2.3% in 2020, making it the only major economy in the world to avoid a contraction last year. It is expected to continue to power ahead this year, with GDP set to expand at the fastest pace in a decade at 8.4%, according to a Reuters poll.  6️⃣ Money for Indian startups Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi [announced a seed fund for startups]( with 10 billion rupees (US$136.6 million) going to new entrepreneurs. “We are launching a 10 billion rupee startup India seed fund to help new startups grow in the country. We are trying to create a startup system, which is based on the mantra ‘of the youth, by the youth, for the youth,'” Modi stated during the Startup India International Summit. Currently, India has more than 30 startups valued at over US$1 billion, including the 11 new unicorns from last year.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  WHO'S HIRING - [Product Manager]( at KeyReply (Singapore, Singapore) - [Content Creator [TikTok]]( at PT. Jakarta Notebook (Jakarta, Indonesia) - [TechOps Lead]( at SayurBox (Jakarta, Indonesia)  ---------------------------------------------------------------  SHARE WITH YOUR FRIEND Don’t leave your co-workers behind! Share this with them so that they can keep up with what’s going on in the region’s tech scene. Feel free to [drop us some feedback]( if our newsletter today got you feeling smarter (or if it didn’t).  ---------------------------------------------------------------  Thanks for reading! Tech in Asia’s newsletters are handcrafted daily with love - and sometimes powered by good kopi (or tea). [ADVERTISE]( | [PREMIUM]( | [JOBS]( P.S. Don't miss out on the biggest tech news and analysis. Add newsletter@techinasia.com to your address book, contacts, or safe sender list. Or simply move us into your inbox. Was this forwarded to you? You can read this everyday when you sign up [here](. Don't want to receive these emails anymore? [Unsubscribe](.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  Today’s edition is written by Winston Zhang, with contributions from Gilang Kharisma and Doris Yu. It’s edited by Jaclyn Teng. Copyright © 2021 Tech in Asia, All rights reserved. 51 Bras Basah Rd, #05-5061, Singapore 189554