Indonesia startups starting to feel effects of universal funding slowdown

THE region’s fastest growing startups are starting to feel the ill effects of a universal funding chill, with news of layoffs at Indonesia startups spilling out and deals starting to dry up.

And after the explosive growth of the Indonesian ecosystem in the last decade, startups in South-east Asia’s most populous country may be finding it tough to live up to expectations.

Funding is still happening, mostly at the early stages of seed rounds and Series A. But investors are now cautious and deliberate longer on whether to bring in their money. The due diligence process, according to Emilio Wibisono, co-founder of business-to-business (B2B) marketplace Sinbad, can now take twice as long as it used to.