Indonesian startup Stoqo becomes latest casualty of coronavirus

[JAKARTA] Stoqo Teknologi Indonesia, an online platform that supplies fresh ingredients to food outlets, is shutting down, becoming the latest casualty of the coronavirus outbreak.

Stoqo, which delivers everything from chili and eggs to coffee powder, is ceasing operations after the Covid-19 pandemic "drastically" slashed its income, the Jakarta-based company said on its website.

The move underscores the heavy toll on the region's tech startups.

Many firms have seen revenue evaporate after governments imposed tough restrictions on social activities to curb the spread of the virus, forcing them to cut salaries and jobs to deal with a cash crunch.

Jakarta-based Traveloka, Southeast Asia's largest online travel service, dismissed about 80 employees in Singapore as part of broad cost-cutting measures, Bloomberg News reported this month.

Stoqo was founded in 2017 by former McKinsey & Co.associate Aswin Andrison and Angky William, a former software developer at Amazon.com, to streamline food supply chains by sourcing and delivering ingredients to small restaurants.

In 2019, the business grew seven times, serving tens of thousands of food outlets across Greater Jakarta, chief executive officer Andrison said early this year. He declined to comment for this story.

The startup employs about 250 people, according to its LinkedIn profile. It has raised money from investors including Accel Partners, Alpha JWC Ventures, Monk's Hill Ventures and Insignia Ventures Partners.

BLOOMBERG