Southeast Asia’s big media emerges from slumber, finds digital media revolution at its doorstep

While traditional media in the United States have been reeling from the digital media revolution, registering millions in losses, shutdowns, and layoffs, their counterparts in Southeast Asia have been insulated from its devastating effects.

But maybe not for long.

Well aware that the window to adapt is fast closing, the region’s big media are finally getting more serious about investing in technology. Take this recent piece of news as an example: Scoop, a popular digital newsstand in Indonesia, has raised SGD 3M (USD 2.4M) in Series B funding from Kompas Gramedia, the country’s largest media conglomerate.

It’s certainly a good result for Scoop, which previously raised SGD 1M in Series A funding, hinting at a substantial increase in valuation for the company. The service currently has 210k monthly active users, with 90 percent coming from Indonesia.

Willson Cuaca, CEO of Apps Foundry, the company behind Scoop, says that this is the first non-controlling minority stake the media giant has taken in a foreign entity (App Foundry is based in Singapore). Prior to this, Kompas has either been developing its own products or acquiring other companies.

This significant development is no isolated incident. Read more

Scoop inks deal with publishers from India, Singapore, Philippines; launches localized apps

Scoop, a top digital newsstand app from Indonesia, is expanding to India, Singapore, Malaysia, and Philippines. It has launched localized iOS apps in those countries, adding titles from publishers India Today Group, SPH Magazines from Singapore, and The Philippine Star Group of Publications. Read more

Mobile newsstand SCOOP dramatically increases title selection, launches web store

Indonesia’s Scoop, a mobile newsstand app, announced today that it has signed an exclusive deal with Gramedia Book Publishing Group that will see over 10,000 local books and novels from the publisher make its way into SCOOP’s web store, which has also just launched.

The collection adds to Scoop’s existing cache of 9,000 books, magazines, and newspapers. Gramedia is a prolific book publisher in Indonesia that pumps out over 50,000 local books a year, with a tenth of them being new entries.

Users can now proceed to the web store to make purchases. Their items can then be shared with up to five devices, all of which will require the Scoop mobile app to view the book or magazine. The web store is offering discounts of up to 91 percent and will throw in a free second-year subscription for every annual subscription made to a title.

Already a leading digital publisher in Indonesia, Scoop’s new web store can eventually increase its reach in Indonesia and beyond since purchasing on the web is easier than doing so on a smartphone with its limited screen real estate.

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E-publishing platforms, Thailand’s Ookbee and Indonesia’s SCOOP, partner up for regional expansion

They have a combined collection of 600 regional magazine titles and daily newspapers. They reach over 4 million devices, and deliver over 6 million digital publications a year.

Now imagine what would happen if Ookbee of Thailand and SCOOP of Indonesia partner up. That’s exactly what they did, announcing couple of days ago a strategic tie-up in a press release.

Both are already impressive in their home countries. Ookbee has partnered with Thailand’s largest telco AIS and the country’s leading bookstore B2S. It also received an investment of USD2M from Shin Corporation at a USD8M valuation, and was reportedly growing at 5,000 users a day. Read more

SCOOP, a popular digital newsstand in Indonesia, raises S$1M

Apps Foundry, an Indonesian mobile development company headquartered in Singapore, announced on 22nd December that they have raised S$1M (US$0.77M) from Gobi Partners and Mitsui Global Investment to further develop SCOOP, their flagship newsstand app.

SCOOP, which was launched in Indonesia last year, has over 800 magazines, tabloids, and books in its stable.

70 percent of Indonesian magazines have their digital editions on the app, which has so far been downloaded over 120,000 times, making it one of the top ten grossing iPad apps in Indonesia. SCOOP is also available for the iPhone. Read more

Indonesia Digest: Google goes on marketing blitz, Kaskus CMO resigns, and more

Here are some interesting startup news from Indonesia, not only in its capital, Jakarta, but also other tech startup hubs such as Yogyakarta, Medan, Surabaya, and many more. These listed news are taken from our partner, DailySocial, a leading blog on Indonesia’s tech startup scene. Read more

Indonesia Digest: Bouncity Mobile Web version, Yahoo! Post, and more

Here are some interesting startup news from Indonesia, not only in its capital, Jakarta, but also other tech startup hubs such as Yogyakarta, Medan, Surabaya, and many more. These listed news are taken from our partner, DailySocial, a leading blog on Indonesia’s tech startup scene. Read more

Indonesia Digest – 13 Jul

Here you can find some interesting startup news from Indonesia, not only in its capital, Jakarta, but also other their tech startup hubs such as Yogyakarta, Medan, Surabaya, and many more. These listed news are taken from our partner, DailySocial, a leading blog on Indonesia’s tech startup scene. Read more