KaryaKarsa, an Indonesian platform that enables creators to distribute and monetise their work, raised close to US$500k seed round today, led by Accelerating Asia, Sketchnote Partners and a number of other institutional and angel investors. The seed round will support KaryaKarsa’s growth in the Southeast Asia market and advance the platform.
KaryaKarsa has collaborated with more than 40,000 creators and served 300,000 users. The platform enables creators to promote their digital content or service offerings, such as books, comics, audio, video and other digital goods, directly to their audience without going through middlemen.
“In October alone the number of transactions via the KaryaKarsa platform has increased 60 percent month on month and we’ve increased the number of new creators on the platform by 135 percent. The new funds will enable us to expand our offering and empower more creators to develop sustainable livelihoods. We are grateful for the trust our partners have placed in our vision” said Ario Tamat, Karyakarsa’s Chief Executive Officer.
KaryaKarsa is on track to capitalise on the growth in the creative economy in Indonesia which is ranked the third largest in the world in terms of contribution to GDP. As it looks to the region, KaryaKarsa estimates there are 8 million creators with audiences in Southeast Asia and enabling them to monetise their audiences will be a turning point in democratizing the entertainment industry.
“As second time founders, the KaryaKarsa team has deep experience in scaling a business with the founders also being creatives themselves. They are positioned to take advantage of existing global disaggregation trends and efficiently help creatives monetize their projects. Having grown the value of transactions through the platform 40 per cent in October, KaryaKarsa’s traction is set to continue and Accelerating Asia is proud to be an early investor into the company as they build the creative economy in Indonesia,” Craig Bristol Dixon, General Partner, Accelerating Asia said.
Aiming to provide creators with a sense of empowerment and financial sustainability from their work, KaryaKarsa allows deeper relationships to form between creators and their audiences and gives 90 percent of each transaction to the creator.
“We’ve seen how the gig economy has grown in Southeast Asia, especially in Indonesia, so we believe that the creator economy will be the next growth wave,” said Francisco de la Peña from Sketchnote Partners, a new investment vehicle that invests in pre-series A across SEA and India.
To help KaryaKarsa scale, the company and Board have appointed J. P. Ellis as an official advisor. A seasoned Jakarta-based founder, technology executive and policy leader in the financial technology industry, Ellis said, “KaryaKarsa has achieved product-market-fit in a valuable and fast-growing space in the creative economy. Their growth and success are a proxy for Indonesian creative entrepreneurs. I am honored to join the team as an advisor and excited about what we can accomplish together to benefit the creative economy and the livelihoods of millions of creators and their families.”
By providing a platform that seeks to empower creators and providing space for fans to directly support their favorite creators, KaryaKarsa has led the growth of the creator economy in Indonesia.
Accelerating Asia was an early investor into KaryaKarsa which was selected for Cohort 3 of our flagship 100 day program. During our last recruitment round Accelerating Asia received 550 applications from 30 countries and we have with 2000+ startups per year.
If you’re interested in connecting with KaryaKarsa, investing alongside us, meeting our portfolio companies, or just generally interested in talking to us about startup investing, please reach out and tell us a little bit about yourself.
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