Definition of UNICORN INDONESIA and the Origin of the Mention of UNICORN

Recently in the presidential debate, there was a discussion about Indonesian Unicorns. At first the admin also did not know the meaning of this unicorn and why it was called unicorn instead of popcorn and so on :D. From the information we explore, it turns out that Unicorn is a title given to a startup that has a valuation value (the value of a startup, not just the funding achieved from investors) of more than $1 billion.

Getting to know Indonesia's Unicorns

In Indonesia, there are already 4 starups called Indonesian Unicorns, namely Go-Jek, Tokopedia, Traveloka, and Bukalapak. 

Gojek is a ride-hailing company started by Nadiem Makariem around 2010. Gojek became the first unicorn to be 'born' in Indonesia in 2016. Go-Jek received funding from Google amounting to USD 1.2 billion. This makes Go-Jek's current valuation estimated at 4 billion US dollars or more than Rp 53 trillion. 

Moving on to Tokopedia. This e-commerce founded by William Tanuwijaya was present one year before Gojek, precisely in 2009. Tokopedia managed to become the second unicorn in Indonesia on August 17, 2017 after receiving funding from Alibaba amounting to 1.1 billion US dollars or around Rp 14.7 trillion. Previously, Tokopedia also received funding in 2014 from Softbank Japan and Sequoia Capital worth USD 100 million or IDR 1.3 trillion. 

Traveloka or the online ticket booking platform was founded by Ferry Unardi and two of his colleagues. Traveloka was born in 2012 and solidified its position as a unicorn in 2017.

Traveloka, secured funding from US travel company Expedia in June 2017 worth USD 350 million or around Rp 4.6 trillion. With the total funding, Traveloka has now reached a valuation of more than USD 2 billion or equivalent to IDR 26.6 trillion.

Bukalapak CEO Achmad Zaky said Bukalapak had a valuation of more than Rp 13.5 trillion and became the 4th starup in Indonesia to hold the title of Indonesian Unicorn.

Why use the word Unicorn instead of popcorn and so on?

From the search results, Fortune defines it as a private company that has a valuation of US$ 1 billion or more. According to them, it used to be a myth that only a startup had a billion dollar valuation. However, they are now spread across many countries. So visually we recognize Unicorns as winged and horned horse creatures that are only myths, or do not exist in the real world. So the term Unicorn is probably derived from the term Unicorn which is a mythical creature, as funding of 1 billion dollars was once considered a myth and impossible, but now it has become a reality.

Reference:

https://ekonomi.kompas.com/read/2018/02/12/104408026/kenapa-unicorn-muncul-di-indonesia. 

http://marketeers.com/10-startup-dunia-yang-telah-jadi-unicorn/

https://www.cnnindonesia.com/teknologi/20190217222614-185-370153/melihat-4-unicorn-indonesia-yang-tak-dikenal-prabowo