Populix Secures $1.2M Pre-Series A Funding - Indonesian Consumer Research

Indonesia's Consumer Market and the Rise of Populix

Indonesia represents a rapidly expanding consumer market globally, yet obtaining reliable consumer data remains a challenge for many businesses, particularly smaller enterprises. Populix is addressing this issue by simplifying research processes for companies. Their respondent application currently boasts a user base of 250,000 individuals across 300 cities within Indonesia.

Recent Funding and Growth

The startup recently announced the successful completion of a $1.2 million oversubscribed pre-Series A funding round. This round was spearheaded by Intudo Ventures, a returning investor, with additional participation from Quest Ventures. To date, Populix has secured a total of $2.3 million in funding since its inception in January 2018, including a prior $1 million seed round also led by Intudo.

The company experienced a fivefold increase in revenue during 2020 and onboarded 52 new enterprise clients spanning 10 countries. This growth was fueled by the limitations imposed on traditional consumer survey methods, such as in-person questionnaires, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Populix’s clientele includes organizations ranging from emerging tech startups to established multinational corporations.

Future Plans and Product Development

The newly acquired capital will be allocated to product launches, marketing initiatives, and personnel recruitment. Currently, Populix is developing a self-service product, named Paket Hemat Populix (PHP), designed for clients like SMEs and university researchers. This product will enable them to independently conduct surveys and analyze results in real-time.

Populix’s founding team. Image Credits: Populix

The company is led by co-founders Timothy Astandu, serving as chief executive officer, Eileen Kamtawijoyo as chief operating officer, and Jonathan Benhi as chief technical officer. Astandu and Kamtawijoyo initially connected while pursuing graduate studies in business management at the University of Cambridge.

Addressing a Gap in the Indonesian Market

“During our studies, we observed that consumer insights were a crucial component of business strategy in developed markets,” explained Astandu. “However, this resource was largely unavailable in developing nations like Indonesia,” where traditional offline research methods persist despite high smartphone usage. For instance, a coffee brand might rely on distributing surveys in cafés or grocery stores, offering small incentives for participation.

Astandu further stated, “We recognized the importance of understanding consumer sentiment in Indonesia, given its significant market potential and the limited innovation in this area thus far.” He emphasized the opportunity to disrupt the existing landscape, which historically catered primarily to large corporations, while acknowledging the growing need for research and data among SMEs and the emerging middle class.

From Gojek's Xcelerate to a Standalone Venture

Following their return to Indonesia, Astandu and Kamtawijoyo initiated the development of a more precise and accessible alternative to conventional surveys, ultimately creating Populix while participating in Gojek’s Xcelerate program. Subsequently, they collaborated with Benhi, who previously held an engineering position at Discuss.io, a Seattle-based video platform specializing in consumer research.

The Populix Respondent App and its Capabilities

Populix’s clients leverage the company’s respondent app, also known as Populix, to conduct research. The app maintains user engagement through daily polls, interactive games, and news content, rewarding participation with incentives such as cash offers or rebate programs. Populix is adaptable to diverse research requirements, from brief surveys to extended longitudinal studies, and is utilized for tracking brand health, preparing for product launches, or assessing customer satisfaction.

As an example, a coffee brand utilized Populix to monitor its performance relative to competitors on a monthly basis and to evaluate consumer responses prior to launching a new ready-to-drink product. E-commerce businesses have also employed the platform to gather insights into online shopping habits, consumer preferences, and perceptions of the customer experience across various platforms.

“Our ability to expedite the respondent recruitment process is a key advantage, as we maintain a readily available database of participants for virtually any research study,” noted Kamtawijoyo.

Expanding Technological Capabilities

Populix is currently developing new products focused on tracking market trends, utilizing data collection technologies like optical character recognition (OCR) to analyze invoices from major e-commerce platforms. The company claims its data classification system can accurately identify over 73% of all items listed on invoices.

Competitive Landscape and Future Outlook

The competitive landscape includes established players such as YouGov and Kantar, as well as Singapore-based Milieu Insight, a market research and data platform operating across several Southeast Asian countries. Astandu highlighted Populix’s focus on mobile surveys as a key differentiator, given Indonesia’s status as the fourth-largest smartphone market globally (following China, India, and the United States) and the continued growth in smartphone penetration.

The founders indicated that Populix will maintain its focus on Indonesia with the pre-Series A funding, but plans to explore other developing markets with fragmented consumer data, such as the Philippines and Vietnam, following the completion of its Series A funding round.

In a press release, Intudo Ventures founding partner Patrick Yip stated, “With consumer habits undergoing dramatic changes in recent years due to rising incomes and widespread embrace of digital commerce, Populix is providing clients with actionable insights into the latest consumption characteristics and trends of Indonesians. We are excited to double down on our support for Populix as it continues to roll out new technology-driven consumer insights products and solutions to meet the needs of clients both big and small.”