Sampingan, an on-demand workforce startup in Indonesia, has secured US$1.5 million in a pre-series A round led by Golden Gate Ventures. Antler and other investors also participated in the round.

Photo credit: Quang Ngo

Sampingan, which means side jobs in Bahasa Indonesia, plans to use the latest funding to expand their operations and provide businesses with wider options to scale.

It said its network of agents and community leaders who have direct access and insights into second and third tier cities and towns in Indonesia allows businesses to complete specific tasks, such as merchant acquisition or data collection, efficiently.

The company claims that this approach is able to save businesses up to 70% on their manpower costs.

According to the company, the manpower business opportunity is driven by Indonesia’s current strong economic growth, where more companies require specific needs that need to be met within a short time frame.

Moreover, Indonesia forecasts that 16% of its current work activities will be automated by 2030. Automation, along with the country’s average minimum monthly wage of only US$250, is leading most Indonesians to do side jobs to make ends meet, the company said.

Gojek, Oyo, Unilever, and Danone are among the company’s main clients. It also has a long-term partnership with Moka.

Since entering the market in January 2019, Sampingan has grown from a team of three to 60 people based out of Jakarta. It bagged US$500,000 in seed funding from Golden Gate Ventures in December 2018, following a US$100,000 pre-seed round with Antler.