Stockbit is a financial analytics platform that helps Indonesian traders understand and share information about the local stock
market in real-time. Earlier today it announced a seed investment of an undisclosed amount from local VC firm Ideosource.
The startup was founded in 2012 by Wellson Lo, who previously worked for consulting firm KPMG Singapore and as a trader, and Johny Susanto, a full-stack engineer. Stockbit started out as a social network that attempted to bundle the discussion about Indoneisa’s stocks into one place. “Previously, it was scattered all across Twitter, forums, and blogs,” Wellson explains.
At the end of 2013, Stockbit added analytics features. The data comes from public sources like the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX). The problem with the available data, Wellson says, is that it’s not standardized. Stockbit aggregates this data and makes access to it quicker and more reliable.
At the same time, Stockbit started to monetize through a freemium subscription model. The price for a one-month subscription is IDR 200,000 (US$13.59). In comparison, professional tools like the Bloomberg Terminal cost US$2,000 per month, the firm says.
Stockbit’s goal is to make life easier for independent or retail investors by giving them access to high-quality financial data and sophisticated analytics tools at an affordable price. The idea is to create a more level playing field between newcomers and institutional investors, including traders from banks, insurance companies, and pension funds.
“I found that the information gap between retail investors and institutional investors is very big,” says Wellson. “It’s never going to reach the point where it’s really level, but with better tools to analyze and better collaboration, retail investors can make better trading decisions.”
To date, Stockbit has 15,000 registered users, while paid subscribers are still in the hundreds. According to Wellson, the figures are a result of the small size of the addressable market.
“In Indonesia there are only 400,000 registered investors, probably of those [only] 100,000 are retail investors,” he says. “That means more than 10 percent of the addressable market is already using Stockbit.”
Stockbit targets a narrow market, and that’s the big reason founders faced difficulties raising funds until now. Ideosource’s decision to back the venture is based on a commitment by the Indonesian Financial Services Authority to increase the number of retail investors to five million by 2017.
Wellson says there are government outreach programs that work with schools and companies that encourage more people to consider investing in the capital market.
Stockbit has several competitors in Indonesia, including Idsaham, Indonesia-Investments, and Infovesta. However, those sites merely aggregate stock information and don’t yet offer analytics tools. Bareksa can be seen as a possible contender, as it offers a variety of financial analytics tools and also aggregates information about the IDX, among other functions. It also recently opened up its online platform for trading mutual funds.
The Stockbit team plans to spend the fresh capital on building out the product, which includes making mobile apps for Android and iOS, as well as recruitment and marketing.