Universitas Gadjah Mada, through its startup MetaSeaco, achieved recognition by ranking among the Top 3 Early Stage Startups at the Pertamuda Seed and Scale 2024 held in Surabaya on Wednesday (Nov. 20).
This success is a proud achievement for MetaSeaco, especially considering that Pertamuda 2024 serves as a crucial platform for startups to showcase their innovative ideas and gain national recognition.
MetaSeaco’s accomplishment also concretely proves the innovation and hard work they have invested in developing marine technology solutions.
Their portable solar-powered cooler for conventional fishing vessels reduces fish spoilage and operational costs associated with using ice blocks.
Catur Prasetyo Nugroho, founder and CEO of MetaSeaco, explained that MetaSeaco is one of the startups that UGM’s Innovative Academy incubated.
In 2023, MetaSeaco successfully secured a Startup Grant from the Promoting Research and Innovation through Modern and Efficient Science and Techno Park (PRIME STeP) program.
PRIME STeP is a program initiated by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for UGM’s Science Techno Park (STP), managed by the Directorate of Business Development.
“We focus on developing marine technology that enhances efficiency and sustainability in the maritime industry,” stated Nugroho.
He continued, emphasizing that through various projects, MetaSeaco has demonstrated exceptional capabilities in creating devices and systems that provide economic benefits and contribute to marine environmental preservation.
Nugroho believes that MetaSeaco’s innovation caught the judges’ and other participants’ attention at the Pertamuda 2024 competition.
Nugroho, who was also the youngest participant, expressed his pride in joining Pertamuda and his happiness in being one of the startups that successfully signed a memorandum of understanding as an initial commitment to investment with an investor.
“During the initial Business Matching session, we introduced ourselves to the investors and presented our innovation. It turns out the investors were interested and wanted to further collaborate,” he recalled.
Besides MetaSeaco, three other UGM startups—Enova, Edus.id, and Zona Farm—also succeeded in entering the Top 10 Early Stage Startups in the same competition.
The success of these four startups at Pertamuda 2024 demonstrates the great innovation potential that UGM’s academic community can develop.
Dr. Hargo Utomo, Director of Business Development at UGM, stated that this achievement is expected to inspire UGM’s academic community to continue innovating and contributing across various fields, proving that UGM is a fertile ground for developing and strengthening innovation-based startup ecosystems.
“This award is a form of public recognition of the university’s role in facilitating the downstream of campus innovations through the development of technology-based startups,” said Dr. Utomo on Friday (Nov. 22).
He added that the Innovative Academy is committed to continuously mentoring UGM’s startups, from talent development to becoming business entities capable of growing, sustaining themselves, and competing in the business world while also benefiting society and the nation.
Enova, Edus.id, and Zona Farm each focus on different fields. Enova focuses on developing Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) products and services. Currently, Enova is developing Envirodash, a sustainability dashboard web app, to streamline sustainability data processing and reporting. Enova leverages AI-based data management solutions and a highly customizable platform.
Edus.id, meanwhile, is a parenting platform focused on family education to support child development. Edus.id offers three main products: BEEJOY, an interactive board game that fosters emotional empathy and teaches sexual education in a fun way.
The other platforms were SKILLJOY, a skills training program that uses coding and robotics to nurture children’s curiosity and talents, and ELIA, an AI assistant on WhatsApp that provides parenting information and psychological advice trained by child and family psychologists.
Edus.id offers practical solutions for parents to educate their children in the digital age through innovative and psychology-based approaches.
On the other hand, Zona Farm is revolutionizing the poultry farming industry through IoT and AI technology. Zona Farm offers intelligent solutions such as real-time farm environment monitoring, AI-based early disease detection, and a Decision Support System (DSS) to improve farmers’ operational efficiency and quality.
Pertamuda is a business idea competition for students organized by PT Pertamina (Persero). It aims to expand the implementation of SDGs and innovation in the energy sector while also helping startups in Indonesia access funding.
The theme, Energizing Tomorrow’s Innovation, reflects the strong determination of young innovators and proves that age is not a barrier to creating world-class solutions. This year, Pertamuda Seed and Scale saw 3,245 registrants, an increase from last year’s 2,719.
The registrants came from 696 higher education institutions, comprising 273 state universities and 423 private universities, spread across 32 provinces in Indonesia.
Author: Triya Andriyani
Photo: UGM Directorate of Business Development
Post-editor: Afif