Heaptalk, Jakarta — An Indonesia-based web3 brand-retailer enabler, SerMorpheus, has secured its seed investment round worth USD2.5 million. This round was led by Intudo Ventures and supported by the 500 Global, Febe Ventures, AlphaLab Capital, BRI Ventures, and Caballeros Capital.
Obtaining new capital injection, SeMorpheus will build infrastructure to bridge the gap between web3 and Indonesian brands and its consumers while hiring top talent across all functions. In addition, the company will develop creator tools, including a self-service drag-and-drop NFT builder, to enable users to release NFTs more quickly with zero technical knowledge required. Also, the team intends to grant analytical tools to bolster creators in tracking their collection and user base.
“We envision web3 will be part of our daily life in the future, and NFTs have massive potential to reach an even bigger audience than crypto. Web3 has gained significant traction in Indonesia, where community and consumer products consistently outperform other market segments. We are excited to bring NFTs to Indonesia’s mass market as a gateway to the greater world of web3.” stated Co-Founder of SerMorpheus, Kenneth Tali.
Established in January 2022, SerMorpheus is an Indonesian web3 enablement platform onboarding brands and retailers into the new digital economy. This web3 platform empowers brands and creators to evolve NFTs and manage utilities to engage directly with customers and communities, unlocking brand value through ultra-personalized shopping experiences.
Through the company’s online-to-offline bridge, NFT holders can earn real-life benefits at events conducted by brands and retailers and seamlessly claim branded NFTs in real life through several offline activities, consisting of concerts, movies, and branded events.
Supported this seed funding round, the Partner, Ventures, and Ecosystem of AlphaLab Capital, Julia Zhou, realizes that the young demography delivered enormous growth opportunities for web3, particularly related to the localized NFTs. Thus, she shared her optimism about this company in increasing NFT accessibility to the potential audience and connecting brands with existing fanbases by creating NFTs.
Bringing Web3 technology to Indonesia’s market
Currently, SerMorpheus is building infrastructure for Indonesian brands and creators that connect web3 products and services to web2 users, eliminating technical barriers and reducing friction. The company works directly with Indonesian and global businesses, brands, and creators to develop NFT products and features. The partnership is aimed to improve community engagement and unlock utility, perform as a technical partner to support several entrepreneurs to create web3 products and services for their users and devotees.
Following this investment round, the Managing Partner of 500 Global, Khailee Ng, stated the Web3 ecosystem represents the latest iteration of what the internet promised to deliver a new environment, enabling people to co-create and co-own. However, Khailee claimed that only an estimated 400 million people are crypto users in a world of five billion internet users, with billions more coming online in the next few years. As the SerMorpheus platform serving the Indonesian market, Khailee believes the service would become a key for inclusive internet, even beyond Indonesia.
In terms of the users’ experience, this web3 enabler platform removes onboarding friction by connecting directly with global NFT marketplaces on their behalf. Also, the platform allows transactions to be made in rupiah (IDR) only through their address and phone number submission. This scheme can simplify the process of entering a new digital economy era.
As stated by Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Febe Ventures, Olivier Raussin, Blockchain technologies have produced new methods for creators and brands to interact with their fans and consumers to reward their customers’ loyalty. According to Olivier, SerMerpheus is the technical partners’ preference for Indonesia’s businesses to drive new engagement in the new digital economy.
During its operation, SerMorpheus has enhanced and distributed several customized NFTs, spanning the Indonesia Comic Con, professional football club PERSITA Tangerang, Jogjarockarta music festival, Indonesian actress Prilly Latuconsina, and Visinema Pictures-produced film Mencuri Raden Saleh.
Realizing the strong demand for brands to entail with Indonesian audiences, SerMorpheus will accelerate its endeavor to penetrate more brands into the new digital economy, containing NFT that supports movie ticket purchases, event attendance, and other online-to-offline activation campaigns.
“As NFTs and other crypto assets have gained global traction, the demand for localized onramps has dramatically increased for consumers and brands alike that can understand their unique characteristics and circumstances. SerMorpheus is building the infrastructure to bring web3 to Indonesia, and we’re excited to join them on this journey,” Founding Partner of Intudo Ventures, Patrick Yip, said.
