JAKARTA -- Indonesian startups and venture capital firms have tied up in a crowd funding campaign for the domestic production of coronavirus test kits, as the number of COVID-19 cases continues to climb in the archipelago.
The project was initiated by early stage startup investor East Ventures and is looking to raise 10 billion rupiah ($600,000) to cover costs related to the production of the test kits, as well as genome sequencing of the novel coronavirus which causes COVID-19. East Ventures has already donated 900 million rupiah, while Indonesian unicorns Tokopedia and Traveloka have donated 800 million rupiah and 200 million rupiah respectively.