How to Turn Stalled Campus Innovations into Viable Businesses
Indonesia has never lacked ideas. Each year, university students produce research and innovations offering solutions to problems in food, energy, health, and the environment. However, many of these stop as prototypes or academic papers that are never truly used by society. One reason is the absence of a clear pathway to bring these innovations to market. Young innovators often have promising products but lack experience in building a business, understanding consumer needs, and securing access to funding. On the other hand, investors also tend to wait for proof that a product has market demand before disbursing investment.
This challenge is what a new accelerator programme aims to address, involving 20 selected startups from 20 leading universities in Indonesia this year. They will undergo mentoring to test their products directly in the market, understand consumer behaviour, and build more mature business models. The participants were chosen through a selection process by investors and researchers, namely Charles Lee (Investor & Founder of WU Hub), Sumarny Elisabeth Manurung (VP of Investment at SPIL Ventures), and Hanif Fakhrurroja (Researcher at BRIN), considering the innovation potential as well as readiness to enter the commercialisation stage.
The programme is part of the Futurepreneur Lab 2026, officially launched by WU Hub Coworking Space in Jakarta on Friday (12/6). It carries the concept of Collaborative Acceleration and Market Validation to help early-stage startups transform innovations into market-validated products that are more ready to obtain investment.
"I am optimistic about the future of Indonesia’s startup ecosystem. We certainly hope that high-value startups will emerge from the WU Hub ecosystem, but our vision is bigger than just valuation. We want to build a generation of entrepreneurs capable of creating real solutions for global challenges and generating a sustainable positive impact for the Indonesian economy," said Charles Lee, Investor & Founder of WU Hub.
Alongside the programme launch, WU Hub also introduced Katalyst, a public validation and crowdfunding platform that allows startups to test market interest through digital campaigns, public support, and product demand simulation as early evidence of market traction. Through this approach, a startup’s success is measured not only by presentations before a panel of judges but also by the real response of potential consumers to the solutions they offer.
The programme focuses on innovations in sustainability, energy, and agriculture, and is supported by several strategic partners, including Khong Guan, the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi), Garuda Spark, and Taka Lab.
"As a company that has grown alongside Indonesian families for decades, Khong Guan believes that the best investment for the future is in the young generation who dare to innovate. This collaboration is also a tangible manifestation of the company’s ESG commitment to empowering the younger generation, strengthening the entrepreneurship ecosystem, and encouraging the creation of solutions that benefit the wider community," said Tenne.
As the culmination of the programme, the startups will present their solutions to investors and strategic partners during an Investment Day scheduled for October 2026. This stage is expected to become a bridge so that more campus innovations no longer stop as prototypes, but develop into businesses that deliver real impact.