Oracle starts program to help RI dot-coms

JAKARTA (JP): Oracle Indonesia, the subsidiary of American software maker Oracle Corp., announced on Tuesday a US$8 million program to help Indonesian Internet start-ups and accelerate e- business momentum in the country.

The company said in a statement that under the program, it will provide qualified start-ups with Oracles's best e-business software, technical support and education services virtually free of charge.

It said by paying only US$998 for development use, companies qualified for the program could gain $161,764 worth of software, technical support and training during the first year of the program.

"In doing so, Oracle passes on significant savings in technology investment to a qualified start-up during its infancy," Oracle Indonesia's managing director Cliff Nelson said.

In addition, he said, participants in the program would benefit from Oracle's worldwide marketing and branding as well as market access afforded by Oracle.

He said the program was part of the $32 million program recently launched by the company in Singapore to support Internet start-ups in Asia.

Nelson said Oracle had signed memorandums of understanding with five incubation centers in Indonesia to jointly deliver this program. The centers are AITech Venture Capital, BaliCamp, Cybercity, Praisindo Dotkom and Parcomp.

The incubation centers will handle the selection of start-ups for the program.

Applicants must provide a business plan to the appointed incubation centers and Oracle for a review. Only a start-up, not an existing company, will be qualified for the program.

Applicants will be selected on the basis of several criteria, including whether they have a sound business and revenue model, strong founding team composition, strong domain expertise and good funding status. (jsk)