Thesis
The Indonesian digital graveyard is not only about weak founders. Many were serious companies, backed by corporates or global players. The pattern is sharper: marketplace liquidity, repeat frequency, customer acquisition cost, and local distribution beat logos.
JD.ID: logistics strength was not enough
JD.ID shut all Indonesia services on 31 March 2023 and stopped accepting orders from 15 February 2023. The company said the decision followed JD.com strategy to focus on cross-border supply chain, logistics, and warehousing.
Apple Ventures lesson: logistics is capital heavy. If the domain project can be data, directory, affiliate, or lead-gen, avoid owning warehouses.
Source: Kompas - JD.ID tutup 31 Maret 2023
Pegipegi: OTA without dominance is fragile
Pegipegi closed on 11 December 2023 after almost 12 years. It stopped accepting orders on 10 December 2023. The OTA market rewards scale, brand recall, direct hotel supply, and loyalty loops.
Apple Ventures lesson: travel projects should avoid generic flight/hotel booking. Use content, group trips, pilgrimage niches, WhatsApp concierge, and itinerary SEO.
Source: Kompas - Pegipegi tutup
Rumah.com: property portal without local workflow capture
PropertyGuru closed Rumah.com in Indonesia on 1 December 2023 after more than 10 years. The company said 61 employees were affected and that it would prioritize resources for stronger growth areas.
Apple Ventures lesson: property leads move through WhatsApp, local brokers, social media, Google Maps, and trust networks. A good property directory must own workflow, not just listings.
Source: Kompas - Rumah.com ditutup
Elevenia, Blanja, Rakuten: corporate backing did not beat subsidy wars
Elevenia closed consumer marketplace services in December 2022. Kompas noted it faded against Tokopedia, Shopee, Lazada, and other players that burned money aggressively. Blanja.com, backed by Telkom and linked to eBay, stopped shopping activity in September 2020 and closed in October 2020. Rakuten Belanja Online shut Indonesia e-commerce on 1 March 2016 as Rakuten exited several Southeast Asian markets.
Apple Ventures lesson: do not build generic marketplace. Build vertical data and vertical demand capture.
Sources: Kompas - Elevenia, Kompas TV - Blanja.com, Liputan6 - Rakuten Indonesia
Qlapa: niche marketplace still needs repeat demand
Qlapa was a handmade-craft marketplace and closed in 2019 after about four years. Niche alone is not a moat if customer frequency is low and acquisition still depends on paid channels.
Apple Ventures lesson: craft commerce should be content-led, community-led, and order-light. Sell lead-gen, catalogs, SEO pages, and story, not just transactions.
Source: IDN Times - Qlapa tutup
Multiply and Koprol: community is not automatically business
Multiply pivoted from social networking to e-commerce, focused on Indonesia and the Philippines, then closed service on 6 May 2013 and business activities on 31 May 2013. Koprol, an Indonesian location social network acquired by Yahoo in 2010, was shut in August 2012 because it did not drive meaningful revenue or engagement for Yahoo.
Apple Ventures lesson: community must connect to a clear economic loop: lead, subscription, transaction, membership, or data product.
Sources: Kompas - Multiply Indonesia, Kompas - Yahoo Koprol
Pattern
- Corporate parent is not distribution.
- Marketplace without repeat behavior dies.
- Logistics and inventory raise the survival bar.
- Community without monetization becomes nostalgia.
- Niche beats generic only when acquisition is cheaper and repeat is real.
For Apple Ventures, the safer path is vertical software, long-tail SEO, WhatsApp conversion, and AI operations on Cloudflare, not subsidy-heavy generic marketplaces.