Invention forced by constraint
Gojek, Tokopedia and Traveloka all started here and none of them copied anything. When the existing answer does not fit, someone has to build a new one.
Locations / Southeast Asia
Indonesia
Spend three or six months inside a Jakarta startup while taking a course at a local partner university. The problems here have no template, so the companies had to invent their way out.
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Partner uni
Universitas Indonesia
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Format
Short 3mo Short 6mo -
Intake
Variable -
Audience
Undergraduates only
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Ecosystem
Emerging markets -
Cohort size
~25 students per intake
About Jakarta
Rearrange your view of normal.
Indonesia has 275 million people spread across seventeen thousand islands, which makes almost every Western business model useless on arrival. It is the ultimate problem solving market. Gojek did not copy a ride-hailing app, it built one on motorbikes and then added payments because most of its customers had no bank account. Tokopedia did not copy an online retailer, it built commerce across an archipelago with no reliable addresses. Traveloka did the same for travel. All three came out of Jakarta over the course of a decade.
That is the useful thing about working here. In most startup cities the answer already exists somewhere and the job is execution. In Jakarta the constraints are real enough that someone has to think, and solutions often end up being innovative and novel.
Three months or six, you will get real work early, because a company here has nobody spare to give it to instead. Jakarta is eleven million people and moves accordingly. Outside the job there are hackathons, bootcamps and founders who will talk to you if you ask.
Why Jakarta?
Solving problems is harder so other markets become easier.
Entrepreneurship classes
You take an entrepreneurship course while the internship runs. Four of your twenty NOC units come from it on the six-month programme.
Three months or six
Take the summer or take the semester. Six-month students also get start-up mentorship for the duration of their internship.
Partner university
Partner 1
You take a course on entrepreneurship at Universitas Indonesia part-time while the internship runs. Four of your twenty NOC units come from it on the six-month programme. The other sixteen come from the job.
Universitas Indonesia started in 1849 as a school for training doctors and is the oldest university in the country. Its graduates run the ministries, the banks and the regulators that any Indonesian startup has to work with.
A term in Jakarta
What our students say
"Joining NOC Indonesia has been one of the best decisions I’ve made in my NUS journey so far. Beyond work, NOC also opened doors to explore entrepreneurship more actively. From hackathons and AI bootcamps to networking sessions with founders and industry leaders, the experience pushed me to step out of my comfort zone and learn in ways that go beyond the classroom."
Jensen Kuok Thai Hock
NOC Jakarta Alumnus | 2025 | College of Design and Engineering
Practical info
The things you'll need to know before committing to Jakarta.
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Cost of living [ $ ]
SGD940 a month
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Accommodation
NOC supports housing search.
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Stipend & awards
Most students receive an internship stipend from their host company. NOC awards available via Awards & Scholarships.
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Visa
Indonesian student visa. NOC covers the full application cost.
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Language
English Indonesian -
Climate
Tropical Dry And Wet Seasons -
Time zone
UTC +7 -
Getting around
Motorbike taxis, buses, and the MRT
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Mentorship
Six-month students get start-up mentorship. Three-month students do not
Curriculum at Indonesia
Faculty-mapped courses for NOC Indonesia: units, intakes, and academic structure.
All three are submitted via myEduRec → External Study Online Application → Program Application → Supporting Document, before the application deadline.
NOC may withdraw your application if any are missing.
Apply for NOC Jakarta
Rank Indonesia in your application. Note that NOC reserves the right to assign you to any available location regardless of stated preference.
Start your application