1982 Ventures, a Southeast Asia-focused early-stage VC firm based in Singapore, has announced the initial close of its first seed-stage fund with US$12.5 million in committed capital. 

The fund targets to raise a total corpus of US$15 million.

Investors who participated in this first tranche are:

• US-based fintech unicorn Carta.
• Genting Group’s venture arm.
• US fund of funds First Close Partners
• Rally Cap Ventures
• Indonesian family office Trihill.

Family offices based in Southeast Asia, Europe and America; fintech founders; senior executives of tech and financial services companies; Sheel Mohnot, founding general partner of 500 Fintech and Better Tomorrow Ventures; and unnamed GPs of Southeast Asian VC funds also co-invested.

1982 Ventures plans to invest in around 30 seed-stage companies, primarily in fintech in Southeast Asia. The VC firm’s core markets are Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines, alongside other markets such as Pakistan and Bangladesh.

“We have seen the incredible rise of fintech in China, India, Latin America, Africa and the West, and now is the time for Southeast Asian fintech to lead the way,” said Scott Krivokopich, co-founder and managing partner of 1982 Ventures.

Also read: Banks and fintech: An arranged marriage built on trust, but does it last long?

1982 Ventures was launched in early 2020 by Scott and Herston Elton Powers, who were both principals at fintech-focused investor tryb Group.

As of November, it has a portfolio of 11 companies, including Indonesian open banking player Brick, Vietnamese retail investment platform Infina (YC S21), home financing proptech firm Homebase (YC W21), Singaporean automated financial data platform Bluesheets, and Indonesia’s earned wage access platform Wagely.

The firm claims to have achieved a return of over 3x from its early investments.

According to a 2021 SEA e-Conomy report by Google, Bain & Company, and Temasek, Southeast Asia represents immense headroom for fintech growth with a total of 350 million digital consumers and a mass increase in merchant adoption of digital payment. The region has witnessed strong momentum in e-commerce and digital financial services investments. The deal values for digital financial services in H1 2021 alone surpassed those of full-year 2020.

Rapid urbanisation and some of the world’s highest mobile and internet penetration rates are the main drivers for this outlook in Southeast Asia. According to Dealroom, regional fintech startups represent more than US$10 billion in unrealised value, with 100 projected fintech exits in the coming years.

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Image Credit: 1982 Ventures

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Indonesian President Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, has announced the launch of the Merah Putih Fund, targeting soon-to-be unicorns (or soonicorns) with predetermined criteria.

According to his announcement, to be eligible for the funding, startups must be founded by Indonesian nationals, operate in the homeland, have plans to go public domestically, pay taxes, and have a proven track record of fundraising with a valuation of above US$200 million.

Merah Putih Fund is backed by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and slated to raise around US$300 (IDR 4.26 trillion) in H1 2022. Some of its initial investors are Mandiri Capital, BRI Ventures, MDI Ventures, and Telkom Mitra Inovasi. 

Also read: The 27 Indonesian startups that have taken the ecosystem to next level this year

The president also invited other national private sectors to join the Merah Putih Fund.

At the inauguration ceremony of Merah Putih Fund, Jokowi said that Indonesia currently has 2,319 startups, one decacorn (a startup valued at more than US$10 billion), and seven unicorns (startups valued at US$1 billion).

“Without funding, they [soonicorns] could lose that potential,” said SOE Minister Erick Thohir at the “Digital Generation Acceleration” event. He is one of the initiators of the fund.

As of September last year, 52 local startups successfully raised a total of US$1.9 billion, according to the Indonesian Venture Capital and Startup Association (Amvesindo). GudangAda,  Kopi Kenangan, SiCepat, Social Bella, Ruangguru, and 20 more are estimated to be “soonunicorn” of the archipelago.

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Image Credit: 123rf

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2021 was a year with many ups and downs. The new waves of COVID keep disrupting businesses and changing how we interact and work. At the same time, these events have also surfaced new opportunities to satisfy consumer demands and add value to their experiences. 

From revolutionary medical technology to simple lifestyle products, many waves of innovation have arisen as social distancing practices and work from home become the new norm. 

For those that can adapt and take advantage of being the disrupter, explosive growth is guaranteed. Thus, we have seen a significant transition where startups and established businesses fully embrace digitalisation to enable innovation. 

Other worth noting trends are:

Tech talents are precious and scarce and also getting expensive

Even Singapore, the most prominent technology hub in ASEAN, has been constrained by its limited tech talent pool for years. The country cannot yet match the tech skills and experience the industry needs quickly. 

These limitations were cruelly exposed more than ever by the pandemic, which resulted in the drying up of tech talent pools as developers shift to big international companies that offer better salaries and compensations. 

2021 just showed it even clearer that companies will have to fight for their tech talent. 

Building remote tech teams is an effective strategy to scale up tech operations

Pressured by harsh competition, firms have to make the judgment call to secure what they deem more important for survival and profitability. Thus, the costly nature of technology and innovation forced businesses to look for talent and business opportunities beyond domestic shores. 

In other words, they are attracted to the vast population of experienced tech talent from underrepresented regions. 

Also Read: To infinity and beyond: Why 2022 will be the year of Web3

Talking about changes, Tech JDI also had a breakout year. Our team has expanded significantly, tripled the number to keep up with the growth of our client base. Re-branding efforts are also underway to enable Tech JDI to serve our clients and customers better.

Beyond our existing initiatives to help businesses scale up their tech operation and capitalize on the market opportunities in Vietnam, Tech JDI is also building an end-to-end solution that allows established companies to innovate through creating their startups successfully.  

That’s why the focus of next year is not only for Tech JDI to grow as an organization but for our services to grow sustainably. 

During this time, I am filled with immense gratitude due to the extraordinary support from everyone to help me grow not only at Tech JDI but also my career path. It also reminded me of how fortunate I am to work with clients who care about their people, thus remaining dedicated to building strong cultures rooted in values, ethics, and integrity.

So thank you to all of my co-workers, customers, and partners who have made 2021 a remarkable year against all odds. 

And, thank you, e27, for the collaboration and recognition of helping firms grow and innovate.  

Here’s to a healthy, happy, and prosperous 2022!

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E-commerce enabler aCommerce has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in its home country Thailand, say multiple news reports. 

The company plans to list its shares on the main board of the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET). It looks to sell up to 40 per cent of its shares.

Upon listing, aCommerce will be the first tech startup to go public in Thailand.

“The roadshow begins for CEO Paul Srivorakul and his team with Siam Commercial Bank as is its lead underwriter,” a Reuters correspondent said in a LinkedIn post. “The listing will also be a test of investor appetite for future earnings. The company has reported losses since 2018. In the first nine months of 2021, it booked losses of 492 million baht from revenue of 6.3 billion baht.

Also Read: aCommerce adds US$15M to its kitty; plans to achieve profitability and become cash-flow positive in 2020

Founded in May 2013, aCommerce provides e-commerce technologies and solutions, including performance marketing, channel management, webstore design and operations, content production, order fulfilment and warehousing, delivery and logistics and localised customer care. 

It has partnered with more than 260 brands, such as Samsung, Unilever, Nestlé, L’Oreal, Philips and Mars.

With over 1,200 staff, aCommerce has offices and fulfilment centres in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

In January 2020, the e-commerce enabler secured US$15 million from Indies Capital Partners. This round came almost six months after it secured a US$10 million round from existing shareholders, including KKR, in July 2019.

To date, aCommerce has secured US$118.8 million over multiple investment rounds. Its other backers are Emerald Media, BlueSky, DKSH, Inspire Ventures, Sinarmas and NTT Docomo. 

The company first announced its plans in September 2018 to file for an IPO in 2020 and was considering to list either on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) or SET.

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Otoklix, an O2O digital solution for automotive aftermarket services in Indonesia, has secured a US$10 million financing round from Alpha JWC Ventures and AC Ventures.

Sequoia Capital India’s Surge; Prijono Sugiarto, former CEO of Indonesia’s automotive conglomerate Astra International; YouTube co-founder Steve Chen; and Google executives in XA Network also participated.

With this fresh funding, Otoklix aims to improve its technological touchpoint by establishing its own O2O managed flagship workshops throughout Indonesia.

Servicing and fixing cars is still a long and cumbersome process in this rapidly growing market. Visiting authorised dealers involves high costs and long queues. Getting cars fixed at independent workshops can expose car owners to fraud risk, lack of standardisation and poor after-sale service.

Despite controlling 80 per cent of the total market in Indonesia, many of these workshops still manage transactions with pen and paper, restraining growth and margins.

Also Read: AC Ventures hits final close of Fund III at US$205M to back early-stage Indonesian startups

Founded in 2019, Otoklix aims to simplify vehicle maintenance for vehicle owners, allowing users to discover services at any recommended independent workshop nearby and receive a warranty for any transactions at an Otoklix partner workshop. Otoklix provides customer relationship management (CRM) and supply chain management (SCM) solutions for independent car workshops to increase topline, margin, and operational efficiency.

The firm claims it facilitates the servicing of 15,000 cars per month by more than 1,900 active partnered workshops.

“We believe that transparency and trust is the biggest issue in the market. Car owners struggle to understand where to take their car to be fixed and how much the service should cost. Simultaneously, workshops have limited access to information to conduct price comparisons for parts, sourcing needs, and suppliers’ credibility. This is a problem for all the 138 million automotive vehicles in Indonesia, a growing market that has been overlooked. This huge fragmentation in the market has a high potential for technological disruption,” said Martin Suryohusodo, co-founder and CEO of Otoklix.

In the past year alone, Otoklix claims to have grown from 100 to over 1,900 partnered workshops, providing services to more than 100,000 customers annually.

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