BNI is yet to decide whether to acquire an existing VC firm or set up a new fund altogether
Indonesia’s state lender Bank Negara Indonesia is planning to launch a VC fund worth up to US$50 million, DealStreetAsia has reported, citing a top official.
The company will execute the plan in the second half of this year, the report added quoting BNI’s Finance Director Anggoro Eko Cahyo.
BNI is yet to decide whether to acquire an existing VC firm or set up a new fund altogether.
The VC arm also plans to invest in Fintek Karya Nusantara (Finarya), operator of mobile payment platform LinkAja, from this fund. BRI Ventures will also join this round with an investment of about US$25 million.
LinkAja is an integrated e-wallet service, which was created through the merger of telco giant Telkomsel, Bank Mandiri, BRI, and BNI. Government-owned bank Tabungan Negara, oil and gas firm Pertamina, and insurance Jiwasraya are also investors in LinkAja.
The LinkAja investment will happen over three phases, confirmed Anggoro. In the first phase, BNI will invest through its brokerage arm BNI Sekuritas, while the second and third tranches of investment will come from the VC fund.
Besides Finarya, BNI said it’s also looking to back startups aligned with its core lending business through the proposed VC fund.
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