Bakrie bids for the VC limelight after decades on the sidelines

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Hello reader,

“Indonesia’s startup and VC ecosystem would never have existed without local conglomerates,” I remember one venture capitalist telling me.

Indeed, the early days of Indonesia’s startup scene relied heavily on funds from the country’s richest families. Acting mostly as limited partners (LPs) to different VC funds, these conglomerates stayed in the background but also had a ringside view of the key developments in the ecosystem.

Over time, though, they began to take center stage. Some, like Sinarmas and Lippo, decided to set up their own VC arms, while others like Astra and Emtek chose to make direct investments into some of the country’s top startups.

One of the conglomerates that had not jumped on the bandwagon was Bakrie Group. While it had become an LP in a few funds, it appeared as though the group preferred not to get too immersed in the startup world.

That has now changed. In a move that is probably long overdue, Bakrie has set up and anchored a $30 million VC fund, which it says will “more or less act as its corporate venture arm.”

This could mark an exciting chapter for the firm. But given that its conglomerate peers are already reaping the rewards of their early bets in the likes of Gojek and Bukalapak, could it be too little too late for Bakrie?

— Ardi Wirdana, journalist at Tech in Asia

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