Ex-TaniHub CEO launches seed fund, accelerator for Indonesian founders

Following his resignation from Indonesian agritech soonicorn TaniHub as its CEO, Ivan Arie Sustiawan is launching a new seed-stage venture fund to back promising local founders.

Speaking exclusively to Tech in Asia, Sustiawan says he and three fellow founding partners (Bharat Ongso, Riswanto, and Ayunda Afifa) have set up a VC firm called Tunnelerate, which will look to raise a corpus of US$10 million for its first fund. The VC firm will also roll out an accelerator program that will provide an extensive “support system” for new founders.

(From left) Tunnelerate partners Ayunda Afifa, Bharat Ongso, Ivan Arie Sustiawan, and Riswanto

The firm has started talking to numerous potential limited partners (LPs), and it targets to close the fund by mid-2022. Its accelerator program is set to kick off in early 2022.

Tunnelerate will focus on sectors such as fintech, agritech, and healthtech, says Sustiawan. Unlike many of its peers, the new VC firm will particularly be interested in backing promising founders in regions outside of Indonesia’s big cities.

“We want founders from regions in Indonesia to have a better chance to realize their dreams in this country,” says Sustiawan, who co-founded TaniHub in 2016 and currently sits as a board member of the company.

For Sustiawan, this is not his first stint at “giving back” to the country’s ecosystem, which he had always been eager to do. The former CEO previously made several angel investments into early-stage startups such as agritech firm Jaring Pangan.

Championing local founders

At a time when the Indonesian startup scene appears to have become more favorable to founders from privileged families and those with overseas educational backgrounds, Tunnelerate is keen to “level the playing field” for brilliant local founders that may not have the same privileges.

“We have met numerous founders from regions who have great ideas but maybe have found that the doors have always been closed on them. We hope to give a different color to the ecosystem,” says Afifa.

The firm says it will be curating top founders from different regions across Indonesia to join its accelerator program, where they will be given access to mentors and capital support.

The accelerator will select up to 15 startups for its first of two cohorts this year, which will begin in the second quarter of 2022. Of the participating startups, up to five companies will receive investments from the Tunnelerate fund.

Those that become portfolio companies of the firm will be given additional strategic and operational support from the Tunnelerate partners, who have all had extensive experience as business operators.

“We understand that being a founder is not easy, that difficult things will happen when you try to build a company. So we will put trust in them and be there for them through the ups and the downs,” says Sustiawan.

Leveraging the power of angels

Startups that join Tunnelerate’s portfolio will also receive support from the VC firm’s group of angel LPs.