Mandiri Capital’s ESG-focused fund invests in Indonesian edtech firm

Cakap, an Indonesian edtech firm, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Indonesia Impact Fund (IIF), an initiative of the Asia-Pacific Business Advisory Council (ABAC) that is run by Mandiri Capital Indonesia.

Photo credit: Cakap/IIF

Founded by Tomy Yunus and Yohan Limerta in 2013, Cakap provides online language courses for adults and kids in Indonesia through recorded videos and live sessions.

In December last year, the startup raised US$10 million in a series B round co-led by Heritas Capital and Centauri Fund, which is backed by KB Financial Group’s KB Investment and Telkom Group’s MDI Ventures. The fundraise also saw participation from KB Investment.

“The additional strategic investment will bolster our expansion goals by allowing the country to access high-quality education, particularly in lower-tier cities, which is in line with Cakap’s mission to elevate Indonesian peoples’ lives,” Yunus said in a statement.

See also: Series SEA: Who’s investing in the region’s education startups?

Cakap is the first investment by IIF. Backed by several Indonesian family offices and private institutions, IIF works in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme.

The fund, which focuses on public-private partnerships, is said to be the first Indonesian private impact investment fund that is compliant with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices.

“We believe that by introducing this new initiative, IIF will serve as a catalyst for venture capital companies and fund managers in Indonesia to shift their investments toward impact and sustainability,” Mandiri Capital Indonesia CEO Eddi Danusaputro said in a statement.

Mandiri Capital, the corporate VC arm of Bank Mandiri, has appointed its venture fund director, Joshua Agusta, as fund manager and partner at the IIF.