The investors that are betting big on Indonesia’s startups

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Hello readers,

I met some close friends for dinner last night. Maybe they were also feeling the year-end travel itch, because it wasn’t long before we found ourselves reminiscing about our holiday trip to Bali last year. It’s easily one of my all-time favorite overseas trips, filled with food, drinks, the sun, and the best companions. Undoubtedly, the highlight was when we climbed Mount Batur and made it to the peak in time to see the sunrise.

(One of my friends aggravated an old knee injury during the climb, suffered from sunburn, and broke his phone during the trip, yet he still speaks of it fondly. That’s just how good it was.)

It’s not just tourists who are doing the climbing in Indonesia, though. The archipelago has a burgeoning startup ecosystem that attracts its fair share of interested VC firms, and we’ve curated a list of the ones that have been the most active in putting money into the country’s young tech companies. Agaeti Ventures and Golden Gate Ventures are tied for second in terms of the number of deals – find out who leads the pack.

Today we look at:

• A list of the VCs making the most moves in Indonesia
• Grab and Marriott are teaming up
• Other newsy highlights such as Tata Group’s latest big purchase and the struggles of teaching during a pandemic in the Philippines

PREMIUM SUMMARY

The VC firms making the most moves in Indonesia

Indonesia is a hotbed for new solutions and innovations, and this is reflected in the profiles of the VCs investing in startups from the archipelago. Many of the ones on our list of the most active investors in Indonesia focus on early- and growth-stage tech companies, including the likes of East Ventures, Alpha JWC Ventures, and Insignia Ventures Partners.

• Kampung spirit: The top 10 investors are all headquartered in either Singapore or Indonesia, which shows how collaborative the Southeast Asian neighbors are with each other.

• Clear front-runner: East Ventures leads the list with 40 deals closed over the past 24 months. That’s almost triple the amount that Agaeti Ventures and Golden Gate Ventures, the two firms tied for second, have made each.

Read more: These are the most active investors in Indonesia’s startups and check out the hidden alliances between them.

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