Stefan Jung, John Riady, Rudy Ramawy launch Venturra Capital with $150M

Venturra Capital managing partners John Riady (left), Rudy Ramawy (middle), and Stefan Jung (right)

Earlier today, three heavy hitters in Southeast Asia’s tech startup ecosystem announced a new VC firm named Venturra Capital. At the helm are managing partners Stefan Jung, former founder and managing partner of Rocket Internet Southeast Asia; Rudy Ramawy, former country director at Google Indonesia; and John Riady, current director of Lippo Group, one of Indonesia’s largest and richest family-owned conglomerates.

Jung tells Tech in Asia that the US$150 million venture fund has been fully committed by Venturra’s backers, of which Lippo Group is the largest one. Jung confirms the amount is earmarked for Venturra no matter what, and that it’s not a pledged amount from Lippo Group, pending further fund raising.

“We have the full US$150 million,” says Jung. “The fund is closed, and we have the full commitment. This means the limited partners can not get out of that commitment. It’s not a target we want to reach, it’s already closed.” Jung adds Venturra has already made more than 10 under-the-radar investments in Indonesia and Southeast Asia during the past three months.

Venturra is the reincarnation of Lippo Digital Ventures (LDV), the VC arm of Lippo Group that before saw Ramawy as its managing partner. The new firm, however, says it is instead only “sponsored by Lippo Group.” It has also absorbed LDV’s portfolio of tech investments. “Before, LDV invested out of the balance sheet of Lippo, but now Venturra is an independent venture fund,” explains Jung. Essentially, this means the fund doesn’t answer to Lippo any more than a normal VC answers to its limited partners. Like Ultron, there are no strings on Venturra.

See: This is MatahariMall’s gameplan to beat Rocket Internet

An alchemy to take seriously

The Venturra partnership brings together some interesting track records in tech and multi-industry company building. To one degree or another, the managing partners are in bed with big-name startups like GrabTaxi, Traveloka, HappyFresh, Bridestory, Munchery, MatahariMall, and more.

Jung says, “We have seen tremendous progress in the technology industry across Southeast Asia over the last years — the quality of entrepreneurs and investors is increasing at a fast pace.” Riady adds, “80 years from now, we want to look back, point to some of the most transformative companies in the region, and say that we played a part in contributing to their successes.”

Any firm that’s backed and tended to by Indonesia’s Lippo Group is a gang to be taken seriously. With a seemingly limitless supply of cash, the ability to open any corporate door in the region, and a strong interest in the tech game, brands like MatahariMall and Venturra can be seen as powerful players.

Jung says Venturra is actively looking for series A and series B companies with an average ticket size ranging between US$2 million and US$5 million. “That said, we are considering ourselves agnostic in terms of stage preference,” says Jung. “We are still keeping ourselves open to early stage and seed rounds. If we’ve known the entrepreneur for a while and want to support them from day one, then we will surely consider investing.” Jung adds that Venturra also aims to take care of its portfolio companies like a mother hen, injecting capital where needed and executing swift follow-on rounds at the drop of a hat should competitors start ramping up.

Lippo Group director John Riady

Sourcing deals and juggling hats