Why getting VC investment is not always about the money

Ridzki Syahputera, corporate development manager at Convergence Ventures

This article is part of Tech in Asia’s partnership with Asia VC Cast hosted by Daniel Song where we publish the revised transcripts from the podcast’s interviews with inspiring entrepreneurs and experienced VCs. This is heavily revised from the show’s original transcript. For the full interview, go here.

Ridzki Syahputera is the corporate development manager at Convergence Ventures where he focuses on supporting their portfolio companies post investment.

Here, he shares his firm’s post-investment strategy and some insights on the Indonesian startup landscape.

Tell us about yourself and how you came to join Convergence Ventures.

My background is actually in advertising, specializing in performance marketing. I worked at an agency, helping large multinationals create digital campaigns. And then I moved to a market-entry consulting firm where I helped foreign media and tech enablers penetrate the Indonesian market.

Seeing the rapid adoption of ecommerce in Indonesia, I was naturally interested in how these companies were being funded. I first heard about Convergence Ventures while doing research on the venture capital space. I sent cold LinkedIn messages to the team members to learn more. It was timely as they were coincidentally looking to hire someone with my skill set—proof that curiosity can lead you to opportunities.

What is your investment thesis at Convergence and which sectors are you closely looking at?

Convergence Ventures is an early-stage technology venture fund. We’re focused on the Indonesian market, but we also have portfolio startups outside of Indonesia.

We are sector-agnostic, but we tend to invest in models that have been proven in other markets and are targeting to disrupt the Indonesian market.

The company is structured to help early-stage founders with enough capital to get to series C and to provide assistance from the entire Convergence team post investment.

What does your post-investment strategy entail?

There are a few teams at our firm that focus on startup support. In addition to corporate development, we also have a recruitment team and a venture operations team.

The strategy is quite simple. We as VCs look for realized capital gains over the course of the lifetime of the fund. In order to make returns on our investments, the companies have to grow in valuation and then eventually have to exit. Our strategy is to help early-stage companies with key growth drivers that will help them grow into their own potential and help them secure further fundraising.

Under corporate development, we focus on four key areas: customer/client acquisition, strategic partnerships, government relations, and follow-on fundraising.

After investment, the team will typically discuss the business’ key drivers for growth based on their model and maturity. Then, we will start mapping out ways that we can help the company. Initially, we might first explore recruitment, licensing, and other fundamental needs that set the foundation for growth. We might also look at cross-portfolio value and insight exchange (how one portfolio company can help another).

Eventually, we will also facilitate senior-level introductions to relevant conglomerates in our network that may become powerful clients or partners.

What would you advise startups on navigating partnership opportunities?

Do you think the government is working toward opening up to foreign investors?

Do you think Indonesian founders have a global mindset?