Bangkok-based venture capital firm Alpha Founders comes to Indonesia

As Indonesia’s startup scene becomes more vibrant, new venture capital funds are popping up in Jakarta. Convergence Accel, the archipelago’s latest homegrown fund for early-stage startups, made its debut yesterday when it contributed to a US$1 million investment in Female Daily Network; a round led by local venture investor Ideosource.

In recent weeks, Alpha Founders, a Bangkok-based fund focused on mid-stage investment opportunities in Southeast Asia and India, reached out to Tech in Asia to let us know that it will soon be throwing its hat into Jakarta’s investment ring. Alpha Founders aims to invest in Indonesian startups, but also wants to bring some of its Thai companies to the archipelago. Those companies include insurance comparison portal ASK Hanuman and greentech firm Hansa LED.

“We’ve been working a lot in Thailand, but Indonesia is a bigger opportunity going forward,” explains the firm’s managing partner Johannes von Rohr. “Both markets have similar challenges, but I think Thai startups are better equipped to come to Indonesia than those from other markets because Thailand and Indonesia have similar infrastructures and consumer behavior.”

See: 5 indicators that Line could soon topple Facebook in Thailand

Like many other European VCs in Southeast Asia’s tech ecosystems, the German von Rohr is ex-Rocket Internet. Before starting Alpha Founders in November of 2012, von Rohr held managing director positions at Lazada Thailand and The Iconic, one of Australia’s largest online fashion retailers, also backed by Rocket Internet.

Von Rohr says Alpha Founders typically looks to invest US$100,000 to US$300,000 in the first round for its startups, but will then repeat the process three months later, as founders often underestimate the amount of seed money they actually need.

Bangkok, Thailand.

Indonesia has an enormous amount of power and wealth just waiting to be tapped with ideas that make sense, according to von Rohr. As such, Alpha Founders wants to keep its efforts local in Indonesia in order to make friends and cultivate its network of entrepreneurs and venture partners. However, von Rohr says:

Currently, Alpha Founders is backed by family offices in Germany. We’re not pressuring anyone in Jakarta to invest, but it’s more that we hope they will feel that they fit into our puzzle. We also want to reach out to all the big local families in Thailand and Indonesia, as these guys are a crucial part of the ecosystem.

Alpha Founders has earmarked US$10 million for its Southeast Asia fund, but von Rohr says that number is subject to change as he anticipates more global investors and wealthy families will take notice of his firm and join the fund.

Addressing the types of Indonesian companies Alpha Founders is interested in, von Rohr says ecommerce sites and adtech businesses are a couple of her personal favorites, but adds. “We’re not too keen on gaming or fashion because those are very tricky. But really, for us it’s less about the sector and more about the team. It really comes down to talent.”