State-Owned Venture Capital to Allocate US$300M to Local Startups

TheIndonesia.co - State-owned venture capital Merah Putih Fund is set to allocate US$300 million to support local startups to reach their unicorn status, the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises said.

Deputy Minister II at the Ministry Kartika Wirjoatmodjo confirmed that the government aims to inject the fund through its newly-announced venture capital.

“This fund will be released through committed fund amounting to US$300 million,” Wirjoatmodjo said on Wednesday, February 9, as reported by Antara.

He added that the Ministry looks to focus the funding for local startups to ensure the soon-to-be unicorns continue their operations in Indonesia. Furthermore, these startups are expected to be listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange and attract global investors.

“Through this collaboration, we’d like to support and ensure national startups get their funding locally. [We also] aim to create an ecosystem that will birth unicorns, or even decacorns, in the future,” Wirjoatmodjo explained.

Previously, Minister Erick Thohir wanted state-owned companies to intervene in the digital sector to embrace startups to become nationalists. He made this statement in response to many Indonesian startup companies that moved to Singapore and received funding from foreign players.

He said Merah Putih Fund has three common threads; the founder is Indonesian, operates in Indonesia, and finally goes public in Indonesia.

The state-owned venture capital will be managed by five state-owned venture capital corporations (VCC).