Indonesia’s oldest bank taps veteran venture capitalist

Bloomberg

When Nicko Widjaja was hired to run the venture capital arm of Indonesia’s biggest telecommunication services provider in 2015, corporate venture capital investing had a reputation for being slow, bureaucratic and generating lackluster returns.
But in four years, he has made it work. The first venture fund of state-owned PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia, called MDI Ventures, has returned 40 percent this year after a 28 percent gain in 2018, according to the company. Widjaja backed 32 startups through MDI Ventures and exited from five through sales and initial public offerings. They include Wavecell Pte. and Red Dot Payment Pte.
Now PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), the country’s oldest and the most profitable lender, has tapped Widjaja to lead its new corporate venture arm called BRI Ventures.
The state-owned bank plans to allocate as much as $250 million in three years to unearth promising startups, said Nyoman Sugiri Yasa, executive vice president for technology partnership at BRI and a com- missioner of BRI Ventures.
“Our aim is to create new growth opportunities and strategic partnerships for BRI,” Yasa said, adding that about $100 million has already been allocated to BRI Ventures. At $250 million, it would be the largest venture fund in Indonesia.
Widjaja said he will target growth-stage tech startups in financial services sector in Indonesia.
Jakarta-based BRI is the latest to jump on the VC investing bandwagon.
It is also part of a larger trend in Asia as traditional companies seek to bolster returns and boost their digital presence.