Merah Putih Fund managed to raise the fund at US$300 billion from Mandiri Capital Indonesia and BRI Ventures ($82.5m), BNI Ventures ($35m), and Telkom Group ($100m).
Heaptalk, Jakarta — Merah Putih Fund (MPF) announced has raised funds in the initial phase worth US$300 billion, or approximately Rp4.5 trillion, to inject the potential startup in Indonesia, particularly at the soon-to-be unicorns (soonicorns) level.
In this case, several Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) of SOE entities, including MDI Ventures, Mandiri Capital Indonesia, BRI Ventures, Telkomsel Mitra Inovasi, and BNI Ventures, have signed a participation agreement to raise this first stage of funds. From the total raised fund, around US$100 million came from Telkom Group, a US$82.5 million fund landed from Mandiri Capital Indonesia and BRI Ventures, and US$35 million from BNI Ventures.
The Head of Project Management Officer (PMO) at MPF, who also served as the CEO of BNI Ventures, Eddi Danusaputro, delivered that his party would filter potential startups from 50 to 5 startups from the agnostics sector to be invested.
He added, “Today, we have just entered the fundraising process by entering several steps, covering a participation signing agreement and document subscription. After that, the raised funds will go into the Merah Putih Fund account, along with the selection process period. MPF provides alternative funding for late-stage startups, specifically for startups that intend to expand before reaching a billion-dollar valuation or growth stage startups with a valuation exceeding US$100 million.”
Regarding the criteria, Eddi affirmed that Indonesia’s startups must meet the predetermined conditions, including:
- The entire founding team are Indonesian citizens
- Owning a significant operational presence in Indonesia
- Startups have exit plans, including mergers, acquisitions, and Initial Public Offering (IPO) on Indonesia’s IDX.
Furthermore, Indonesia’s Vice Minister ll of SOE, Rosan Perkasa Roeslani, admitted that this fundraising is the early move of MPF, which the Ministry fully supports. Moreover, he noticed that the startup investment climate has transformed from valuation-based to profitability considerations.
“We observe the investment shifting from considering valuation to generating profits for further business growth. Investing in startups is challenging as they are still in a loss position and have not yet made a profit. We established the Merah Putih Fund to assist in the form of funding and other support, namely connections with the existing SOE ecosystem,” added Rosan.
As additional information, the Merah Putih Fund is a strategic initiative from the SOE’s joint funding companies to boost the startup enhancement, which is fully supported by the Minister of SOE, Erick Thohir, and was inaugurated by President Jokowi in 2021. MPF also obtained permission from OJK in July 2022.
