Living Lab Ventures collaborates with Microsoft through the Startups Founders Hub program by providing access to benefits worth more than US$300,000.
Heaptalk, Jakarta — An investment arm from Sinar Mas Land, Living Lab Ventures (LLV), collaborates with Microsoft to provide financial and technological support to selected startups through the Founders Hub program.
Established in mid-2022, LLV aims to inject funds through the incubation and acceleration of potential global-minded digital entrepreneurs in Indonesia by using an open sector-agnostic approach. To optimize the acceptance rate of LLV startups in this program, several experts from Microsoft Indonesia will assist them in filling out the necessary conditions during the registration process.
The Startups Founders Hub program grants access to benefits worth more than US$300,000 including technology and tools from Microsoft and partners that each startup can use for up to four years. In addition, the collaboration also provides mentoring that startups under LLV need to reach their next milestone.
Further, selected startups can access a wide range of powerful applications, from trusted, secure, and open-source-friendly cloud platforms, to the best productivity tools for developers, spanning GitHub Enterprise, Engineer Visual Studio Enterprise, Power Platform, Microsoft 365, and Dynamics 365.
LLV startups are also given entrance to leading-edge technologies, including OpenAI, which is revolutionizing Natural Language Systems with the capabilities of the GPT-3 model. As training material, startup founders will also have access to Microsoft Learn to build numerous developer skills, spanning DevOps Engineer, Data Engineer, Data Scientist, Solution Architect, and Security Engineer.
According to Chief Transformation Officer at Sinar Mas Land Mulyawan Gani, the collaboration between LLV and Microsoft began when Sinar Mas Land visited the Microsoft Tech Center in Silicon Valley in July 2022.
“We hope that this technological support can strengthen Sinar Mas Land’s digital ecosystem while at the same time accelerating the growth of Indonesia’s digital economy. LLV will support local startup companies to unlock their potential to become game-changers by integrating their innovations and technological solutions into people’s daily lives, specifically in BSD City,” said Mulyawan.
Focus on empowering startups
Chief Technology Officer for Digital Natives and Startups at Microsoft Indonesia Makka Kesuma said that startup is a segment that plays a critical role in Indonesia’s economic growth, providing not only jobs but also encouraging innovation, creativity, and competitiveness which are Indonesia’s advantages.
“For that, we welcome the collaboration with LLV in empowering more startups in Indonesia. We hope that this collaboration will support the growth of Indonesian startups and contribute to the development of Indonesia’s digital economy. Let’s work together to empower Indonesia,” uttered Makka.
Meanwhile, Living Lab Venture Partner Bayu Seto delivered, “The inclusion of LLV in the Microsoft ecosystem will certainly make it easier for startups to broaden their networks, technical skills, and funding.”
Bayu said the use of the Microsoft platform in presenting new technologies could provide added value for LLV stakeholders. He added, “This is certainly very useful for startups who are members of LLV, where we incubate many new technology-based projects and innovations for smart cities in BSD City. Hopefully, this support from Microsoft can also accelerate shading startups to take off and move independently.”
To date, LLV has empowered many startups that focus on three main technological aspects namely Smart technologies, digital life, and mobility. Smart technologies focus on innovative technologies that support smart urban life. This technology is closely related to aspects of digital life which focus on technology related to e-commerce and social networking that has an impact on people’s lives. Lastly, mobility focuses on smart technology in the movement of people and goods within cities.
