In continuation to our previous Tech Deals series (Tech Deals Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3, Vol. 4, Vol.5 and Vol. 6), we provide herein, the recent tech deals completed in the period between 1 January and 30 April 2023, and our brief commentary regarding the same.
As mentioned in our earlier article on "Failed Start-Up/Tech Companies in Southeast Asia, Why They Failed, and Effective Solutions from an Indonesian Law Perspective" (here), tech investment in Indonesia was significantly impacted by the global economic condition, inflation, and the cost- of-living crisis. Although the number of tech investments is decreasing this year compared to that of the previous year, the completed start-up and tech investors are still active in different tech- related sectors. This includes the recent interest of investors in fitness platforms, such as Fit Hub, and renewable energy platforms, such as Swap.
I. Start Up and Tech Investment Deals in the period between 1 January and 30 April 2023
Please refer to the table below on the list of Tech Deals completed during the period from 1 January to 30 April 2023:
| No | Company Name | Sector | Stage | Investor(s) | Funding Date |
| 1. | Legit Group | Restaurants & Food | Series A | East Ventures, MDI Ventures, SMDV | 2-Jan |
| 2. | Qoala | Insurance tech | Series B | Eurazeo, Indogen Capital, responsAbility Ventures | 3-Jan |
| 3. | Bengkel Mania | Enterprise Software | Bridge | null | 3-Jan |
| 4. | Bingkai Karya | Digital Media | Bridge | Cempaka Foundation, PT. BSB | 5-Jan |
| 5. | Imajin | Marketplaces (miscellaneous niche) | Seed | 500 Southeast Asia, East Ventures, Init 6, Kao Kele | 6-Jan |
| 6 | FLIK | Payments and remittance | Bridge | East Ventures, GMO Venture Partners, Init 6, Saison Capital | 9-Jan |
| 7. | PT Swift Logistics Solutions | Logistics | M&A | GoTo Group (Tokopedia) | 11-Jan |
| 8. | Surplus Indonesia | Marketplaces (Food) | Seed | Salam Pacific Indonesia Lines Ventures (SPIL Ventures) | 16-Jan |
| 9. | Mindtera | Education tech | Seed | East Ventures, Seedstars International Ventures | 16-Jan |
| 10. | Komunal Indonesia | Lending, loans, and credit | Series B | AlphaTrio Sustainable Technology Fund, East Ventures, Gobi Partners, Ozora, Skystar Capital, Sovereign's Capital | 17-Jan |
| 11. | Desty | Ecommerce seller tools and services | Pre-series A | East Ventures | 24-Jan |
| 12. | Kick Avenue | Marketplaces (fashion and beauty) | Series A | KREAM, SneakerLAH | 24-Jan |
| 13. | DCT Agency | Advertising Platforms | Pre-series A | Living Lab Ventures | 25-Jan |
| 14. | YUKK | Marketplaces (general) | M&A | iSeller | 26-Jan |
| 15. | iSeller | Ecommerce seller tools and services | Series B | Intudo Ventures, KVision (Kasikorn Vision), Mandiri Capital Indonesia (MCI), Openspace Ventures (NSI Ventures) | 26-Jan |
| 16. | PT. Eden Pangan Indonesia (Eden Farm) | B2B ecommerce | Bridge | AC Ventures, AppWorks, Telkomsel Mitra Inovasi (TMI) | 31-Jan |
| 17. | Peris.ai | Cyber Security | Bridge | East Ventures, MAGIC Fund | 1-Feb |
| 18. | MyRobin | Human Resource | M&A | BetterPlace | 6-Feb |
| 19. | Asa Ren | Biotechnology | Early Stage | Marcy Venture Partners (MVP), Naya Capital, Northstar Ventures, PT Diagnos Laboratorium Utama Tbk (Diagnos Laboratories), Top Harvest Capital | 9-Feb |
| 20. | Migo | Digital Media | Series C | MNC Group | 10-Feb |
| 21. | Ledgerowl | Financial Accounting & Admin | Bridge | Init 6, Investible | 21-Feb |
| 22. | Proglix | B2B ecommerce | Seed | 500 Global, Arkana Ventures, MAGIC Fund, MDI Ventures, Number Capital | 23-Feb |
| 23. | Semaai | Agriculture Tech | Bridge | Accion Venture Lab, BEENEXT, Surge, XA Network | 27-Feb |
| 24. | Jagofon | Marketplaces (consumer electronics) | Seed | Orbit Startups | 3-Mar |
| 25. | Flokq | Real Estate | Pre-series A | SOSV | 3-Mar |
| 26. | Gently | Retail (miscellaneous niche) | Bridge | Init 6 | 8-Mar |
| 27. | Broom | Retail (automobiles) | Pre-series A | AC Ventures, BRI Ventures, MUFG Innovation Partners, Openspace Ventures (NSI Ventures), Quona Capital | 14-Mar |
| 28. | Bababos | Marketplaces (miscellaneous niche) | Seed | East Ventures | 15-Mar |
| 29. | Gaspack | Internet Technology | Bridge | 500 Global, Arise, Tokoin, eMerge | 17-Mar |
| 30. | Bang Jamin | Insurance Tech | Seed | BRI Ventures, Northstar Group | 17-Mar |
| 31. | PT Etana Biotechnologies Indonesia | Biotechnology | Seed | Deutsche Investitions - und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), East Ventures, HighLight Capital/HLC (弘晖资本), YF Capital (Yunfeng Capital) (云锋基金) | |
| 32. | FinAccel (Kredivo) | Lending, loans, and credit | Series D | GMO Venture Partners, Jungle Ventures, Mizuho Bank, NAVER Financial, Openspace Ventures (NSI Ventures), Square Peg Capital | 23-Mar |
| 33. | Qoala | Insurance tech | Series B | AppWorks, Eurazeo, Indogen Capital, responsAbility Ventures | 28-Mar |
| 34. | Social Bread | Internet Marketing | Seed | East Ventures, Living Lab Ventures | 29-Mar |
| 35. | Baskit | B2B ecommerce | Bridge | DS/X Ventures, Forge Ventures, PT Prasetia Dwidharma, Sketchnote Partners | 29-Mar |
| 36. | Mobee | Cryptocurrency | Unspecified Stage | 1982 Ventures | 30-Mar |
| 37. | Fresh Factory | Storage | Pre-series A | East Ventures, SBI Ven Capital, TAP Applied Agri Services, Trihill Capital | 3-Apr |
| 38. | Swap (PT Swap Energi Indonesia) | Renewable Energies | Pre-series A | Ondine Capital (活水资本) | 4-Apr |
| 39. | Fit Hub | Fitness | Seed | BAce Capital, East Ventures, Gentree Fund, Trihill Capital, Wavemaker Partners | 10-Apr |
| 40. | Travelio | Marketplaces (Property) | Series C | AppWorks, DAOL Ventures, Orzon Ventures, Pavilion Capital | 10-Apr |
| 41. | Legit Group | Restaurants & Food | Series A | East Ventures, MDI Ventures, SMDV, Winter Capital | 11-Apr |
| 42. | Cakap | Education Tech | Series C | Heritas Capital, MDI Ventures | 12-Apr |
| 43. | Zi.Care | Enterprise Software | Series A | Oriza Greenwillow Technology Fund | 13-Apr |
| 44. | Power Commerce Asia | E-commerce seller tools and services | Bridge | null | 27-Apr |
| 45. | Jojonomic | SaaS | Bridge | Ango Ventures | 27-Apr |
II. NLP Commentary on the Recent Tech Deals and the Rise of ESG (Environment, Social, and Governance) Sector
Despite the decrease in investment, startups in the e-commerce and marketplace sector still dominated the investment funding during the first quarter of the year. Some new sectors, such as renewable energy, have managed to successfully receive new funding. We also note the interest towards ESG investing in Indonesia, which will rise a lot of potentials, as Indonesia is moving towards a low-emission and sustainable economy.
The growth of ESG sector is supported by the Government of Indonesia through the Ministries of Industry and Finance that will allocate IDR 7 trillion (USD 455.88 million) to subsidize electric motorcycle sales through 2024, to speed up the growth of the electric vehicles ecosystem in Indonesia. Mrs. Sri Mulyani, the Minister of Finance, has made a statement that the subsidies will cover the sale of 800,000 new electric motorcycles, as well as the conversion of 200,000 conventional motorcycles to electric motorcycles.
Furthermore, the Indonesian government is actively promoting carbon trading to support net zero emission efforts to reduce the production of greenhouse effect. Several initiations supported by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources have been implemented, with the ultimate goal of achieving the net zero emission by 2060.
Based on the above developments, we project that Indonesia will see major investments in the ESG sector, including in the development of environmentally conscious tech-enabled businesses.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
