VC firms stay bullish on Indonesian startups despite economic downturn

Jakarta

WITH over 2,000 startups, Indonesia has over the past few years been viewed as one of the top destinations for venture capital and private equity firms. Globally, the country ranks fifth in the startup space, having drawn more than US$8 billion in funding through nearly 700 deals from 2016 to 2019.

Startup founders such as Nadiem Makarim, co-founder of Go-Jek; Ferry Unardi, co-founder of Traveloka; Natali Ardianto, co-founder of Tiket.com; William Tanuwijaya, co-founder of Tokopedia; and Achmad Zaky, co-founder of Bukalapak are not only extremely wealthy but have attained rock star status in Indonesia.

Given the lure of potential new unicorns, funds have continued to flow into the country's startup sector despite a sharp economic contraction in the second quarter of this year. The latest data available from the Financial Services Authority (OJK) showed that up to May 2020 from a year ago, venture capital financing/placement ros…

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