Kinesys Group names Steven Vanada as managing partner, targets US$20M for early stage startups

Venture capital firm Kinesys Group has appointed Steven Vanada as Managing Partner, as part of its effort to strengthen and support the Indonesian startup ecosystem. Vanada has eight years of experience as an investor with CyberAgent Capital; his last designation in the company being Executive Director.

Initiated by Yansen Kamto in early 2019 with a debut investment in new retail startup Wahyoo, Kinesys is also supported by Northstar Group Co-Founder & Managing Partner Patrick Walujo as Advisor.

Throughout this year, in addition to Wahyoo, there are four other startups that have raised funding from the firm: Zenius, Recharge, Umma, and Goola. Kinesys aims to invest in three other startups by January 2020.

Favoured sectors

Kamto and Vanada explained to DailySocial the investment philosophies of the firm. There are five primary verticals that it focusses on, from new retail, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, to education. Despite looking to invest in Southeast Asian startups, the fund that Kinesys managed will be focussed on Indonesia-based startups, particularly those in the consumer retail segment.

Vanada said that at the moment, the main internet ecosystem infrastructure in Indonesia has been developed well enough –and this is not without reason. Online marketplaces, user education, and payments system have been well-formed in the past one decade.

Also Read: How Yansen Kamto plans to help Indonesia build 1,000 startups by 2020

“There is already a foundation for infrastructure. For example, in the payments sector, there is already GoPay and other services. From that, there will be new verticals that we can invest in. In the old days, we needed to convince customers to shop online, but it is difficult as there was no efficient payments system. So how can one purchase digital content? But today it is a very different story. There are new opportunities that did not exist in the last five years,” Vanada elaborated.

He further explained that the digitalisation of existing sectors is also the primary principle of Kinesys. They aim to support innovative digital products that can help conventional businesses accelerate digitally.

“We see an increase in consumer confidence, purchasing powers, and the rise of the middle class. There are specific aspects that we can work on from that. For example, to support the tourism sector, new roads and airports are being built. What we need to do is supplementing it with solutions that can provide more personalised, efficient customer experience,” Kamto added.

Closing a US$20 million fund

For its debut, Kinesys is aiming to set up a fund of US$20 million. The fund will target early-stage startups with a US$500,000 ticket size per startup. By far, the company has managed to close up to 70 per cent of it, from mainly local LPs. Kamto aims to close the fund by March 2020.

“Almost all startups have a good business model, but the startups that we invest in should have a clear path toward profitability. It is no longer about growth and scale; it is all about building a sustainable business,” he stressed.

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The article Kinesys Group Tunjuk Steven Vanada Jadi Managing Partner, Siapkan 280 Miliar Rupiah untuk Startup Tahap Awal was written in Bahasa Indonesia by Randi Eka Yonida and Amir Karimuddin for DailySocial. English translation and editing by e27.

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