Intudo Ventures has recently closed a US$20 million fund. Here is what they plan to do with it

When venture capital firm Intudo Ventures was launched in June 2017, it came out with a more than US$10 million fund in tow.

But recently, Bloomberg reported that the company has managed to grow its pool of funds, closing the total number to US$20 million.

“Even though the fund size is now US$20 million, twice the size that we originally intended, it doesn’t mean that we are going to invest in twice the amount of companies. We will continue with the plan to invest in 12 companies, for example,” says Intudo Ventures Founding Partner Patrick Yip in an interview with e27.

“We would like to be more involved in the companies we are investing in,” he stresses.

By March, Intudo Ventures has announced investments in three Indonesia-based companies: Coworking space operator EV Hive, used car platform BeliMobilGue.co.id, and fitness studio RIDE Jakarta.

All of the companies have online-to-offline (O2O) elements in it. In fact, RIDE Jakarta started off as a purely offline fitness studio that offer indoor cycling classes. The company has cited plans to use the new funding to support its expansion to the digital platform, by launching an app that will allow users to livestream classes.

“We love businesses that are multichannel. I think nowadays we call it OMO, online that is merged with offline,” Yip says.

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Investing in talents

 

When it was launched last year, the company mentioned that it will put special focus on entrepreneurs who had studied or worked abroad, and are looking to return to the Indonesian market. In countries such as China, this phenomenon is known as “sea turtles.”

How exactly does Intudo Ventures plan to attract and nurture these talents into working for its portfolio companies?

Co-founder Eddy Chan is mostly based in Silicon Valley, and is well-connected to various Indonesian students, alumni, and professional associations in the US.

The venture capital firm engages with talents early on, ever since they graduate from universities.

“Since these students are extremely talented, sometimes instead of coming back to their country, they might join Google or Facebook. Which is fine. At least we are willing to strike up conversations so when they come back … Hopefully we’d be the first they reach out to when they want to start a business,” Yip says.

In a startup founder, there are three qualities that Intudo Ventures is looking for. Interestingly, these qualities made up the company’s name: Integritas (“integrity” in the Indonesian language), ketulusan (“sincerity”), and jodoh (“suitability”).

In addition to these qualities, in their pitch, founders should also be able to cover challenges faced in different aspects of businesses, such as distribution, follow-on funding, and talents.

Yip says it would be “really good” if a startup can eloquently cover these aspects, even if they do not immediately have “all the answers.”

“But first and foremost, we would like to see someone who has a lot of passion. We are also looking for founders who are into the startups because it is something that means a lot to them. Not just for the sake of starting a business, but really for a personal reason why they want to start a business,” Yip says.

Also Read: Travis Kalanick to launch venture fund ‘10100’ targeting India, China

Investing in Indonesia, today

 

The year 2017 brought many fundamental changes in the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem.

In the fintech sector, according to a recent report by KPMG, more and more startups are embracing ICO as a fundraising method. The trend resulted in the declining number of VC investment in fintech in the last quarter of the year.

When asked about whether Intudo Ventures sees the rise of ICO as a competition or even possible threat, Yip admits that the firm has not been digging deep enough into the matter.

In the Indonesian market, the most monumental development in its local startup ecosystem is the debut of Kioson and M Cash on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). The two companies had made history as the first two Indonesian startups on the exchange.

How exactly does this development impact tech investment in 2018?

While Yip is unable to speak on behalf of all VC firms, he says that the change does not really impact how Intudo Ventures approach investing.

“For us, it doesn’t really change [our approach in investing] as our investment philosophy … is that we also want to make sure that we invest in a sustainable manner and that one day, there is a path to profitability,” he says.

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Image Credit: Susan Chan

The post Meet the VC: Discussing sea turtles and OMO with Intudo Ventures appeared first on e27.