Indonesia's Venturra teams up with Dasym for next fundraise

"Institutionalisation cuts across the entire process of what running a successful firm means," said John Riady, Venturra's co-founder and managing partner.

"It starts with the fundraising process and achieving an institutionalised LP base, whereas in the past it was more family offices, but it extends beyond that into investment – being more scientific and systematic in our approach to evaluating investments, portfolio management, and exits."

Riady will be one of six partners in the new fund, alongside Raditya Pramana, his fellow managing partner at Venturra, and Dasym's Frank Botman and Charles Coker. There are also two new recruits: Todd Meister, a founding general partner at US-based deep-tech investor First Spark Ventures, and Surya Tatang, an Indonesian corporate veteran who joins from locally listed Lippo Karawaci.

Venturra was established in 2013, essentially as a formalisation of the investment activities of Lippo Digital Ventures (LDV), an arm of Indonesian conglomerate Lippo Group. Riady's family controls Lippo Group and he is CEO of the group's domestic operations, although the fascination with venture capital – and the origins of LDV – can be traced to his return to Indonesia from law school in the US in 2011.

Venturra Capital Fund I closed on USD 85m in 2015. Riady and his co-founder of LDV, Rudy Ramawy, who before that was country head of Google Indonesia, were two of the three original managing partners. Venturra took on the existing LDV portfolio and Lippo Group was the largest investor in the fund. Most of the other LPs were family offices and high net worth individuals.

"I was deliberate in not wanting to call the fund something that related to Lippo. I wanted more independence. That was the right approach and our partnership with Dasym takes it further in the same direction," Riady said. "At Venturra, we can benefit from whatever Lippo has to offer but go beyond that and focus on being a VC firm for the future."

Dasym is familiar with the transition from family office to independent institutional manager. The firm was established in 2000 as Cyrte Investments to manage the family wealth of John De Mol, a Dutch media tycoon. De Mol is best known as co-founder of Endemol, the production company behind the Big Brother reality television format.

Cyrte, which Botman had run from the outset, was sold to Dutch insurer Delta Lloyd Group in 2007 and part of the operation was spun off as Dasym in 2013. The firm now describes itself as a research-driven organisation that develops investment products and wealth management strategies, including private funds. Coker joined in 2012 to work on the China strategy.

"A friend [Eddy Chan of Intudo Ventures] was putting together an Indonesia fund and we helped with some research. This made us start thinking about creating a mandate for Indonesia, but then the pandemic came along," Coker said. "I knew some members of the Riady family, and they told me Venturra would be coming back to market. We got to know the firm and decided to do it together."

In addition to bringing institutional expertise to the partnership, Dasym will contribute its own LP relationships. The firm is particularly strong in Europe, but Coker describes investor relations coverage for Venturra as "a truly global undertaking," noting that Southeast Asia is heavily underinvested as far as global institutional players are concerned.

Dasym's fundamental investment thesis is rooted in the digitalisation of consumer life. It regards Indonesia as a good fit, given the country anchors a region where the digital economy is projected to reach USD 1trn in gross merchandise value by 2030. Attractive demographics, a rising middle class, and increasing smart phone penetration are all contributing factors.

Venturra has already tapped into these dynamics, securing exits from the likes of Grab, Ovo, Ruangguru, Shopback, and Sociolla. In most cases, the firm got in early – sometimes as the first equity cheque – and exited as new investors came into growth-stage rounds. Riady claims that more than 90% of the positions in Fund I have been exited and distributions to paid-in (DPI) are top decile for the vintage.

The new fund will follow broadly the same mandate, focusing on seed, Series A, and Series B rounds for consumer technology companies. The strategy is described as "Indonesia-plus," reflecting an appetite for selective investments outside of the firm's core market. In addition to the partners, Venturra has three investment professionals in Jakarta and two in Ho Chi Minh City.

"When we started there was no word in Bahasa for venture capital, but over the last 10 years, the industry has exploded. The boom and subsequent bust have been healthy – an educational process for the industry. We see a lot of opportunities over the next cycle because the foundations have been laid, the ecosystem is more mature, and there are quality founders," said Riady.

"There are five to seven top VC firms that have built value over the past 50 years in Silicon Valley. Southeast Asia will be the same 20-30 years down the road, and we want to be among those names."

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Europe
• GPs
• Technology
• Consumer
• Fundraising
• Venture
• Indonesia
• Venturra Partners
• TMT