BRI Ventures Will Distribute Dividends to Sembrani Nusantara Investors

BRI Ventures (BVI) announced that it will distribute dividends to Sembrani Nusantara Venture Fund investors following the net profit performance obtained by several of its investment portfolios. Dividends will be shared with yield ranging from 12% -14%.

BRI Ventures Co-Founder and CEO Nicko Widjaja said that the Sembrani Nusantara portfolio showed positive performance despite the uncertain market situation in recent years. The startup industry experienced a fantastic increase in valuation in 2021, but since last year investors have started to focus on profitability.

"Of course challenging, but message we are clear that we want to build a venture industry in Indonesia. We can't fundraising to support the company, but to provide funding for company expansion. We want to restore confidence in the startup industry so [the portfolio] has to be profits," Nicko said at the BVI Media Luncheon, Wednesday (24/5),

Nusantara Sembrani is a managed fund that collects funds from investors outside the BRI Group. The investment targets are early stage startups in the non-fintech sector, including consumer (new retail).

It is known that Sembrani Nusantara will only become effective in 2021. Its first funding round closed with a value of IDR 150 billion at the end of 2020. Some of its portfolios are Haus! and Broom.

Focus on new retail

BRI Ventures Chief Investment Officer Markus Liman added, Dana Ventura Sembrani Nusantara continues to explore investment opportunities in the consumer sector (new retail) because it has proven profitability and sustainability in its business model.

Currently, there are three sub-sectors that are Sembrani Nusantara's main focus in industry new retail, namely F&B, beauty and Fashion. Startup players in this sector utilize the D2C model to reach the market. "In recent years, market acceptance of brands "The local area in Indonesia is getting better," added Markus.

Referring to the BRI Ventures White Paper report entitled "The Birth of New Retail", the D2C sector in Indonesia is growing rapidly. Its growth is driven by increased smartphone penetration and widespread use of social media, allowing people to shop online for products from D2C startups.

Apart from that, the existence of e-commerce platforms also has an impact on the development of the user community. Therefore, D2C players in Indonesia are predicted to increase scalability rapidly in the next few years.

The F&B sector is said to be the most productive D2C sector in the country. A number of F&B players have secured investment from venture capitalists, from Kopi Kenangan (unicorn The first F&B in Indonesia), Lemonilo, to Fore Coffee.