Amatil X, "Corporate VC" from Coca Cola Amatil, Officially Enters Indonesia

Coca Cola Amatil inaugurate corporate venture capital (CVC) Amatil X in Indonesia to help accelerate the process of local startups and build entrepreneurial capabilities for internal employees through Amatil X Academy.

President Director of Coca Cola Amatil Indonesia Kadir Gunduz said, "Amatil X is an important momentum for Amatil Indonesia's transformation journey. Since operating in Indonesia in 1992, the company continues to be committed to using the latest systems and technologies in each of its manufacturing facilities. The adoption of the technology itself began to be massive in 2015.

"As one of the largest beverage sales, manufacturing and distribution companies in Indonesia, we have invested more than US$1,6 billion to meet all community needs, including in terms of technology and capability building initiatives," he explained, yesterday (10/4). .

According to him, Amatil X not only increases the company's competitive advantage through CVC, but also helps it identify and work with local startups that are right for Amatil Indonesia's business.

Amatil X . Program

There are three things that Amatil X will do in Indonesia. Namely, starting Amatil X Academy with accelerator from Australia BlueChilli, strategic partnership with local accelerator Digitaraya to open up opportunities for collaboration with the startup ecosystem, and investing in startups that can accelerate Amatil's business.

Coca Cola Amatil Group Director Partners & Growth Chris Sullivan added that Amatil X first started last year in Australia and New Zealand. The results are quite encouraging, his party has invested in two startups, namely Tabsquare and Doshii.

Amatil X will start looking for local startups that are able to assist Coca Cola Amatil's business priorities in terms of on demand delivery, distribution optimization, store analysis, and eco-friendly packaging. Sullivan is temporarily reluctant to mention the nominal amount of funds prepared to invest in local startups and how much will be targeted.

"There have been two investments into startups that we have given. There is no limit on how many startups we target, but we will do it." scouting alone. The funding stages are around Series A and B, at least the startup already has revenue, there are products, and markets," he said.

This April marks the inaugural operation of Amatil X with an initial project with Coca Cola Amatil and Digitaraya to support the FMCG industry. Digitaraya himself is currently doing batch The latest update is specifically about FMCG and has selected five startups as participants, including Foodizz, Hello Beauty, Pomona, and Recharge.

"Currently there are five FMCG startups and batchit's already running, separate from Amatil X, but Amatil is sponsoring it for the first time batch. This is the solution win win, so Amatil can enter our network and startups can develop their knowledge from the team expert Amatil," added VP of Strategy Digitaraya Nicole Yap.

Head of Disruptive Innovation & New Ventures Amatil X Alix Rimington added that his party will find their own startups that are worthy of cooperation from every batch held by Digitaraya.

Before starting batch This FMCG, the team has started first through AI batches and women founders. There, there is an opportunity for strategic cooperation that can be carried out between the two parties, but there is no possibility for an investment decision.

Sullivan also ensured that every startup that received funding from Amatil X allowed it to be helped to expand into the global market. This is currently being done by Tabsquare, a restaurant technology startup based in Singapore that received funding from Amatil X last year. The startup is currently studying the market in Australia.

"We are happy to help local startups to expand to other countries where we also operate globally. If a local startup is successful in their own country, we believe they can also be successful abroad."

Amatil X Academy

Meanwhile, Amatil X Academy is a special internal program for Amatil Indonesia employees. BlueChilli CEO Sebastien Eckersley-Maslin said, through the Amatil X Academy program it will assist Coca Cola Amatil in identifying company intrapreneurs and provide the opportunity to develop prototypes and pioneer ideas in a structured way for six months.

Amatil employees can take advantage of the opportunity, develop their ideas into reality. Plus the freedom to take unpaid leave (unpaid leave) during the program.

"As part of this partnership we are committed to helping leading companies like Coca Cola Amatil use the methodology Lean Startup, so that they can adapt to face challenges, innovate quickly, and synergize business strategies for the future," said Maslin.

The presence of this program automatically marks the start of BlueChilli's expansion to Indonesia. Its operations will be based in Digitaraya. BlueChilli will expand its presence in different markets in the next 12 months.