Exploring Northstar Group and Google's “Joint Business Plan” Mission

In 2021, Northstar and Google have agreed to form joint business plan. The focus is to jointly accelerate the growth of the digital economy in Southeast Asia.

To DailySocial, Director Northstar Group Henky Prihatna said that the two companies would share roles. As private equity firms, Northstar will focus on investing and allocating resources to provide local market knowledge. While Google will help a lot on the technology front, it also teaches best practices from global case studies.

"This combination is necessary for entrepreneur in Indonesia. Because a successful startup doesn't only need founderIt's good, but you also have to understand 'know-how'-his. From here we will share insights which is useful according to our experience and observations," said Henky.

In the initial phase, Northstar and Google will conduct a trial first. So it still focuses on the existing portfolio line. He also said, the great vision of joint business plan this is giving birth unicorn new in Southeast Asia for verticals beyond the existing ones.

"For training [startup] is actually flexible, but since it's still new, we want it pilot project to an already running startup [later stage]. Because this is also Google's first collaboration with venture capital," he added.

In addition to nurturing existing businesses they will also help traditional companies to do digital transformation. As it is known, that Northstar not only invests in technology companies, but they also embrace two other sectors, namely consumer and financial.

"This collaboration is also expected to create new entrepreneurs. As we know, Google has various accelerator programs and business education, we also often Involved into startup development programs. We are discussing joint programs that can later be implemented for this purpose," said Henky.

In a published release, Managing Director of Google Indonesia Randy Jusuf said, "At Google, we want to continue to support digital transformation through collaboration with stakeholders and encourage the development of the startup community through the Google for Startups initiative. It is an honor for us to work with Northstar Group and support their investment in startups through platforms like Google Ads and Google Cloud."

Northstar Group Chief Investment Officer Tan Choon Hong also gave his remarks, "With the support of businesses of Google's caliber, we look forward to helping our portfolio continue to adapt and maximize new opportunities going forward. This collaboration with Google is also part of our commitment to driving the growth of Northstar's portfolio companies."

Northstar itself since 2003 has managed funds of around $2,2 billion, and is one of the largest investors in the region. In the Indonesian startup ecosystem, they invest in several startups such as Gojek, Zenius, and eFishery. They also have units Northstar Foundation which focuses on investing in social impact ventures.