East Ventures Confirms Investment Commitment in Early Stage Startups

As one of the venture capital (VC) most actively investing in Indonesian startups, East Ventures admits that he will never stop providing fresh funds to selected startups even in the current global crisis.

In a media meeting, Tuesday (9/5), Co-Founder & Managing Partner of East Ventures Willson Cuaca assess Indonesia's economic fundamentals are already good. On this occasion, East Ventures conveyed the company's views and priorities. Starting from Climate Impact Innovation Challenge (CIIC) together with the Temasek Foundation, to Women with Impact.

East Ventures is also committed to achieving sustainable development and bringing positive impacts to society through sound initiatives and practices environmental, social, and governance (ESG).

Early stage investment focus

One of the reasons Willson and his team put their faith in early-stage startups in building their business is the potential for growth. Even though many startups are now starting to reach profitability, there are still many startups that need support to build a business.

Currently, there are several VCs who focus on startups that have achieved profitability from the start. However, this is not the case with East Ventures. According to him, this pressure will make other startup founders reluctant to build a business because they have to think about it profit since the beginning.

"In my opinion, innovation must take risks. This means investing, building technology, building platforms, improving barrier-to-entry, and in time will propel the startup toward profitability," Willson said.

The global economic crisis apparently did not make East Ventures reduce their investment in startups in Indonesia. Willson believes that more and more startup founders are offering solutions on a large scale. He said that the current economic crisis would actually filter companies organically. Good companies can maintain their business, while bad companies are forced to stop their business.

"We will not stop funding. Currently the startup ecosystem in Indonesia is getting better because it has been built over the last ten years," said Willson.

Since its founding in 2009, East Ventures has transformed into a holistic platform that provides early to late stage investment to more than 300 technology companies in Southeast Asia.

As of the first quarter of 2023, there have been 20 startups funded by East Ventures. $6,7 billion fell into the advanced investment category (follow-on funding). East Ventures has also pocketed $86 billion annualized GMV with $1 billion Assets Under Management (AUM). It is recorded that 90% of their portfolio has positive margins.

Quality of startup founders

When asked about the criteria for startups that will be funded, Willson emphasized that he always looks at the quality of the founder. From there, he can get information regarding services or products that have the potential to develop.

"When the company gets big, can they become ideal startup founders and be able to lead the company. We also look at product, market and category," said Willson.

He added, East Ventures focuses on startup founders who can provide solutions to big problems in big categories, and will become a new trend. East Ventures claims to have invested in the best companies. Currently, as much as 80% of investment in the Growth Fund comes from the Seed Fund they already own.

As a venture company that has confidence in the startup ecosystem in Indonesia, East Ventures is the first investor unicorn Indonesia, namely Tokopedia and Traveloka. Other companies in the East Ventures portfolio are Ruangguru, SIRCLO, Kudo (acquired by Grab), Counter (acquired by Gojek), Tech in Asia, Xendit, IDN Media, MokaPOS (acquired by Gojek), ShopBack, KoinWorks, Waresix, and Sociolla.