Grab Add Three Trillion Rupiah Investment for Local Startups

Grab increase the investment allocation of IDR 3 trillion (US$250 million) to develop Indonesian startups in the next three years through the development program Grab Ventures Velocity. This announcement is the third phase of the 2020 Master Plan program "Grab 4 Indonesian" which was announced in February 2017.

"This announcement is the third phase of the 2020 Master Plan program. In the first stage, we have announced a special investment for Indonesia of US $ 700 million, which is now adding new funds," said the Managing Director Grab Indonesia Ridzki Kramadibrata, Wednesday (29/8).

On the same occasion, Grab also inaugurated a business unit in the field of investment in startups Grab Ventures. This PMV aims to help selected Indonesian startups grow faster nationally and in Southeast Asia by providing comprehensive support including market access, mentorship, technological expertise, and strategic investment.

Grab Ventures actually have first announced at headquarters Grab in Singapore in June 2018. Its presence in Indonesia was just announced today. Grab Ventures led by Chris Yeo.

First program held Grab Ventures is Grab Ventures Velocity. This is a kind of global scale incubator program looking for quality startup seeds to enter the ecosystem Grab. Industry verticals targeted include mobility, food, logistics, fintech, and other O2O challenges.

Grab looking for startups that are developing further (mature), ready to receive series A funding up to the top, not still in the pre-series A stage. The 16-week training program aims to help selected companies grow faster with the support of access to assets, resources, expertise, including network Grab.

"So that later startup players will not only become champions locally in their own cities, but can go to the regional stage and even to the global stage."

Ridzki continued, registration for startup participants will start on September 10, 2-18. They will undergo a 16-week training program starting from the fourth quarter of 2018. Then they will be screened up to 3-5 most promising startups to collaborate with. According to him, so far more than 200 regional startups have shown interest in the program.

"We need synergies and added value that are in line with our vision and mission Grab."

Grab assisted by several partners to launch this program, including AWS (Amazon Web Service) and MDI Ventures. AWS provides a variety of benefits to startups through AWS plans and technical mentoring related to platform security, startup development, and best practice.

Meanwhile MDI Ventures provides local expertise and access to their network of mentors. CVC, which is managed by the Telkom Group, has networks in Singapore and Silicon Valley.

Development Grab last year

A year after the 2020 Master Plan "Grab 4 Indonesia" was announced to the public, on its way Grab actively innovating in order to realize its mission as everyday app.

There are three main focuses targeted from this program, technology job creation, investment in technopreneurship, and increasing financial inclusion.

In the first stage, Grab set aside IDR 10 trillion (US$ 700 million) to empower local technology talent through the establishment of an R&D center in Jakarta. The office has employed more than 150 engineer local.

Grab also realized investments into technology companies that drive financial inclusion and expand access to mobile payments and financial services. The acquisition of Kudo and the partnership with OVO are tangible results of that commitment.

It is claimed that the Kudo network has now tripled. Currently there are more than 1,4 million agents in 500 cities. They are said to have succeeded in recruiting more than 700 thousand driver-partners, while the agent's income rose by more than 60%.

With OVO, both companies can bring the benefits of non-cash payments to more than 60 million users. OVO is expected to be able to expand its services to 100 thousand SMEs by the end of this year.

Next is the second phase step which was announced in May 2017. Grab announced a commitment to increase the income of 5 million micro merchants through technology by the end of 2018. This move was carried out in conjunction with driver partners, agent networks, food delivery partners and express couriers.

Collaboration done Grab with various partners claimed to boost the company's performance. Service GrabFood is said to have grown 4 times on a GMV basis in the first quarter of 2018

This service is already present in 30 cities throughout Indonesia, whereas previously it was only available in Jakarta in January 2017. Ridzki targets GrabFood can be present in all cities that have operations GrabBike until the end of this year.

Furthermore, GrabExpress is claimed to grow 3 times in the same period. Grab 137 cities have been present, evenly distributed from Sabang to Merauke.

Grab stated that it would continue to invest in and partner with several startups in Indonesia, including OVO, Happy Fresh, and Madhang (one of the promoters of which was Kaesang Pangarep).