Grab Second batch of Velocity Ventures Aims to Empower Micro Enterprises

Grab officially announced Grab The second batch of Ventures Velocity (GVV), last Wednesday (10/4). Different from its predecessor generation, program flagship Grab it will focus on innovation and problem solving in agriculture and empowering micro-enterprises.

In his opening, President Grab Indonesia's Ridzki Kramadibrata emphasized that from the start, the presence of this program was expected to have a broad impact. Not only for Grab, but also society.

"We believe that these two focuses can drive great economic growth in Southeast Asia. Through this program, we also want to nurturing will unicorn next (nexticorn) in Southeast Asia," said Ridzki in Jakarta.

GVV is a special startup development program that has the status of post seeds and want to do scale up. A total of 3-5 selected startups will get mentoring, access to customer base and technology Grab, and they can test their solution on the platform Grab.

Head of Investments & Programs Grab Aditi Sharma Ventures added, there are many opportunities that can be explored from agriculture, especially related to the supply chain of traditional fresh foods, such as fruit and vegetables.

Indonesia is considered to have many problems related to the supply chain of agricultural products. The complexity of the distribution channels and the geographical conditions in Indonesia make the process long and inefficient.

It is hoped that GVV can maximize the startup's potential in bringing affordable and quality fresh food ingredients to all of its target markets in Southeast Asia.

Likewise, the empowerment of small traders with the aim of cutting operational costs in order to increase their income. Aditi said that the trial of their solution will rely on the Kudo agent network, which is currently used by 250 Indonesian digital entrepreneurs.

"In the previous batch, startups only tested their services in their own home country. In the second batch, they had the opportunity to pilot in all countries in Southeast Asia," said Aditi.

Apart from the funding phase post seeds, Another criterion to look for in this program is a startup that has product market fit, already has a user base, and has strong early traction. Registration has started from March 29 to May 15. This program itself will run for two months (May and June).

GVV is supported by a number of leading government agencies in Indonesia, such as the Ministry of Communication and Information (Kemkominfo) and the Creative Economy Agency (BEKRAF).