Investment in Myanmar Startups, UMG Idealab Ecosystem Values ​​There Similar to Indonesia Eight Years Ago

UMG Idealab, UMG Group's Corporate Venture Capital (CVC), announced an early stage investment (seed) against Zay Chin, startup online grocery in Myanmar. The investment value cannot be stated.

Zay Chin aims to be a leading platform to assist young professionals and housewives (IRT) in Myanmar in finding their daily basic needs in both traditional and wet markets.

"Although the number of minimarts and shopping centers continues to grow in Myanmar, we see the need for IRT in traditional markets remains high," said CEO Zay Chin Kyaw Kyaw in an official statement.

Meanwhile, the Founder and Executive Chairman UMG Idealab Kiwi Aliwarga said this investment was in line with his strategy to enter Myanmar's digital market. "Our decision to synergize with Zay Chin allows us to continue our expansion in Myanmar's digital business," he said.

Contacted separately, Kiwi also revealed that this funding will strengthen Zay Chin's operations and network expansion efforts in Myanmar, especially through its collaboration with BeeXprss as a partner. last mile in Myanmar.

"This agreement, for now, will focus on the Myanmar market first. However, in the next few years, they [Zay Chin] will expand to several other countries, namely Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Indonesia," Kiwi said. DailySocial.

According to him, when compared to Indonesia, the digital ecosystem in Myanmar is still at an early stage. You could say there is gap eight years from the development side. In other words, Myanmar's digital ecosystem is now the same as in Indonesia in 2012. However, he believes the digital economy in Myanmar will develop rapidly.

As is known, Kiwi Aliwarga is a Myanmar conglomerate from Indonesia who initiated the establishment of UMG Idealab. Since 2016, UMG Idealab has injected funding into five portfolios consisting of 2 technology startups, 1 SME, and 2 startups venture builders.

UMG Idealab targets 5 to 15 portfolios in one year. There are three main targets targeted through this investment, namely fighting climate change, reducing income inequality, and encouraging SME businesses with technology. Kiwi gave an example of services in the education and health sectors in Myanmar using IoT and AI-based technologies.

"There are several [portfolios] in pipeline us, but closing in this month not from Indonesia and Myanmar. We have reached a final stage of agreement and we will announce it at the end of September."