Northstar Group Closes "NSV I" Management Fund of 2,1 Trillion Rupiah

Northstar Group closed the final raise of Northstar Ventures I, LP (NSV I) of $140 million (around IDR 2,1 trillion), an early-stage managed fund focused on startups based or having significant operations in Indonesia and Southeast Asia.

Previously, Northstar Group had closed first round NSV I funding of $90 million (around IDR 1,4 trillion) in January 2023. NSV I investment has flowed to 10 startups in Southeast Asia, including Maka Motors, an EV manufacturer from Indonesia.

"By capitalizing on the Northstar ecosystem across portfolios, strategic partners, and founder regionally, NSV I has a strong position to deliver channel with growth, expertise in the financial sector, and industry insight for portfolio candidates. "We want to accelerate the growth of our early-stage portfolio with a wider network and multi-stage investment capabilities," said Carlson Lau, Managing Director of Northstar Ventures, in his official statement.

The focus of NSV I funding is sectors consumer, fintech, and solutions enterprise which is projected to generate long-term growth in Southeast Asia. The current market situation is said to provide attractive early stage investment opportunities, especially for the Indonesian market.

NSV I is backed by a diverse group of global investors, incl sovereign wealthfunds, institutional investors, family offices, and high net worth individuals.

"Southeast Asia is the region with the third largest internet users in the world. Increasing levels of prosperity, a young generation population that is technology savvy, and digitalization present great opportunities for technology startups," added Northstar Group CIO Chee-Yann Wong.

For information, Northstar Group is a VC and private equity is based in Singapore where it has managed funds of $2,6 billion. Indonesia is one of the main investment destinations in Southeast Asia, with a focus on the financial, retail, manufacturing, telecommunications, technology and agriculture sectors.

In aggregate, Northstar has invested $4 billion with co-investors in the Southeast Asia region. Some of its portfolios in Indonesia include PrimaKu (parenting), Bang Jamin (insurtech), and Una Brands (e-commerce aggregator).

Latest report Indonesia Venture Capital Report 2023 mentions early stage investment trends with ticket sizes no more than $10 million still shows healthy growth since 2021. This can be seen from the number of transactions under $10 million dominating total startup investment in Indonesia in 2023 (year-to-date).

The high level of early stage investment transactions shows the resilience factor of newly established startups. Apart from that, the position of early generation startups which has developed significantly to date is an indicator of investor optimism in Indonesia.

Based on collected data DailySocial, startup funding in Indonesia throughout the first semester of 2023 reached $707 million, a drastic decrease of 74% from the same period the previous year, with 73 funding transactions announced.