Sebastian Wijaya Supports "Next Generation" Startups Through Win Ventures

Launched a startup since 2013 with the name seroyamart,entrepreneur series Sebastian Wijaya, is now busy with managing venture capital Win Ventures.

To DailySocial, Sebastian tells his hope to help next generation startup founders develop their startup. Win Ventures also seeks to help regional startups get exposure and wider opportunities.

sharing experiences

After 10 years working at the FMCG giant P&G and gaining experience working in several countries, in 2013 Sebastian decided to return to his homeland. Seeing how aggressive Lazada was at that time in developing their services in Indonesia, Sebastian was interested in establishing a similar service, but focused on products groceries. Named Seroyamart, Sebastian provides a new choice of how to shop for basic needs for Indonesian consumers.

The ups and downs of developing Seroyamart are claimed to be startup journey highlights for Sebastian. This experience is a trigger for Sebastian to contribute more to Indonesian startups.

"Experience as a startup founder is a natural progression I think to later establish venture capital. Starting with building a startup then you reach a point where the combination of tiredness and the possibility to do more to help next generation startups, said Sebastian.

In 2017, Sebastian helped the Ministry of Research and Technology as a mentor for selected startups. From there he saw the huge potential of startups from various corners of the region. Not only e-commerce services, he sees that there are many other interesting business verticals that startup founders can explore.

On the other hand, Sebastian sees the dominance of overseas university graduates who set up startups. It wasn't a big deal, but he wanted to prove that a lot entrepreneur local graduates who are not inferior to foreign graduates.

"In Indonesia there is still a lot that can be developed. Not only e-commerce services are widely imitated from the United States, but also the food industry, industrial defense, agriculture, crafts, culinary and much more," said Sebastian.

Helping "next generation"

Launched at the end of 2019, Win Ventures wants to focus on startups that can provide services for MSMEs enablement and economic inclusion.

"When investing we look at startup founders and business models that make sense. Platforms that can leverage MSMEs enable them to do business, adopt technology become our focus and more niche. We don't like startups very much general, said Sebastian.

Currently, Win Ventures has 6-7 portfolios. Not only startups from Indonesia, but also those operating in Singapore and Malaysia. Some of the Win Ventures portfolios are Location, travelcashand Cockkit.

For Win Ventures, the business model and mission that Kokikit wants to realize, helping everyone to have a culinary business without having to have a large-cost infrastructure, is an attractive premise. Collaboration is forged with Indonesian celebrities in the form of various partnerships. Kokikit has a dream to introduce Indonesian cuisine to foreign countries.

"I see Kokikit more than just meal kits. Their mission is to create a platform where everyone can own a culinary business, but they don't have the infrastructure. Their next main focus is only on marketing with their own brand. Kokikit is designed to enable all of these processes," said Sebastian.

In particular, Win Ventures focuses on early stage startups. Despite having a greater level of risk, there is potential return high if executed correctly.

For now, Win Ventures doesn't have an LP yet. According to Sebastian, all the investments made came from the founder's funds. It is hoped that in the near future there will be a portfolio of those who can exit, so that the funds can be reinvested in other Win Ventures-assisted startups.

"The first thing we do is add to our portfolio. Our focus is that those who have received investment can move on to the advanced funding stage. We also continue to do fundraising and the plan is to complete Fund I next year," Sebastian concluded.