Sinar Mas Land Launches "Urban Gateway Fund", Aims for Smart City Innovation Developer Startups

Sinar Mas Land announced a strategic partnership with East Ventures, Redbadge Pacific, and Prasetya Dwidharma to launch the "Urban Gateway Fund (UGF)". This managed fund is prepared for investment in early-stage startups engaged in urban planning development.

In addition to the three venture capitalists above, Sinar Mas Land also cooperates with South Korean developer GS E&C, which will also become one of UGF's long-term investors and strategic partners in Indonesia.

UGF targets startups in the urban and proptech which is a fundamental need for future urban development. There are six main development sectors including mobility and transportation, property technology, data analytics and AI, retail omnichannel, sustainable resource management, and smart citytech.

Sinar Mas Land Group CEO Michael Widjaja hopes that the acceleration of the six sectors can meet the needs of urban development for the next generation. "In an effort to transform BSD City into a integrated smart digital city"We open opportunities for startup players to provide ideas and solutions that enrich the city's ecosystem," he said in an official statement.

CFO Prasetia Dwidharma Ardi Setiadharma added, UGF can be the right tool for graduates of the accelerator program Escalates to contribute to smart city development. For your information, previously Prasetia Dwidharma has collaborated with Sinar Mas Land on the Escalate program.

"In the Escalate program, we both support startups to grow in the Sinar Mas Land ecosystem. We are excited to be present with UGF to enable more local startups to showcase their technology and solutions," said Ardi.

Facilities and ecosystem

Furthermore, UGF plans to provide access to the smart city ecosystem in BSD City and Sinar Mas Land's ecosystem through three stages. First, UGF provides a facility where selected startups can use the pilot platform and integrate ideas/prototype to the Sinar Mas Land ecosystem.

Second, selected startups can incubate and validate solution options in urban planning development. Finally, selected startups get the opportunity to work with Sinar Mas Land leaders in city development and property management.

For information, Sinar Mas Land is a subsidiary of the Sinar Mas conglomerate, which is one of the largest property developers in Indonesia. Sinar Mas Land consists of two major developers, namely Bumi Serpong Damai and Duta Pertiwi.

According to Managing Partner of Redbadge Pacific Timothy Yong, BSD City is considered to have an ecosystem and a captive market that can encourage the growth of startups in the urban and proptech sectors. "This will also encourage the presence of other startups. Strategic and ecosystem support is important for startups proptech to be able to develop at an early stage."

Managed funds launched throughout 2022

Previously, the government stated that smart city development become urgent and significant as population challenges increase. In fact, around 82,37% of the total population in Indonesia is projected to live in urban areas.