Indonesia-based financial services firm Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) is set to form a venture capital unit that will be equipped with between $70m and $100m, DealStreetAsia reported today.
BRI will build the vehicle around an existing VC firm, Bahana Artha Ventura (BAV). It had originally bought a 35% stake in BAV in late 2017 before increasing its share to 97.6% in December 2018, and it acquired a regulatory licence from Indonesian regulators last month.
BRI Ventures will invest in startups developing technology of strategic interest to its parent company. It has reportedly brought in experienced venture capitalists to run its activities and has entered talks with its first prospective portfolio companies.
The bank is being helped in the establishment of the unit by MDI Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of telecommunications firm Telkom Indonesia, people close to the development told DealStreetAsia.
The as yet unnamed unit will be the third corporate VC fund run by a state-owned business, after MDI Ventures and Mandiri Capital, which invests on behalf of another financial services firm, Bank Mandiri.
BRI Ventures’ first deal may be an investment in, or acquisition of, Finarya, the owner of a mobile payment platform called LinkAja that links mobile wallets developed by BRI, Bank Mandiri, fellow financial services firm BNI and telecoms company Telkomsel.
