Indonesia-based financial services firm OCBC NISP has secured approval from the country’s authorities for its venture capital unit, OCBC NISP Ventura, DealStreetAsia has reported.
The vehicle was formed in 2019 and has clearance for up to Rp 400m ($29.4m) of capital according to a stock exchange filing, but a source told DealStreetAsia it is working with an initial $15m.
Darryl Ratulangi is heading OCBC NISP Ventura and told DealStreetAsia it will invest between $50,000 and $1.5m per deal, at seed and series A stage. Its deals will have a strategic element for its parent bank, which owns 85.1% of the fund, but will not be restricted to financial technology.
Ratulangi said: “We have several (investments) in the pipeline. By the first quarter, we are expecting to close three to four deals.
“Roughly by the end of the year, our internal target is six to eight investments, but that is not in the mandate. Because we are corporate-backed, we can be more patient and wait for the right deals to come.”
OCBC will be the fourth Indonesian bank to establish a corporate venturing fund, following Bank Mandiri, Bank Central Asia and Bank Rakyat Indonesia, which run Mandiri Capital, Central Capital Ventura and BRI Ventures respectively.
