BRI Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of Indonesia-based financial firm Bank BRI, has launched its Sembrani Nusantara Fund with over Rp 150bn ($10.5m) in capital, DealStreetAsia has reported.
The vehicle commenced operations in June this year and has a ceiling of Rp 300bn. Its backers include ride hailing service Grab, financial services and technology group Fazz Financial, Celebes Capital, Investree and private investor Pandu Sjahrir.
Sembrani Nusantara Fund will invest in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in the fintech and microfinance sectors as well as those developing education, agro-maritime, retail, transportation and healthcare technology.
BRI Ventures’ existing portfolio companies include mobile wallet developers Payfazz – the founder of Fazz Financial – and LinkAja.
The unit expects to unveil the first two deals from Sembrani Nusantara Fund shortly. The vehicle operates as a mutual fund as Indonesian regulations do not currently permit limited partner-general partner structures.