ABAC Indonesia and UNDP Collaborate to Invest in Startups

APEC Business Advisory Council Indonesia is collaborating with UNDP to invest in a startup business that has a social impact in Indonesia. Maria Sutanto from APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Indonesia said that they were collecting managed funds called the ABAC Indonesia Impact Fund (AIF).

AIF was planned to be distributed to startups in the form of Pre-Series A funding with an investment of USD 150,000 to 500,000. In the initial stage, ABAC Indonesia targets to raise funds of USD 3 million to 5 million.

The funds were expected to be increased to USD 20 million in the next stage. Meanwhile, the funds are planned to be collected from domestic and foreign investors, including corporate investors and family investors. Eventually, it was supposed to increase the profile of investors.

“Considering the level of business stability, it is expected that sustainable development goals (SDGs) can be more systematic and sustainable. Thus, it will increase the profile of investors in the end,” Maria explained. Previously, the creation of the AIF has been signed.

ABAC and UNDP Has Signed the Statement of Cooperation

The member of APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Indonesia, Shinta W. Kamdani and the Acting Regional Director for the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific United Nations Agency for Development (UNDP), Valerie Cliff, has signed a Statement of Intent regarding cooperation in the formation of the AIF.

Through the cooperation, AIF was designed to employ a blended finance scheme that combines development funds, both public and private funds, with philanthropic funds. Besides, the social impact measurement for investment will use the IMM (Impact Measurement Management) parameter which will be facilitated by UNDP.

“This is the first impact fund that uses this kind of scheme in Indonesia. In this case, financial sustainability is not the only consideration to provide investment decisions. Instead, we also measure the social impact,” Shinta said in a release.

The head of UNDP, Achim Steiner, conveyed the importance of creating a domestic and international financial ecosystem through innovative partnerships between the public and private sectors. It includes blended finance schemes and impact funds which can increase the availability of financing to achieve SDGs.

ABAC Also Supports the Development of Indonesian SMEs

Aside from startups, ABAC also supports the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Indonesia. It supports SMEs through collaboration with the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs. They will collaborate to develop a module for assisting SMEs in Indonesia.

The Deputy for Production and Marketing of the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, Victoria Simanungkalit, said that Indonesia became one of the South East Asian countries which were appointed to work on the ASEAN Mentorship for Entrepreneur Network (AMEN) project. These countries were ordered to discuss assistance modules for SMEs.

The initiation of this project was originated from ABAC. It becomes one of the priority programs of the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (ACCMSME) 2019. In terms of Indonesia, the implementation of AMEN will be assisted by some companies like Indofood, Astra International, and Martha Tilaar.