BRI Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Indonesian state-owned PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia and its local fund partner Kiqani has launched a new fund to invest in the direct-to-consumer (D2C) sector with a total investment target of up to Rp 500 billion.
The fund titled Sembrani Kiqani has already invested in Yield Guild Games Southeast Asia, a blockchain-based gaming company. Going forward, the fund is set to provide early-stage funding and mentoring to a number of D2C companies besides tapping crypto metaverse sector.
Sembrani Kiqani has managed to raise funds from corporates, local brands, and family offices since July 2021. The fund could look at topping up capital if interests in D2C players are big enough in the future.
“The D2C sector has shown massive growth during 2020-2021. We see that Indonesia needs funding initiatives aimed at local brands in the fields of fashion, food & beverage (F&B), and beauty which are growing rapidly at this time. This can be the beginning of Indonesia as a creative economy powerhouse. We hope that brands from Indonesia will become homegrown winners, so that they can compete with global brands that are increasingly entering the country,” Nicko Widjaja, CEO at BRI Ventures, said in a statement.
While clocking an investment, Sembrani Kiqani will take into consideration a slew of factors such as the company’s consumer experience, product uniqueness, brand performance, aspects of product sustainability, and its impact on potential markets.
Regarding the prospect of the D2C sector in Indonesia, BRI Ventures collaborates with local fund ‘Kiqani’ with a group of friends namely Marcel Lukman, Nicholas Schaefer, Irene Umar, Yukka Harlanda, and Rizki Fahrrurozi.
All of them come from various entrepreneurial backgrounds. The team’s expertise ranges from brand building, brand distribution, digital marketing and laying the foundations for a successful business.
“We see a lot of strong Indonesian brands, but lack the opportunity to become champions in their own country. It can actually be done through investment and we will help with mentoring,” Lukman, founder of Kiqani said. Lukman is also the President Director of Atmos Indonesia.
All partners at Kiqani have experience in the fields of food & beverage, digital marketing, IP, games, and web3.0 Crypto Metaverse, both locally and internationally, in areas of online and offline. Going forward, Sembrani Kiqani will not only provide investment and networking, but also mentoring for execution, assistance and training related to finance, inventory management, digital marketing, management to social media activation and brand campaigns.
According to BRI Ventures’ website, the venture firm has invested at least in 17 startups, including two D2C portfolios such as the F&B Haus! and the men’s shoe brand BRODO.