Telkom Indonesia's corporate venturing unit is partnering venture firm Finch Capital on the early-stage investment vehicle, dubbed Arise.
MDI Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of telecommunications firm Telkom Indonesia, has formed an investment fund called Arise with venture capital firm Finch Capital, DealStreetAsia has reported.
Arise has a target of $40m for its close and will invest in Indonesia-based startups with a sweet spot at the post-seed, pre-series A point. The intent is to invest at a stage neglected by seed-stage investors that have made the leap to growth-stage deals.
Aldi Adrian Hartanto, a partner at Arise who is also vice-president of investment at MDI Ventures, told DealStreetAsia that Telkom Indonesia and Finch Capital have both contributed to the vehicle together with third-party limited partners.
MDI Ventures was launched in 2016 with $100m to invest over four years, and was supplied with another $500m from its parent company for a growth fund three months ago. It formed a partnership fund with KB Investment – a subsidiary of financial services group KB Holding – in September 2019.
Arise portfolio companies will get the chance to access other state-owned enterprises through Telkom Indonesia, while Netherlands-headquartered Finch Capital, which is currently also raising a $75m Southeast Asia fund, will provide the opportunity to partner its corporate LPs.