General Partner Arise from MDI Ventures Aldi Adrian Hartanto (second from right) at the signing ceremony to launch Arise Fund, witnessed by a representative from Finch Capital Hans De Back (second from left), Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) at the Netherlands Embassy in Indonesia Ardi Stoios-Braken (far right) and Telkom President Director Ririek Adriansyah (far left) in Jakarta, Thursday (26/11). Arise Fund is an investment firm focusing on early stage funding for technology startup in Indonesia and a collaboration between Telkom’s MDI Ventures and Finch Capital.

Telkom President Director Ririek Adriansyah (left) gave a souvenir to Deputy Chief of Mission at the Netherlands Embassy in Indonesia Ardi Stoios-Braken after the signing ceremony Arise Fund Jakarta, Thursday (26/11).

Jakarta, 26 November 2020 – MDI Ventures, a venture capital firm owned by PT Telkom Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (Telkom) and Finch Capital, a thematic early-stage venture capital firm focusing in financial technology, collaborated to launch an investment firm focusing on early stage funding for technology startup in Indonesia called Arise. 

The launch of Arise Fund was marked by a signing ceremony between General Partner Arise, Aldi Adrian Hartanto from MDI and Hans De Back from Finch Capital, witnessed by Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) at the Netherlands Embassy in Indonesia Ardi Stoios-Braken, Telkom President Director Ririek Adriansyah, Telkom Strategic Portfolio Director Budi Setyawan Wijaya, and CEO MDI Ventures Donald Wihardja in Jakarta (26/11). Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Mahendra Siregar also witnessed the launch via video conference. 

DCM Ardi Stoios-Braken praised the launch of Arise Fund, as the result of a collaboration between investment firms in Indonesia and the Netherlands with experience in supporting the development of startups in their respective markets. He believes that in the future, there will be cooperation opportunities such as the Arise Fund for other Indonesian and Dutch companies. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mahendra Siregar, through a CloudX video conference also welcomed the establishment of Arise Fund amidst technology and digital transformation efforts that the Indonesian government introduced to strengthen the country's digital economy.

Telkom President Director Ririek Adriansyah said, “Indonesia is one of the countries that has great potential for startups. MDI Ventures sees and understands this potential, therefore, collaboration with global partners such as Finch Capital could encourage investment for startup development. This is a manifestation of TelkomGroup's commitment to creating a healthy and growing digital technology ecosystem, in order to strengthen Indonesia's digital economy and to build a modern state-owned enterprises sector."

The Arise Fund was established to empower a new generation of startup founders, especially those emerging in the midst of the economic fallout that hit in 2020. With a managed target asset of USD40 million, Arise Fund is actively assisting pre-series A startups in funding, providing a clear path for startups to validate, grow, develop, and exit.
“Arise Fund directly assists in matching startup products to the market, making it easier for them to find the most effective market entry strategy. We have a variety of guidelines to facilitate this process, which can be applied and adapted to a variety of different technology ecosystems, in Europe, Asia and in Silicon Valley - the market areas where MDI Ventures and Finch Capital are actively investing. This is what differentiates Arise Fund from other early-stage investors in Indonesia,” said Aldi Adrian Hartanto from MDI, as Arise's General Partner.

In the early stages, startups can join the Indigo Nation incubator set up by Telkom to find a sustainable and expandable business model. Arise Fund’s role will be to support the startup's journey at a later stage. In this case, MDI Ventures will help to connect the startup with various businesses that TelkomGroup and other state-owned companies manage, while Finch Capital will also do the same with the list of blue-chip corporate partners it manages. The startup will have the potential to get investment from the Centauri Fund in the series A stage, and through MDI Ventures in series B, until it finally succeeds through an acquisition or IPO.

"The Arise Fund is expected to strengthen Indonesia’s digital ecosystem so that it could push Indonesia to move forward to become the largest digital economy power in Southeast Asia in 2025," Ririek said.