A new office is being set up in Indonesia by the Singapore- based venture builder and early stage venture capital, Antler. Antler recently made an announcement sharing the news also informing that the new office will be set up by the first half of 2020. The idea is to nurture a minimum of 20 startups on a yearly basis.
The co- founder and managing partner of Antler, Jussi Salovaara informed that by the first half of 2020, the program will commence with 50 founders initially to test it out. Salovaara also explained their choice of Jakarta.
He said that there is a large and untapped potential there with maximum successful unicorns here.
Other Southeast Asian markets like Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam are also being considered for expansion by Antler. A local and seasoned CEO is being sought out by Antler for the Indonesian market.
According to Salovaara, to meet their high requirements they need top people to run Antler along with a right leader which at best will be a local leader.
An Indonesian- focused fund is yet to be set up by Antler according to a report p[resented by DealStreetAsia. The report further revealed that the local market conditions are still being assessed as the plan is still at the stage of exploration.
Antler’s stress is n the quality of the founder before anything else when it comes to the criteria for investments; the company does not have any specific sector preference as such.
Former employees of local unicorns or serial entrepreneurs will be prioritized by Antler when selecting founders, which it says it will welcome founders with varied backgrounds.
Salovaara also mentioned that Antler will be focusing on individual team and aspects like their strength to build a team and how great they are at solving problems.
He stressed on the importance of founders while considering the market they are operating in, the business models and so on.
