Willson Cuaca, a venture capital pioneer, makes FORTUNE Indonesia’s Businessperson of The Year 2022 list
Willson Cuaca, Co-founder & Managing Partner at East Ventures (EV), is one of the key figures behind capital injections into hundreds of start-ups in Indonesia. However, the story of how he raised investor funds and channeled them to startup founders—who, even then, only had an idea and didn't have a team yet—is a gamble. Yet, he never knew whether to win or lose.
New investment fuels up ALAMI Group in pre-series B round led by East Ventures (Growth fund)
ALAMI Group, a leading Indonesian Shariah-compliant SME lending platform announced that it has successfully closed pre-series B round led by East Ventures (Growth fund) alongside returning investors namely AC Ventures, Quona Capital and FEBE Ventures. US-based venture capital firm Capria Ventures also joined the round, marking its first direct investment in Asia Pacific. The amount of the funding was not disclosed.
Why maintaining employees’ mental health is important for companies
The COVID-19 pandemic has come under control, with some work activities returning to the pre-covid working situation, such as coming to the office. However, companies cannot deny that the work-life balance during and post-pandemic has shifted the way people work and think about productivity. The dynamic situation has led to increased mental health concerns, including impacted stress levels among employees.
Cold chain may be the next opportunity for Indonesia’s logistics startups
Indonesian last-mile logistics startup Paxel found that almost half of its shipments are of frozen food – primarily from MSMEs sending their products to customers. This is despite the company’s fleet mainly made up of motorcycles that are not equipped with any kind of refrigeration.
Pushing financial literacy after inclusion
Financial inclusion is crucial for any nation to accelerate economic growth by improving equal financial access and support for doing business, such as transactions, payments, savings, credit and insurance. Financial inclusion will foster entrepreneurship and scalability, which will lead to reducing poverty and economic inequality in the long term.
Bioma, a Product-as-a-Service startup, raised pre-seed funding co-led by East Ventures and Init-6
Bioma, a Product-as-a-Service startup that enables consumers to rent various types of physical assets, announced the completion of an undisclosed amount of pre-seed funding round co-led by East Ventures and Init-6. Bioma will allocate the fund to further expand its services, especially in catering to different use cases of the customers. Bioma will also utilize the fund to invest in more resources, mainly to add operations, products, and tech talents, ensuring a seamless user experience.
Get to know Batik Parang and how its philosophy resonates with East Ventures’ values
Indonesia is widely known for its Batik — an art and textile-making technique. Hundreds of kinds of Batik originating from various regions and districts in Indonesia carry the beauty in its art, its deep meaning, and philosophy.
Coffee tech startups serve coffee goodness for all, from farmers to consumers
Who doesn't love coffee? At East Ventures, we are deeply in love with coffee. Our portfolio has three coffee-focused tech startups: Otten Coffee, Fore Coffee, and Morning.