Resilience and discipline: The inspiring story of Fortune Indonesia 40 Under 40’s Avina Sugiarto

Avina Sugiarto‘s dedication to/fascination with the investment industry was nurtured by her parents since she was little. Over the time, the support she received further strengthened her passion for the world of capital investment.

There was a slight sense of worry in Avina Sugiarto’s heart, 37, when she accompanied her son to the Sky Rink Jakarta, at Taman Anggrek Mall during the recent school break. Her five-year-old son was determined to walk on his own, even though he ended up falling several times in the ice skating rink.

Despite being washed over by worry, she still let her son try. Her pride blossomed as she saw his resilience. “After falling three to four times, he finally managed to stand up on his own and spin around,” Avina said.

Avina’s approach to parenting is akin to how she funds startups. As a Partner at East Ventures, she believes her support for the founders is imperative, especially during their early stages, guiding them as they gradually grow—though the journey is not always smooth.

At the same time, she cannot restrict the movements of the founders and management, or interfere too much in their decisions. Instead, she remains on standby, ready to offer advice whenever needed. At the seed funding stage, her approach is similar to how she supports her son as he stumbles and gets back up on the ice.

Throughout her career, Avina has also learned valuable lessons from her colleagues, including Roderick Purwana, Managing Partner at East Ventures, Jonathan Chang, former Commissioner of Astra Group, Willson Cuaca, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at East Ventures, Pandu P. Sjahrir, Founding Partner of AC Ventures, to name a few. Beyond resilience, other crucial values are discipline, value creation, and passion.

She often considers these values when selecting startups for potential funding. Are the founders passionate about their business? Do they have the motivation and capabilities? What added value will they create?

Since her decisions involve funds entrusted by partners, assessing market potential is also a crucial step that cannot be missed.

“That is very important because business has its ups and downs. When things are going well, everything seems fine, but during downturns, it’s motivation and passion that truly drive you to persevere and stay resilient,” Avina explained.

She has consistently applied this mindset throughout her 17-year career. Moreover, as a woman, she feels that she bears different expectations on her shoulders when it comes to the professional world.

Another example of this approach is when Avina and East Ventures decided to fund MAKA Motors. Their collaboration began in 2022, a year after the startup was founded. At that time, Avina’s instincts as an investor told her that MAKA Motors deserved her support.

As a result, with the help of a friend, she reached out to MAKA Motors’ founders, Raditya Wibowo and Arief Fadillah, both former executives at Gojek. From there, East Ventures officially invested in the startup. In 2023, MAKA Motors announced its seed funding round of US$37.6 million, led by East Ventures, AC Ventures, and South Korea’s SV Investment.

In the end, it led to a proud achievement: the launch of MAKA Motors’ first electric motorcycle in January 2025. For Avina, this was one of the key milestones in her career.

“At that time, it was a quick, obvious, and confident decision to invest in MAKA Motors. Back then, we were actively looking at startups in the climate and sustainability sector,” Avina said.

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The original article was published on Fortune Indonesia, on 17 February 2025.