Grab and Emtek Plan to Invest in Startups

Grab and Elang Mahkota Teknologi (Emtek) strengthen collaboration by collaborating with Bukalapak, to target Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The two companies also plan to invest in startups.

“Emtek and Grab will explore investment opportunities in startups,” said Country Managing Director of Grab Indonesia Neneng Goenadi during a virtual press conference, Monday (26/7).

However, Neneng did not specify the sector or type of startup being targeted. Currently, each company has a special funding program for startups.

Grab has the Grab Venture Velocity (GVV) program. Last year, Singapore’s decacorn attracted venture capital firm BRI Ventures to provide investment funds of US$ 10 million or around Rp. 141 billion for startups that entered the program.

Meanwhile, Emtek is aggressively investing in startups. This conglomerate acquired more than 50% stake in Nusa Satu Inti Artha, owner of the financial technology (fintech) payment platform DOKU at the end of 2016.

Emtek also acquired a 90% stake in Espay Debit Indonesia Koe (Espay) in 2017. A year later Ant Financial (Alipay) and Emtek launched the DANA payment fintech application.

The company also invested in Bukalapak. Last year, Emtek was also involved in funding a series B startup in logistics, Waresix.

Main Focus for Digitizing MSMEs

Emtek’s Managing Director Sutanto Hartono said, Emtek did plan to channel investment into startups with Grab. “With Grab, there is a partnership. Not only combining existing businesses but synergizing together for exploration,” he said.

However, he emphasized that the company’s main focus at this time is collaboration targeting MSMEs. After that, there are several startup sectors that are targeted. “Our target is the core business first,” said Sutanto.

Previously, Grab and Emtek had cross-shared ownership with an investment of trillions of rupiah. Emtek has just bought a 3.2% stake in Grab Technology Indonesia for IDR 3.08 trillion. In addition, owns 2.68% of Grab’s shares.

Emtek’s Corporate Communication Head Beverly Gunawan said that the transaction carried out on June 30 made Emtek own a total of 5.88% stake in Grab Indonesia. “Emtek invested in Grab Indonesia a total of around IDR 5.5 trillion,” said Beverly, four weeks ago (6/7).

Emtek Corporate Secretary Titi Maria Rusli said it was aimed at supporting the main business activities. Meanwhile, Grab Holdings invests in Emtek and owns a 4.6% stake through H Holdings Inc. The investment is made by taking part in the new shares issued by Emtek on March 31.

Emtek issued 4.75 billion new shares with an exercise price of IDR 1,954 per share. Based on a report by The Straits Times, the investment value disbursed by Grab Holdings to Emtek reached IDR 4 trillion.

Grab President Explains the Benefits of Digitization for MSMEs

The entry of MSMEs into the digital market will provide benefits for these business actors in the midst of a pandemic. The entry of MSMEs to digital, they can expand their market reach.

“In the past, the market was limited to consumers who could only visit their surroundings, now with digital, their market is wider. Even in the midst of this pandemic, their market can also come from anywhere,” said Grab Indonesia President Ridzki Kramadibrata, Friday (30/7/2021).

Another benefit is being able to maintain their income even though there is a pandemic. “Many MSMEs are currently experiencing a decline. With digitalization, MSMEs can re-maintain their loyal customer relationships,” he said.

While the third benefit, continued Ridzki, is digitalization, enabling MSMEs to have the potential to grow or increase their business scale.

Grab and Emtek target 1,000 MSMEs to be digitized. Participating MSMEs will get access to digital services on various affiliate platforms. Neneng gave an example, MSMEs can rely on Bukalapak to market their products and GrabExpress for delivery of goods.