Alpha JWC Ventures today (09/11) announced its third managed fund (Fund III) worth $433 million or equivalent to 6.1 trillion rupiah; bringing its Assets Under Management (AUM) to $630 million. In the press conference, Jefrey Joe as Co-Founder & General Partner said that this number has exceeded the initial target of $300 million. Several regional and global LPs are involved, including the International Finance Corporation (part of the World Bank Group) and Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners.
In general note, Alpha JWC Ventures was founded in 2015 by Jefrey, Will Ongkowidjaja, and Chandra Tjan; focuses on providing early-stage funding for startups in Indonesia and Southeast Asia.
Fund journey
Their journey began with the first Fund I amounting to USD 50 million in 2016. It has been distributed to 23 startup companies in Southeast Asia, the majority have operational in Indonesia. More than 90 percent of the companies have now received follow-up funding.
Meanwhile, Alpha JWC Ventures’ Fund II closed in 2019 oversubscribed with a nominal value of $143 million; and has invested in 30 companies. To date, Fund I has generated 37% IRR (Internal Rate of Return) and Fund II has generated 87% IRR.
They have also produced 9 exits, including the acquisition of DealStreetAsia by Nikkei, the acquisition of Spacemob by WeWork, and the acquisition of Base.vn by Vietnam’s largest technology company FPT Corporation.
Since its launching this year, Alpha JWC Ventures’ Fund III has invested in seven startups in the financial technology, B2B SaaS, and MSME business solutions sectors in Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam. Some of them are Esensi Solusi Buana, Spenmo, VIDA, GudangAda, and others.
Jeffrey in his presentation also said that the fund’s ticket size has ranged from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. The largest can reach $60 million in several phases. He clearly emphasizes that Alpha JWC Ventures’ principle is to be the number-one supporter of a startup (early stage investor).
Furthermore, along with the new managed funds in quantity, the number of startups invested may remain the same. Which means, they will increase the ticket size and focus more on follow-on funding for its portfolio startups.
“Since the debut in 2015, we have had a clear mission of bringing Indonesia and Southeast Asia into the center of the new global digital economy. Our journey and the Alpha JWC Ventures portfolio have proven that Indonesian and Southeast Asian startups can compete globally. We will continue to be at the forefront to create change and will not stop here,” Alpha JWC Ventures’ Co-Founder & General Partner, Chandra Tjan said.
3 unicorns, 11 centaur
Alpha JWC Ventures through its fund has took three portfolio companies to the unicorn status, Kredivo, Carro, and Ajaib. It is also said that they have 11 centaurs, including Kopi Kenangan, Lemonilo, Modalku, GudangAda, and others.
Jeffrey said, one of the centaurs will soon to become a unicorn in the near future.
“As a VC originating, founded and operated by Indonesians, we are working to increase the positive impact of the digital economy in the country through our investments and portfolio companies. Together with them, we have reached nearly 1 million MSMEs through financial and market access, created more than 12 thousand jobs, empowered more than 200 thousand women through various business opportunities, inspired more than 1 million people to become retail investors, and much more,” Alpha JWC Ventures’ Partner, Erika Go said.
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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian