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Executive Column: Alpha JWC ready to ride venture waves in 2023
Jefrey Joe, cofounder and general partner at Alpha JWC Ventures, one of the country's biggest tech venture capital firms, speaks about the company’s history, positioning and what it expects in 2023.
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Alpha JWC Ventures cofounder and general partner Jefrey Joe (Courtesy of Alpha JWC Ventures/-)
I
ndonesia’s start-up scene experienced stormy days in 2022 and with a global recession forecast for this year, many doubt whether the heyday of the tech industry will return. The Jakarta Post’s Deni Ghifari spoke to Alpha JWC Ventures cofounder and general partner Jefrey Joe on Jan. 5 about the company’s history, positioning and what it expects this year.
Question: What is the story behind Alpha JWC’s founding?
Answer: We started Alpha JWC in 2015. There were three founders and actually, JWC stands for our initials: Jefrey, Will and Chandra. The concept dawned on us in 2014, a time when Indonesia’s digital economy was in its earliest phase.
We had a unique position in the market back then, because we were one of the few Indonesians representing Indonesia in the digital ecosystem. There were very few venture capitalists [VCs] in Indonesia, and the number shrinks even more for Indonesian founders.
We started Alpha JWC because we are very passionate about technology; I am, to say the least. We got into this because we saw that tech would grow big as time passed.
When I was living in the United States, I saw that many of the biggest companies came from the tech sector, and many billionaires came from it as well. And it’s not only the money that we considered, but the impact on people’s daily lives would be vital. Tech can drive a country’s economy, and we realized that.
We are different from international VCs because we are an Indonesian-focused market and we wouldn’t get anywhere if Indonesia’s digital market is not good. Even if Indonesia did not turn out well, we would most likely stay and think about how we can help the ecosystem.
