TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
RI start-ups need local presence in US to secure follow-up funding: VC firm
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
The Expand North Star 2024 tech industry conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, welcomes participants from more than 100 countries on its launch day, Oct. 13. (JP/Ruth Dea Juwita)
I
ndonesian start-up founders aiming to secure follow-up funding from American or European venture capital firms must establish a significant presence in these regions, according to Sean O’Sullivan, managing general partner at United States-based venture capital firm SOSV.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Expand North Star 2024 conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, O’Sullivan stressed the need for start-ups to either relocate senior management teams to the US or Europe or develop local representation to foster connections with investors, as the competition for funding had intensified globally amid economic headwinds and a cooling tech market.
“In order to attract this US market, you have to be well-known in a US market first. You have to be local to the US investor,” he told The Jakarta Post.
Expand North Star 2024, which takes place from Oct. 13-16, is the world’s largest start-up and investment event, hosted by the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy and organized by Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC).
Read also: Hong Kong wants RI conglomerates, start-ups to look beyond Singapore
For emerging market start-ups, especially in Southeast Asia, securing US or European capital was “extraordinarily difficult,” O’Sullivan acknowledged, as personal relationships were crucial between founders and funders, particularly during early-stage investments.
US investors would prefer to back companies that were geographically accessible, he added, especially in their formative stages. "Investors are unlikely to fly halfway around the world for early-stage start-ups. Most of them prefer companies that are within an hour's drive from their offices,” he noted.
