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Grab teams up with BRI to support start-ups through GVV program
Under the program, Grab and BRI Ventures will invest US$10 million in the third GVV program, which will give start-ups the opportunity to get market access through Grab's ecosystem, mentoring and capacity-building.
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BRI Ventures CEO Nicko Widjaja (left) and Grab Indonesia managing director Neneng Goenadi (right) at the launch of Grab Ventures Velocity's (GVV) third batch in Jakarta on Tuesday. (Courtesy /Grab)
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ide-hailing decacorn Grab is working with Bank Rakyat Indonesia’s (BRI) investment arm, BRI Ventures, to help start-ups grow to the next level through the third Grab Ventures Velocity (GVV) accelerator program.
Under the program, Grab and BRI Ventures expect to commit up to US$10 million to Indonesian startups in cash investment, in-kind benefits, capacity building and mentorship, said BRI Ventures CEO Nicko Widjaja.
"The start-ups will receive cash as well as the opportunity to use Grab's and BRI's ecosystems," he said during a press conference on the 2020 GVV launch in Jakarta on Tuesday. “This investment will be made both through new start-up initiatives that Grab and BRI Ventures will implement jointly and through the existing GVV program.”
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Nicko said the two parties were discussing funding the GVV through equity in the future.
"BRI invested in two start-ups in the second batch of GVV and we will be more involved in this third batch.”
Meanwhile, Grab Indonesia managing director Neneng Goenadi said the third GVV would focus on start-ups involved in small-scale food services, such as warung makan (small restaurants) and business-to-business (B2B) logistics.
"The two sectors have huge potential," she told the press. "Food services are trendy while logistics is important in the country. Both are prominent in the digital economy, too."
Grab is currently opening registration for the third GVV batch until March 31 for start-ups in Southeast Asia to join the program.
“Grab will provide training for businesses so they can benefit from our ecosystem,” Neneng said, adding that the GVV program would start in April or May and run for 16 weeks.
She went on to say that Grab could include a widget of the start-ups’ application in Grab’s app. One example was Grab integrating Sayurbox into its app so Grab's customers can directly buy Sayurbox products from the ride-hailing app.
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Grab reported that the 10 GVV graduates had helped 117,000 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the country since the program started in 2018.
In the second batch, GVV trained six Indonesian start-ups and four foreign start-ups from 200 applicants. Neneng said she was hopeful there would be more applicants this year.
GVV was part of Grab’s Rp 3 trillion (US$212.321 million) investment in Indonesia last year during which Grab selected 10 start-ups to train.
Five of the start-ups are involved in the empowerment of MSMEs, namely MyCash Online, PergiUmroh, Porter, Qoala and Tamasia, while the remaining — Treedots, GLife, Eragano, Sayurbox and Tanihub — are part of the emerging agriculture technology (agritech) industry that focuses on farmers.
The third batch of the GVV is part of Grab’s $250 million investment commitment for Indonesia’s technology ecosystem through GVV and other Grab Ventures programs.
Editor’s note: The article has been updated to include more detail on investment schemes and channels in the second and last paragraphs for clarity.
