Indonesian government to push startup ecosystem with investments in MSMEs

The Indonesian government is reportedly building an ecosystem to support start-up development by increasing the number of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.

Indonesia’s Cooperatives and SMEs minister, Teten Masduki said that Indonesia has 2,600 start-ups which is the sixth largest in the world, according to Antara News, However, to push these start-ups to become strong businesses in domestic and foreign markets, he stated that there is a need for acceleration.

Masduki was speaking at the 2023 Road to Indonesia start-up ecosystem summit last Friday when he made these comments. 

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He reportedly added that the financing system, incubators, and government policies in the trade sector must be integrated. To do so, the government is aiming to increase the number of new entrepreneurs from 3.47%to 3.95% of the total population, he said. Masduki explained that part of Indonesia’s road map to growth as a developed country includes the need to maintain a minimum of 4% of entrepreneurs.

He highlighted that his ministry is working with private companies and universities to create new incubators, which would then mean that the products created by entrepreneurs will be of better quality.

Earlier this year in January, Creative Gorilla Capital, a new venture capital platform initiated by a collaboration between Future Creative Network (FCN), Vynn Capital, and Pomona, launched a debut fund of US$20 million named Gorilla Silverback Fund.

The fund focused on investing in potential D2C/consumer-focused startups across the ecosystem in Indonesia. Creative Gorilla Capital focused on backing potential startup businesses with the creative and marketing expertise to further hone the right strategy in achieving hypergrowth. “We believe it’s important for Creative Gorilla Capital to encourage Indonesian startups by providing the best service and positively impact the wider community,” said Benz Julio Budiman, 29, founding & managing partner of Creative Gorilla Capital.

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