Photo Description: James Prananto and Fandy Cendrajaya, founding partners of Kopital Ventures. Photo: KOPITAL VENTURES
JAKARTA, JAKTIMES.COM – After successfully establishing and expanding their Kopi Kenangan coffee shop business, James Prananto and Fandy Cendrajaya are now interested in investing in the startup world. They have decided to create Kopital Ventures.
According to information gathered by Jaktimes.com, Kopital Ventures plans to invest in 30-40 early-stage startups across various industry verticals over the next 3 years. James Prananto and Fandy Cendrajaya serve as the Founding Partners of Kopital Ventures.
Kopital Ventures announced its debut with an initial fund of $12 million or approximately 190 billion Indonesian Rupiah. This is a venture capital firm founded by James Prananto and Fandy Cendrajaya, co-founders of Kenangan Brands (the parent company of Kopi Kenangan), in collaboration with Farquhar VC.
The raised funds will be used to invest in early-stage startups across all industry sectors, with a target of supporting 30-40 startups over the next 3 years.
The closing of this first management fund was supported by venture capital and family offices such as Saison Capital, Trihill Capital, Impack Ventures, and Alto Partners Multi-Family Office as strategic investors.
Previously, the two founders had introduced Kopital Network, a platform designed to accommodate angel investors, many of whom are growth-stage founders. Since 2021, James and Fandy have already begun investing in several startups like Somethinc (Beautyhaul), Durianpay, Fishlog, Gajigesa, Eratani, Proglix, and Rekosistem.
“When the tech winter came at the end of 2022, Fandy and I thought about building a venture capital company that could better assist startups through my experience as a founder-operator and Fandy’s network in the tech ecosystem. We saw that one of the things that new founders find difficult to access is interaction with founder/operators of startups who have been through this journey and can exchange ideas. This is one of Kopital Ventures’ propositions,” said Founding Partner of Kopital Ventures, James Prananto.
Kopital Ventures will also be led by Christian Sutardi as a Venture Partner. He is one of the most active angel investors in Indonesia and an early investor in Kenangan Brands, Hypefast, Ayoconnect, and Broom. Christian is also the founder of Fabelio, a furniture marketplace startup declared bankrupt since 2022.
“The role of Kopital Ventures as a strategic investor is not only in the form of injecting capital but also in connecting early-stage founders with mentors in the Kopital Network and providing access to international investors for the next stage of funding. We hope to be the first to invest in several of Indonesia’s next unicorn companies,” said Founding Partner of Kopital Ventures, Fandy Cendrajaya, as quoted by Jaktimes.com from DailySocial.id on October 27, 2023.
Previously, another co-founder of Kenangan Brands, Edward Tirtanata, had already initiated a venture capital company through Kenangan Kapital. They have invested in several startups such as Eratani, Makmur, Noice, Medigo, and others.
Here is a list of the largest VC management funds announced this year for Indonesian startups / DSInnovate.
The emergence of new venture capital and management funds in the midst of the tech winter provides a breath of fresh air to the startup ecosystem in Indonesia. It validates that investor confidence in the next generation of founders is still high. Moreover, founders of late-stage startups are increasingly active in assisting and investing in new startups.
According to DS/Innovate’s report, there are more than ten newly announced venture capital management funds that will focus on and allocate more resources to the startup ecosystem in Indonesia at various stages of funding (DS/TJT).