<article>Indonesia’s telco firm <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Indosat+Ooredo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Indosat Ooredo</a> said it has deployed about 80 per cent, or equivalent to $40 million, of its $50 million, <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=SoftBank" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SoftBank</a>-backed SB ISAT fund launched in 2014, CEO Alexander Rusli told this portal.</article>

Indonesia’s telco firm <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Indosat+Ooredo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Indosat Ooredo</a> said it has deployed about 80 per cent, or equivalent to $40 million, of its $50 million, <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=SoftBank" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SoftBank</a>-backed SB ISAT fund launched in 2014, CEO Alexander Rusli told this portal.
Within the three years, it has invested and taken minority stakes in eight growth-stage companies &#8211; all of which are still operating and expected to complement Indosat’s telco business.
“The fund is still ongoing and about $40 million of it has been deployed. But we don’t know yet if we are going to raise a new fund. There’s already so many other funds supporting (the startups) and I’m not sure if we have to do it anymore,” Rusli said on the sidelines of IDByte2017 in Jakarta.
Prior to the fund, Indosat launched a startup acceleration programme called Ideabox, which later would mature into a seed-stage VC firm Ideobox Ventures. The VC has given out investments ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 to about 28 companies across four batches.
Rusli has recently announced his resignation as CEO and president director and decided not to continue his tenure at the company. Speaking as an industry observer, he believes that Indosat will continue to support the startup ecosystem for as long as it can provide synergies for the business.
“We are not here (investing in startups) for the profit. We just want to push for these industries to flourish so they can interact with our core business,” he said.
In May, e-commerce site owned and operated by Indosat Cipika announced its closure after three years of operations. Indosat had said that aspects of its e-commerce business had performed “adequately”, but were not scalable. It now plans to focus on core businesses. Cipika was started in 2014 as a platform that sold various kinds of products from gadgets, fashion, accessories, to home utensils.
This year, Indosat partners with Bubu.com to hold biennial event IDByte that brings together digital industry players at a seminar, conference, tech exhibition and award giving ceremony. It claims to be “the largest digital event in the country”, and aims to put the new consumer group “Gen-C” in the spotlight.
Jakarta Deputy Governor-elect Sandiaga Uno, Indosat’s CEO Alexander Rusli and Bubu.com chief Shinta Dhanuwardoyo opened the event, which concluded on Thursday with the Bubu Awards ceremony. International digital industry experts participated in the seminar, while local and global tech players such as Tokopedia, Blibli, Traveloka, GO-Jek, Microsoft, Youtube and Instagram joined the exhibition.
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Indonesia: Indosat deploys 80% of SoftBank-backed fund, no plans to raise new vehicle

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Indonesia: Indosat deploys 80% of SoftBank-backed fund, no plans to raise new vehicle

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