In 2021, Northstar and Google have agreed to form a joint business plan. It’s to focus on accelerating the growth of the digital economy in Southeast Asia.
Northstar Group‘s Director, Henky Prihatna said to DailySocial that the two companies will share roles. As a private equity firm, Northstar will focus on investing and allocating resources to provide local market knowledge. While Google will help a lot on the technology part, it also teaches best practices from global case studies.
“The combination is necessary for entrepreneurs in Indonesia. A successful startup does not only need a good founder but also has to understand the ‘know-how’. At this point, we will share useful insights according to our experience and observations,” Henky said.
In the initial phase, Northstar and Google will first test it. Therefore, it’ll be focused on the existing portfolios. He also said that the big vision of this joint business plan is to deliver to a new unicorn in Southeast Asia for verticals outside the existing ones.
“The stage [startup] is actually flexible, but because it is still new, we want to pilot the project to startups that are already running [later stage]. Because this is also Google’s first collaboration with venture capital,” he added.
Apart from nurturing their existing businesses, they will also assist traditional companies to run digital transformation. As a general note, Northstar not only invests in technology companies but also embraces consumer and financial sectors.
“This collaboration is expected to generate new entrepreneurs. As we all know, Google has various accelerator programs and business education. We are also often involved in startup development programs. We are discussing joint programs that can later be implemented for this purpose,” Henky said.
In an official release, Google Indonesia’s Managing Director Randy Jusuf said, “At Google, we want to continue to support digital transformation through collaboration with stakeholders and encouraging the development of the startup community through the Google for Startups initiative. It is an honor for us to work with Northstar Group and support their investment in startups through platforms such as Google Ads and Google Cloud. ”
Northstar Group’s Chief Investment Officer Tan Choon Hong also gave his speech, “With the support of partners of the caliber of Google, we hope to help our portfolio to continue to adapt and maximize new opportunities in the future. This collaboration with Google is also part of our commitment to drive the Northstar portfolio’s growth. ”
Northstar alone since 2003 has managed about $2.2 billion in funds and is one of the largest investors in the region. In the Indonesian startup ecosystem, they invest in several startups such as Gojek, Zenius, and eFishery. They also have a Northstar Foundation unit that focuses on investing in social impact enterprises.
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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian
