Indonesia VC firm East Ventures assumes leadership of EV Growth Fund

VENTURE capital firm East Ventures on Wednesday said it is set to lead Indonesia-focused growth fund, EV Growth.

This leadership change results in a restructuring of the co-general partnership structure of EV Growth, East Ventures said in a press statement.

Formed in 2018, EV Growth was a joint venture between East Ventures, SMDV, the venture arm of Sinar Mas, as well as ZVC, formerly known as Yahoo! Japan Capital.

According to East Ventures, EV Growth Fund I reached its hard cap of US$250 million, above the initial target of US$150 million.

The fund's portfolio comprises firms in Indonesia and South-east Asia, including Shopback, Grab and Gojek. As at Dec 31, 2020, EV Growth Fund I generated an internal rate of return of 27 per cent with an early exit, namely the sale of payments startup MokaPOS to Gojek, East Ventures noted.

Moving forward, EV Growth will be part of the East Ventures platform.

Roderick Purwana from SMDV will become managing partner of East Ventures, while David Tendian will be appointed operating partner at SMDV. Meanwhile, Shiniciro Hori from ZVC will remain on the EV Growth investment committee.

The EV Growth team members and part of SMDV will also join East Ventures. Once completed, East Ventures will have over 60 staff members and eight partners, it said.

Mr Hori, who is managing partner of ZVC, noted that the latest move will strengthen its presence and accelerate its investments in the South-east Asia region.

"Z Holdings will commit more into the South-east Asia market and leverage the group assets as part of the SoftBank Group," he said.