Telkom Indonesia-owned MDI Ventures, Bio Farma launch biotech, healthcare fund

MDI Ventures, a venture capital firm owned by Telkom Indonesia, and Indonesia state-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma on Wednesday (May 11) launched the Bio-Health Fund, an early and growth-stage investment fund for biotechnology (biotech) and healthcare startups.

Through the new fund, Bio Farma will act as a limited partner for startups in biotech and healthcare, said the company’s president director Honesti Basyir. An initial US$20 million will be used to back startups and allow them to leverage Bio Farma's capabilities as a pharmaceutical manufacturer and healthcare provider in Indonesia.

The pharmaceutical company added that it will focus its investment on products and solutions applicable to Indonesia as a market, rather than limiting it by geography.

The fund will also strengthen MDI Ventures’ investments into the biotech and healthcare sectors, as it will be able to co-invest with the Bio-Health Fund.

"This Bio-Health Fund will increase Bio Farma's capabilities in terms of innovating life science products, healthtech products such as telemedicine, and so on. The ultimate goal is to form a national health ecosystem," said Honesti.

Telkom Group’s strategic portfolio director, Budi Setyawan Wijaya, added that he hopes the collaboration can later be expanded to other areas of cooperation to create new opportunities for both MDI Ventures and Telkom Group.