This MindShare episode is all about the next decade of e-commerce in Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest and most important retail market.

E-commerce in Indonesia has grown rapidly in recent years, with Lazada, Tokopedia, and Shopee paving the way for new players like Astro. Despite limited internet penetration and low consumer trust a decade ago, the market is now booming with revenue projected to reach US$52 billion in 2023 and US$77 billion by 2027.

Hosted by Leighton Cosseboom, Head of Comms at AC Ventures, we are joined by two experts. Jacopo Mor is now the ex-COO of Lazada Indonesia, one of the largest e-commerce operators in Southeast Asia; and Vincent Tjendra is the co-founder and CEO of Astro, Indonesia’s top quick commerce startup for grocery delivery. With over US$90 million in funding from blue-chip venture capital firms like Tiger Global, Accel, and AC Ventures, Astro has outraised its competitors by around 10x.

As we continue our MindShare series with group discussions on current events in Asia’s tech scene, today's episode is all about the future of crypto in emerging markets like Indonesia.

The possibilities for blockchain in Southeast Asia are many. The region has a rapidly growing population with a high adoption rate of novel fintech. Governments are taking steps to regulate the crypto industry, while businesses are exploring its use for things like payments, remittances, and more. The region also has a large underbanked population, presenting a huge opportunity for financial inclusion via crypto. Despite challenges, including a lack of infrastructure and concerns over security, the future of crypto in Indonesia looks ripe for a boom. That said, it’s hard to have a meaningful conversation without also addressing the broader implications of the FTX implosion.

Hosted by Leighton Cosseboom and Pandu Sjahrir of AC Ventures, with us today are two experts. Jesse Choi is the COO of Reku, a leading Indonesian crypto exchange that gives users a powerful and trusted platform to invest, buy, and sell various crypto assets. Hassan Ahmed is the Head of Southeast Asia at Coinbase, the second-largest crypto exchange in the world.

Today, we continue our MindShare series where we invite guests to have group discussions on current events in Asia’s tech scene.

Stakeholders know that blockchain has the potential to radically change financial systems and, therefore, entire economies. The use of digital assets and smart contracts in DeFi can provide greater financial inclusion for the unbanked population and enable cross-border transactions with lower fees. Crypto trading and mining activities can also drive economic growth and create job opportunities. However, there are also concerns about the potential for illegal activities such as money laundering and fraud. Governments and regulators in Southeast Asia are currently navigating the challenges and opportunities presented by the growth of crypto and DeFi in the region.

Hosted by Leighton Cosseboom, Head of Comms at AC Ventures, we're joined by two experts. Jesse Choi is the COO of Reku, a leading Indonesian crypto exchange that gives users a powerful and trusted platform to invest, buy, and sell various crypto assets. U-Zyn Chua is the co-founder and CTO of Cake DeFi, one of the world's fastest-growing platforms offering access to decentralized financial services. Notably, it offers lending, staking, and liquidity mining for the crypto community.

Continuing our series on impact in Indonesia’s digital economy, AC Ventures' Head of ESG Lauren Blasco is joined by Angelique Timmer, SVP of Impact and ESG at KoinWorks, a full-fledged neobank for MSMEs that started out as a peer-to-peer lending platform for entrepreneurs to access working capital beyond banks and traditional financial institutions.

Today, KoinWorks delivers outsized impact across Indonesia by providing access to financial services and investment opportunities to underserved communities nationwide. This includes small business owners and micro-entrepreneurs that may not have a way to secure working capital. By offering access to loans and investment opportunities, KoinWorks empowers communities to grow and succeed financially.

AC Ventures recently established Indonesia's first quantifiable ESG standards with its debut report, “Scaling Impact With Technology,” produced in partnership with Boston Consulting Group and supported by The Upright Project. KoinWorks was one of the companies highlighted in the report. It delivered a net impact ratio of +63%, a phenomenal score compared to the Nasdaq Small Cap Index (NQUSS) average ratio of +29%.

In our new ongoing series "MindShare," AC Ventures curates expert guests to discuss current events and timely topics in the Southeast Asian tech ecosystem. Via insightful group discussion, we then interpret what it all means for startups, investors, and stakeholders in the region.

With us today is Pandu Sjahrir, Founding Partner at ACV, and Joel Shen, a prominent corporate lawyer in Jakarta and Singapore who heads Withersworldwide's technology practice in Asia.  

As an independent commissioner at the Indonesia Stock Exchange and an investor sitting on the boards of many tech companies, Pandu is well-placed to unpack this issue. Meanwhile, as a lawyer who specializes in venture day in and day out, Joel has seen firsthand what can happen when best practices are not followed.

Today on Indonesia Digital Deconstructed, Lauren Blasco, Head of ESG at AC Ventures, continues our series on impact and ESG investing in Indonesia's vibrant digital economy. In this episode, Lauren is joined by Neels Steyn, Venture Architect Director at BCG Digital Ventures in Southeast Asia. 

Neels, with the support of Boston Consulting Group, helps the world's largest and most influential corporations invent, launch, and scale innovative new businesses, products, and platforms designed to contribute to a better future. As such, he plays an essential role in steering the global economy toward a more environmentally sustainable and socially equitable future.

AC Ventures recently established the nation's first quantifiable ESG standards with its debut report, "Scaling Impact With Technology," produced in partnership with Boston Consulting Group and supported by The Upright Project in Finland. 

Today, we continue our series on ESG and impact in Southeast Asia’s tech scene with Lauren Blasco, Head of ESG at AC Ventures, as our host. 

AC Ventures recently established the nation’s first quantifiable ESG standards with its debut report, “Scaling Impact With Technology,” produced in partnership with Boston Consulting Group and supported by The Upright Project.

There is no question that northern Europe is leading the charge when it comes to companies reporting their impact. Helsinki-based Upright is a high-powered platform that helps companies measure their impact on the environment and society around them. It does this with an AI-powered data engine that maps the impact of 150,000 products based on more than 200 million scientific publications. It gives companies a North Star metric called a ‘net impact ratio.’ This percentage allows them to transparently report to investors, and the public at large, about what they’re doing well with ESG, and what they can improve upon.

With us today is Toni Laitila, VP of Investor Business at Upright. 

Today, we kick off a fresh series focused on the intersection of ESG, impact, and tech in Indonesia. AC Ventures recently established the nation’s first quantifiable ESG standards with its debut report, “Scaling Impact With Technology,” produced in partnership with Boston Consulting Group and supported by The Upright Project in Finland.

Hosted by Lauren Blasco, Head of ESG at AC Ventures, we are joined by Mohamad Bijaksana Junerosano (who goes by Sano for short). He’s the founder and CEO of Waste4Change, a leading waste management platform for companies, individuals, and government agencies in Indonesia. The firm’s mission since its 2014 inception has been to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in Indonesia’s landfills.

Currently, Waste4Change is present in more than 21 Indonesian cities, managing more than 8,000 tons of waste per year. It has collected waste from more than 117 B2B clients and 3,450 households. Since 2017, it has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 55.1%. The startup also recently raised a US$5 million funding round co-led by AC Ventures.

In today's episode hosted by Helen Wong, Managing Partner at AC Ventures, we are joined by Sreejita Deb, Founder and CEO of RAENA. 

Sreejita's startup is the largest beauty product reseller platform in Indonesia. It supports beauty entrepreneurs who run home-based businesses with more than 250 brands and over 1,000 original beauty products. RAENA is on a mission to build Southeast Asia’s deepest and most trusted beauty retail network - all without owning a single storefront.

The company provides beauty solopreneurs with business training and online support. It offers them competitively-priced beauty products by adopting a dropship and resell system that requires no admin fees and no capital to get started. Hear Sreejita's unique journey, as she walks us through the early days of trial and error before finding a repeatable and scalable business model with RAENA. 

In official support for gender equality in the workplace, AC Ventures has formally committed to the International Finance Corporation’s Invest2Equal program, as well as the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles and its Principles for Responsible Investment. In-house, ACV has a 50% ratio of female team members and a 40% ratio of female founders across its portfolio.

Next up in our series on female founders in Indonesia, we have a very special guest. Hosted by Helen Wong, Managing Partner at AC Ventures, we are joined by Luna Maya, co-founder & CEO of NAMA Beauty. For those who are less familiar with the local entertainment industry, Luna is an Indonesian model, actress, and presenter. Her startup NAMA is a direct-to-consumer (D2C) cosmetics and skincare company. It provides affordable and luxurious goods such as decorative cosmetics and other skincare, health, and beauty products.

In this episode, Helen and Luna explore Luna's journey from artist to entrepreneur and take a closer look at what really makes a D2C brand work in Indonesia's unique consumer market, specifically with retention in mind. Using the simple slogan and hashtag #StayReal, Luna and her team seek to inspire Indonesian women to stay true to themselves and embrace their own natural beauty, no matter what color their skin is. She also comes to the table today with a straightforward yet profound message for female tech entrepreneurs.

In official support for gender equality in the workplace, AC Ventures has formally committed to the International Finance Corporation’s Invest2Equal program, as well as the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles and its Principles for Responsible Investment.