BRI Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Indonesia’s state-owned BRI Group, has collaborated with the School of Business and Management ITB (SBM ITB) to launch venture capital university courses in 2021.
Reportedly the first of its kind in Indonesia, the programme aims to support the emerging venture capital field and exemplifies university-industry collaboration where business leaders share their insights and expertise with students.
The courses will be embedded in both SBM ITB’s undergraduate and graduate programmes on Jakarta and Bandung campuses.
The students will learn about basic venture capital principles and gain exposure to various startup ecosystems.
Additionally, they will go into deeper discussion and seek to understand the venture capital industry on a more granular level.
Indonesia has witnessed a tremendous rise of early-stage tech companies in recent years, with some reaching valuations of more than US$1 billion including the likes of Bukalapak, Gojek, and Traveloka.
Global and regional venture capital firms are rushing to grab a share of the Indonesian market, in which the total funding of local startups has surpassed US$1.9 billion, arising from 52 fundraising rounds in the third quarter of 2020, according to the Indonesian Venture and Startup Association.
Prof. Utomo Sarjono Putro, Dean of Economics and Business at SBM ITB said,
“The courses will provide a new job market for students who aspire to discover new ventures and understand the financial support they need, starting from the early stage and moving to more mature phases.
The programme is strongly aligned with the mission of SBM ITB, which aims to nurture leaders with an entrepreneurial mindset that creates impact.”
Nicko Widjaja, CEO of BRI Ventures said,
“There’s a big paradigm shift happening right now in the economy. Ten years ago, venture capital wasn’t considered a career and now has become one of the ideal accomplishments among local business students.
I hope to meet the next generation of venture capitalists here at SBM ITB, as I had done at UPH some years ago.”
Featured image: Nicko Widjaja, CEO of BRI Ventures
