Unlock the secrets behind transformative investments in this episode recorded live from Money2020 Asia 2024 in Bangkok! Join our hosts, Scarlett Sieber and Sheryl Chen, as we chat with Dennis Pratistha, the Chief Investment Officer at Mandiri Capital Indonesia (MCI), who takes us through MCI's captivating journey from its founding in 2015 to becoming a powerhouse in digital transformation and venture capital. Discover how MCI has innovatively merged corporate venture capital with independent venture capital, underpinned by strategic pillars like business matchmaking, business acceleration, and extensive networking. Dennis sheds light on how MCI's unique structure has fueled remarkable growth and value creation in the financial services sector.
Get ready to be inspired by MCI's approach to investing in founders who demonstrate competence, integrity, and perseverance. Dennis offers invaluable advice on the perfect timing for startups to seek investment, ideally after achieving product-market fit and revenue generation. Learn about the robust support system MCI offers through strategic introductions and business matchmaking, bolstered by their six-week business acceleration program. Additionally, dive into MCI's initiatives in the climate tech ecosystem, leveraging insights from Australia's advanced experience to drive sustainable development. This episode is a treasure trove of real-world case studies and success stories that highlight MCI's commitment to innovation and environmental sustainability.
Hosts: Scarlett Sieber, Chief Strategy & Growth Officer, Money20/20
Sheryl Chen, Head of Content, Money2020 Asia
Guest: Dennis Pratistha, Chief Investment Officer, Mandiri Capital of Indonesia
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sheryl Chen (00:08):
Welcome to The Money Pot.
I am Sheryl Chen, Head ofContent at Money2020 Asia.
We are live today at The MoneyPot booth at Money2020 Asia 2024
.
With me today I have ScarlettSieber, Chief Strategy and
Growth Officer at Money2020.
Hello, Scarlett.
Scarlett Sieber (00:26):
I have to say, Sheryl, I have to say Sheryl, I
have never co-hosted with youbefore, and it is quite an honor
.
Sheryl Chen (00:33):
No, it is my honor.
How is everything?
How has the conference?
How has the show been for you?
Scarlett Sieber (00:39):
It's been amazing.
This is our first time comingto Bangkok.
Dennis, we were just catchingup.
Before going online.
We prioritize destinationcities Las Vegas, Amsterdam, and
Bangkok is a perfect additionto that mix, so it's been a lot
of fun.
Sheryl Chen (00:52):
It's fantastic and today on our show we have Dennis
Pratistha, Chief InvestmentOfficer at Mandiri Capital
Indonesia.
Welcome.
Dennis Pratistha (01:03):
Dennis.
Thank you, Cheryl Scarlett, forhaving us.
I mean it's great to be here.
Events so far.
This is the third day right.
It's been very enjoyable.
We met a lot of great contactshere at Money 2020.
Sheryl Chen (01:21):
It's fantastic.
Scarlett Sieber (01:23):
So can I call it MCI, or would you prefer for
me to say Mandiri?
Dennis Pratistha (01:27):
No, MCI is good.
Scarlett Sieber (01:28):
Okay.
So over the last few weeks, fewmonths, I've been spending time
with Debbie because I was soexcited when she said, hey, I
got a CBC that's looking at theshow.
I said I want to get involved.
What's going on?
I've been so impressed with thedepth and breadth that MCI
covers.
My first question is andthere's a bit of static here so
(01:49):
why did Mandiri create MCI andwhat is your mission?
Dennis Pratistha (01:53):
Okay, that's a very good question.
Let me give you a bit of acontext.
So Mandiri Capital IndonesiaMCI we were established in 2015
and started operations in 2016.
So initially we were the hub ofinnovation right for Monday
Regroup as a whole.
At that time they wereundergoing a digital
transformation process.
(02:14):
Fast forward to now.
They're very successful doingthat.
You know, we've got the largestfinancial services super
application with over 21 millionactive users.
We've got one of the biggestoffline to online merchants
platform which targets micro,small and medium size merchants.
(02:36):
We've got 2 million activemerchants so far on that.
And, of course, we've got oneof the biggest digital platforms
for large corporations.
So it's a supply chain kind ofplatform.
So we were very much involvedin that, in the digital
transformation process.
And then over the years wetransformed.
We became a CBC, we had ourbalance sheet fund and started
(02:57):
last year we launched our ownfund to become more of an
independent VC essentially.
So we fundraised throughthird-party money LPs.
Scarlett Sieber (03:06):
So in your role as chief investment officer,
that's quite a lofty title.
What does that mean?
What does that mean for MCI?
What is your remit?
What do you cover?
Dennis Pratistha (03:16):
So CVCs, vcs they tend to be quite small,
right, quite intimate, you say.
So basically I'm in charge ofrunning the entire business, of
whatever happens in moneycapital amnesia.
Of course you've got thebusiness function if you've got
the support function right.
So I handle business within thebusiness.
What I oversee, of course we'vegot the venture funds.
(03:36):
We've got three funds up andrunning within the venture funds
besides our balance sheet.
So balance sheet will be thefourth one.
And of course we've got thevalue creation initiative.
I'll share a bit about thatlater on.
Mci is a strategic investor.
We're not a financial investor.
So of course our strategicinitiative, our value creation
initiative, is our strategicinitiative essentially.
(03:59):
And on top of that we've gotthe balance sheet fund right.
Investment happens there.
So I oversee venture fund,value creation and the balance
sheet.
Scarlett Sieber (04:09):
Amazing Cheryl.
Sheryl Chen (04:11):
So, Dennis, as you mentioned, MCI was established
in 2015.
And since then you have 23portfolio companies.
So this size of podcast tellsme that you guys obviously make
very concentrated and highconviction investments.
So could you tell us a littlebit more about your deal
sourcing and due diligenceprocess?
Dennis Pratistha (04:33):
Very good question.
So, yes, since 2015-16,actually we've invested in 26
companies, but we've divestedquite a bit, and very good
divestment.
So our early stage fund is upto 1.4 in our DPI, which is
quite significant, right.
So when our strategy, ourstrategy look, as I mentioned to
(04:56):
you, we have a value creationinitiative.
So our value creationinitiative revolves around three
pillars.
So you've got the businessmatchmaking revolves around
three pillars.
So you've got the businessmatchmaking, which essentially
introduce startups, techcompanies, to big corporations,
right With the output,identifying business
opportunities, mous, right.
Of course, that doesn'tgenerate revenues.
(05:17):
And then we have the secondpillar, which is business
acceleration.
With business acceleration, ittakes what is defined in the
first pillar, which is thebusiness matchmaking.
So, with business acceleration,it takes what is defined in the
first pillar, which is thebusiness matchmaking.
So the business opportunities.
Then we help our foundersnavigate the big corporations
and to ensure they're able toacquire the business contracts.
Business contracts help themwith technology integration,
(05:40):
with the output, of course,generating revenue.
And then the third one, ofcourse, is networking.
So, to answer your question, weuse that the actual program
initiative, as a pipeline forour deal sourcing, essentially.
So that's one aspect we use forour deal sourcing.
We use pipeline from our valuecreation initiative.
We've got a lot of contacts.
(06:01):
We've got a lot of contacts.
Of course, they refer us a lotof deals.
So other VCs, cvcs, iabs andour partners.
So that's why we're here.
We aim to always, you know,grow our partners, grow our
network to be able to havebetter deal sourcing essentially
.
So that's essentially our dealsourcing strategy.
Scarlett Sieber (06:21):
Let me chime in here, because I think the key
things is always about thedifferentiation strategy.
You talked about partners andthe matchmaking.
I'm a recovering ex-banker.
I'm embarrassed to admit it,but maybe not embarrassed at all
because there's so muchopportunities there, of course,
(06:45):
at Mandiri, but at your otherpartners as well, who have been
some of the like.
What are the parts of the orgthat have been most open to
working with startups?
Is it the innovation team?
Is it the line of businesses?
Is it the product team?
Where have you seen the mostsuccess in Indonesia and more
broadly across Asia, for yourstartups to start getting
traction with these big corps?
Dennis Pratistha (07:00):
Okay, that's a very good question.
So what you're asking is howwe're able to help our founders
of the management team get intobig corporations, right?
So, of course, see, that's thething with indonesia.
Everything is a relationshipgame essentially.
I mean, it's pretty much thesame here in thailand and pretty
much around asia.
So it's a relationship game.
So the thing is, it doesn'treally matter if most
(07:23):
corporations, yes, they have aninnovation team, they have
whatever it is, digitaltransformation team, et cetera,
et cetera.
But it doesn't really matterwhere you start, right, because
at the end of the day, you haveto deepen your network, right
With us.
We start anywhere and then wedeepen our network.
We have to end up.
The most important is to end upengaging with the users, right?
(07:44):
So, for instance, if we'rehelping Carbon Accounting SAS,
we helped them recently.
So you know, the ideal userswould be the ESG team within
each corporation.
So, of course, we can startwith the digital transformation
team or the innovation team, butat the end of the day, you have
(08:04):
to get into the ESG team.
So that's what we do.
I mean, we have to navigate.
We help our founders managementteam navigate large
corporations.
So you have to get to knoweverybody, essentially the users
.
They're the most important.
Sheryl Chen (08:20):
So I just want to chime in here.
So, dennis, when I was doing abit of research on you, I saw
that your LinkedIn you statedthat you're a builder of
scalable businesses that areinvestor-friendly.
So every other VC in the region.
They claim to befounder-friendly, but this was
my first time seeing someoneactively brand themselves as
(08:42):
investor-friendly.
So what does that mean?
I heard also just now I pickedup this little juicy little
nugget saying that your DPI is1.4, which is well above
industry benchmarks.
So what does that mean for you?
Is it like generating fundreturners, creating beautiful
metrics for follow-on funds?
What does that mean?
Dennis Pratistha (08:58):
Okay, so, first and foremost, I started my
career as an entrepreneur, so,naturally, I know what it's like
to be an entrepreneur.
You've got to treat them aspartners, right?
I started my career as anentrepreneur, blessed enough,
lucky enough to be able to doseveral exits, so I started in
06.
I ended in 15 and startedgetting into private equity,
(09:23):
private equity, and now I'm herein vc.
Right?
So you know, for us, becauseI'm an ex-entrepreneur, I I want
to make sure that we'repartners, we're not just
investors.
If we invest, we're investors.
We put in our money and sit onour hands.
Right for us, we need to beengaging, we need to be able to
assist them through theirbusiness.
So that's why you know, ofcourse, why I claim not really
(09:49):
self-proclaimed but based onexperience a builder, because I,
I've built several businessesand of course, I'm I know how,
what it's like to fundraise.
So I have to be investorfriendly, you know, with them
and like, so I try to be in aposition where you know, uh,
where entrepreneurs arecomfortable with us.
So that's one aspect, right,you know.
And, of course, why we want todo that?
(10:11):
Because we, as you rightlymentioned, you know what is our
goal, what is our aim as venturefunds, as investors?
Primary goal there's only oneprimary goal generate returns.
Right, to be able to generatereturns there are two factors.
Factor number one is you growthe foundations of the business,
the fundamentals of thebusiness.
(10:32):
And of course, number two aremarket multiples.
But you can't control marketmultiples, you know.
You see, for the past two years, winter, you know market
multiples has depressed and ofcourse you'll be crazy if you
want to focus on the things youcan't control.
So for us, we believe infocusing the things that we can
(10:52):
control, which is helping growthe fundamentals of the business
.
That's why we, our approach isto bring businesses to these
guys.
You know we invest in fromearly stage to sort of later
growth.
If I may share a bit, just togive context.
So we have funds for earlystage, we have funds for early
growth, we have funds for midgrowth and then later growth.
(11:14):
So we have a lot of pockets,right?
So, having said that, I meanyou know we have to be able to
generate returns for these guys.
It's injecting businesses Forearly-stage companies.
These companies are maybe onlydoing annually a buck, right?
So bringing businesses two,three, four, five bucks.
For us, since we're backed byhuge ecosystems right, we're
(11:38):
backed by the money ecosystem,the state-owned enterprise
ecosystem We've got a lot offunds.
It's not something that'sdifficult for us to do.
So imagine you know a companythat's doing annually a buck in
business and then we bring themanother two, three, four, five
bucks.
That's already a huge impact tothe business and that's helping
them grow the fundamentals ofthe business.
And to the other extent, to theextreme, we invest in later
(12:01):
growth, not later stage, butlater growth.
Later growth means what?
In Indonesia it's around 20bucks worth of business annually
and again bringing over fivebucks, 10 bucks worth of
business is already increasingtheir business size quite
significantly.
So that's why we focus on thataspect.
We focus on bringing businessbecause essentially, we're
(12:23):
building their business.
We're helping them build theirbusiness, grow their business,
which generates returns.
Scarlett Sieber (12:29):
So that's really fascinating, and you
talked about going from all lifecycles For early stage.
What is the typical check sizethat you start with?
Dennis Pratistha (12:39):
So early stage we do so our early stage fund.
We have a pre-C, c, pre-A, a.
Usually for a first investmentwe stop at A, but we can do
follow-on up to B.
In our first fund that typicalcheck size is between $500 to
$1.50, right.
And then we've got our earlygrowth and mid-growth.
(13:00):
Typical size is around $1.50,one and a half bucks up to six
bucks.
And then we've got our latergrowth where a typical check
size would be between 20 to 25bucks, right.
So essentially I mean we coverthe entire spectrum.
Scarlett Sieber (13:17):
Very helpful.
So I did not know what we weredoing the research, but I didn't
know that you were.
You said ex-entrepreneur.
I would also use the wordrecovering entrepreneur, because
I did that too.
We have a lot of startups here.
I think it's so helpful thatyou have been on the journey and
felt that.
So two part question.
The first is you've seen this alot.
(13:37):
You've invested in a lot ofcompanies.
Are there patterns of behaviorsor characteristics about
successful founders?
And then the second question iswhen is the right time to
approach MCI?
So for the founders who aregoing to be listening to this
now, the next few days, next fewweeks, next few months, when
should they reach out to MCI andhow do they do that?
Dennis Pratistha (13:59):
Okay, I'll answer the second part first.
So when, when should theyapproach us?
Look, even when they come inearly, we rather they've already
done an actual product marketfit, right.
So that's the earliest.
When you've got a productmarket fit, when you know that,
you know you can generaterevenues from this, then that's
where, ideally, they should comeand approach us.
(14:21):
So so that's the earliest.
And then, of course, followingthat, anytime, if you're a
digital revenue, even better.
You've got a great product.
You can scale even better.
If you want to find businesses,if you want someone to handhold
you and help you grow yourbusiness, then come to us,
because that's what we do,that's what we do best,
essentially.
(14:42):
So that's the second part ofyour question.
And, of course, charactertraits.
There are a lot of charactertraits for entrepreneurs, right,
of course, when we look atbusinesses, we follow the BMP
kind of approach, right?
Bmp, meaning we look at thebusiness, we look at the
management, founders, right.
And of course, we're aninvestor.
We look.
We look at price definitely wewon't invest when it's too high.
(15:04):
But going back to the foundersitself, look, so many character
traits.
But we have to have a look attheir experience, right.
How competent are they in thatparticular business.
Look, if you know they're aseasoned player in agriculture
and then suddenly they want toinvest in Gen AI or start doing
(15:26):
Gen AI, definitely they might bea very experienced and
competent entrepreneur, butthey're not experienced at all
in Gen AI.
So we'd rather invest in people, in founders, that are
competent within what they dowithin the business.
That's one.
Of course, we have to have alook at the integrity.
You know, basically the trackrecord, essentially right.
(15:48):
What have they done?
Have have they been businessbefore?
We prefer someone has greatworking experience strategically
or has a business before right,so and so and besides that, the
standard trait.
If you look at the integrity,of course we ask we do a lot of
background checks, right, andperseverance.
(16:10):
You know how determined arethey and then you can do this by
having a lot of lunches,dinners, coffees, drinks with
them.
So basically, that's the coreof what we look at when it comes
to people.
Sheryl Chen (16:25):
The best time to so ?
Scarlett, you also mentionedwhen is the best time for.
Dennis Pratistha (16:31):
I answered that first, Actually.
Sheryl Chen (16:35):
Dennis, I wanted to ask you a bit more about
because there is this it is veryhard to do business in
indonesia if you're not alreadyattuned in the local ecosystem
because, as you mentioned,everything is so relationship
driven right and because youhave a huge backing of mandiri
(16:55):
and then also a couple of otherconglomerates.
Could you maybe share moreabout how you enable startups
within your network to get themplugged in, to set them up for
success?
Dennis Pratistha (17:06):
Sure, I mean, that's actually what we do.
So our value prop is helpingfounders, management, navigate
corporations, big corporationsand et cetera.
So, as I mentioned to you,right, you know, we are the
biggest bank by assets inIndonesia.
We are the fourth largeststate-owned enterprise company
(17:28):
in Indonesia, so we're backed upby state-owned.
State-owned is still very bigin Indonesia, right?
So we're backed up bystate-owned.
We're backed up by the Mandiri.
So meaning we have hugeecosystems and on top of this,
of course, we collaborate withother private corporations as
well, so we have huge networkhow we help them out, basically
relationship.
We introduce them to who theyneed to know.
(17:50):
So it's different with eachbusiness, right?
Some wants to get to knowpeople within the telco
companies in Indonesia, so wehelp navigate them.
If they're focused on billing,for instance, of course we
introduce them not only to theprocurement team but also to the
(18:12):
finance department, et cetera.
So it's pretty much customized,it's pretty much tailored how
we can introduce them and bringthem to the right people.
But on top of that, as Imentioned, we also have the
formal framework, which is thevalue creation initiative that I
mentioned.
That revolves around threepillars.
So it's called our xyz event.
(18:33):
So the x is for the businessmatchmaking, the y is for
networking and the z as thebusiness acceleration.
Scarlett Sieber (18:41):
So, on the business acceleration, when we
were talking offline, it wasactually a formal program that
you have.
Yes, that goes through fourmonths.
Can you just talk a little bitmore about what that is?
Dennis Pratistha (18:53):
So, as I mentioned right so business
acceleration moves after thebusiness matchmaking.
Business matchmaking identifiesbusiness opportunities and
ensures that the guys that areinvolved in the program, they
get MOUs right.
So, moving from there from thebusiness opportunities and MOUs,
(19:16):
the participants, theapplicants, the guys that are
joining the event we then bringthem over to the respective
businesses and help themnavigate those companies to
ensure that they get businessagreements.
That's one aspect.
That's the program for us.
So it's a six-week program andof course, they also get a lot
(19:39):
of coaching and whatnot.
The coaching revolves aroundhow to get business contracts,
how to ensure there's a productmarket fit and you can really
scale your whether it's product,services and business
essentially not only in thatparticular company that they're
targeting, but across the board,essentially.
(20:01):
So it's a six-week programcoaching and helping them
navigate respective businessesto ensure that when they
graduate from the program theyget business contracts.
They have business contracts.
Scarlett Sieber (20:15):
I think we should move into sustainability,
because one of the things thatwe've seen at our other shows
obviously when we were talkingoffline, dennis, in the other
key geographies sustainabilityis a really especially in our
Europe show, a really hot topicand people care a lot about it.
So, cheryl, do you want to talka little bit more about that?
Sheryl Chen (20:33):
So, dennis, I saw that in November 2023 last year,
you successfully launched yourMandiri Investable Global
Climate Tech Fund and withinthat, your key areas of
strategic geographic regions fordeployment are Southeast Asia
and Oceania, and within that,30% of your investments will be
(20:56):
made in Indonesia.
So could you tell us more aboutthe impact you are going to
achieve with that fund?
Dennis Pratistha (21:02):
Okay, so to give you a bit of a background,
so, as I mentioned, we wereestablished in 2015-16.
During that period, that waswhen Indonesia was forming its
digital tech ecosystem and wewere part of that.
We were part of the journey ingrowing the digital tech
ecosystem in Indonesia.
So what we decided to do?
(21:24):
Hey, look, you know, climateClimate is an issue.
It's been an issue for a fewdecades, but in Indonesia it's
only been a recent focus.
And we thought, hey, we wereexperienced, we have the
framework to help grow thedigital tech ecosystem.
Then why not help governmentsacross Southeast Asia grow their
(21:46):
climate tech ecosystem, right?
So we decided, hey, let'sreplicate the same approach and
customize it slightly tojumpstart the climate tech
ecosystem.
And we decided look, you know,as I mentioned, indonesia is
still quite nascent when itcomes to the climate tech
ecosystem.
And we decided, look, you know,as I mentioned, in Indonesia
it's still quite nascent when itcomes to the climate tech
ecosystem, but when we look atour neighbor, australia, they're
(22:09):
more advanced.
They've been doing this for thepast two decades.
So, you know, they've got overtwo decades experience.
Why not tap into theirknowledge, their technology,
their experience, invest incompanies there, look at
technologies there and thenbring them over not only to
Indonesia but Southeast Asia,with the aim of jump-starting
(22:29):
and building the climate techecosystem.
So, of course, once this formsup again, it's like the digital
side People will start jumpinginto the opportunities and this
will spearhead, fast, expeditethe growth of climate tech
initiatives in our respectivecountries across Southeast Asia.
So, as you mentioned, yes, theidea is to invest in Australia
(22:53):
and all countries withinSoutheast Asia and, of course,
bring knowledge, technology andexperience to the respective
countries and share it across.
So the goal, when you ask whatis the actual goal, the actual
goal is actually just tojumpstart the climate tech
ecosystem.
Scarlett Sieber (23:09):
So it'll become I think one of the things
that's so nice about what youtalked about there and it's now
been a theme.
We're on day three of the showand we've had some of the
regulators all over Asia,southeast Asia, we've had all
the FinTech Association, cheryl,and one of the things that
we're really seeing is aboutthat cross-geographic
(23:30):
collaboration, basically, andhow do we do things better
together, learn what Indonesiadoes really well, learn what
Australia does really well,china, and how do we do things
better together learn whatIndonesia does really well,
learn what Australia does reallywell, china, everyone else and
so I think that's an awesomeexample.
So, as we just get wrapping uphere, last question, dennis you
have the world of money, ofcourse, with the focus on APAC
here and Money 2020 Asia.
(23:51):
What else would you like themto know about MCI?
What else would you?
Dennis Pratistha (23:55):
like them to know about MCI.
Simple With us, we focus oncollaboration, forming
collaboration.
We are all about establishingpartnership so we can
collaborate together.
Look, you know, it's not aboutconquering the world anymore.
It's about having sharedexperiences, partnering up to
(24:16):
make the world a better place.
So that's what we're all about.
We want people to know thatwe're open to establish
partnerships and I'm veryconfident we can partner up with
anybody and everybody acrossthis spectrum, across industries
.
Again, our DNA, you know, atthe heart of commerce, it's all
(24:40):
about payments and lending.
We're part of a bank.
That's our DNA.
So we can contribute.
We can partner up witheverybody that wants to.
You know, make the world abetter place, that's what
climate is all about.
That's what you know.
Un with, that's what climate isall about.
That's what UN, with their SDGprogram, is all about.
(25:01):
So that's the message that I'dlike to push across.
Scarlett Sieber (25:07):
It's a beautiful message.
Sheryl Chen (25:08):
It is Okay.
So actually, dennis, I wantedto zero in on the particular
case studies and the startupsthat you've been seeing,
especially in Indonesia, becausethe last time I went, it was
extremely polluted the airquality in Jakarta.
I think we all know how the airquality is like.
So what cases of climate techhave you been seeing recently?
Dennis Pratistha (25:31):
Okay, maybe to give you a brief background.
Okay, maybe to give you a briefbackground, our fund focuses on
the six UNEP defined industries.
Right, you've got yourindustries, you've got your
(25:53):
energy, you've got yourtransport, you've got your agri,
you've got your forest and landuse, you've got your cities
right.
So, but to answer your question, in indonesia lately I've been
excited and had a lot ofopportunities to look at
circular economy, right, thecircular economy sector.
You know, I've been visiting alot of waste dumps, and I mean a
lot of waste dumps.
So a lot of these guys, ofcourse, they sort through the
(26:16):
waste and they basicallycategorize the different types
of plastics.
For instance, you've got six,seven levels, seven different
plastics.
You sort that out and thenyou've got different types of
waste, which is paper and etcetera, and even wood waste.
So I've been following severalcompanies that have been doing a
(26:41):
lot of plastic recycling, forinstance, and what they do is
they upcycle, they produceeco-planks.
That's one that I saw which isvery exciting to me.
I also looked at anothercompany that just focuses on the
sorting and they sell whateverthey sort to different recycling
companies, which is to either,you know, if they they can, if
(27:04):
they manage to find a lot of uh,reused sorry, recycled water
bottles.
They sell it back to companiesthat produces recycled water
bottles.
So this is a sorting company.
I went to another company thatwas doing wood waste.
So from that wood waste theyprocess it and they produce wood
(27:25):
pallets, which is acomplementary or replacement to
coal, essentially.
On top of that we've beenlooking at carbon accounting
companies and how they interactwith the carbon projects so they
become the marketplace forcarbon projects to buy carbon
credits, essentially.
And also we've looked at a lotof agriculture technologies,
(27:49):
aquaculture technologiesParticularly.
That I like to mention is thatyou know, we looked at a
particular one that is trying toincrease threefold the
productivity of shrimp farmingVery interesting.
I mean it's a combination ofnot only just technology but
(28:09):
it's biotech as well.
They've got the supplements,they've got the different feeds,
et cetera, et cetera.
So I mean there's a lot ofopportunities.
That's just Indonesia, that'sjust scratching the surface of
Indonesia.
I'm pretty sure there's a lotmore opportunities in Indonesia.
But if you look at companieslike in Australia that we
(28:30):
believe would be suitable forIndonesia, even Thailand battery
processing companies you knowright now everyone Thailand
battery processing companies.
You know right now everyone'sshifting over to EV, so we have
to think about on how to be ableto process recycled batteries
right.
So I looked at severalcompanies actually in Australia
(28:53):
that does different aspects ofbattery recycling.
One is to ensure that the wasteis handled appropriately so
it's not to contaminate.
Another is to extract thesebatteries and reuse what can be
reused and these kind of thingsessentially, and even
(29:13):
battery-coated materials, techand et cetera.
So I mean there's a lot ofopportunities that I've looked
at and it's very exciting.
It's something very new butvery exciting.
Sheryl Chen (29:23):
So I think also something else that is the
beauty of having a regional fundright is that you extract all
these lessons from all thedifferent countries in the
region, which are very unique,but also there's a lot of
cross-pollination of lessons andideas, and you've previously
also mentioned that Indonesiathey are starting to get
(29:48):
acquainted with the idea ofclimate tech, and then countries
like Australia, for example,they have already been very,
they are already very familiar.
So what are some lessons thatyou think that Indonesia can
learn from someone likeAustralia?
Dennis Pratistha (30:01):
It's.
Different countries have theirdifferent needs, specifically
for climate tech, right, but ofcourse, there are a lot of
overlaps, a lot of overlaps thatcan be shared.
For instance, waste processing,waste management.
Everyone, all countries, needsit and definitely we can look at
what what australia has beendoing and how they process their
(30:23):
waste and etc.
So, to ensure you know, wasteis a significant issue.
It's a big issue everywherearound the world.
So we want to learn how we canprocess waste better to ensure
that we're not filling uplandfills and polluting the
earth.
That's one aspect that we canlearn.
So, essentially, you look atthe overlaps and you try to look
(30:43):
at the best practices in eachof the countries that we cover.
Sheryl Chen (30:49):
Actually this is the second time you mentioned
circular economy.
I recently read an article onthe circular economy and
actually in particular it wasfor the luxury market and we
were talking about reselling andthen also reducing waste.
So it just made me realize andalso actively as a consumer, to
try and purchase less so that wecan do better for our
(31:15):
environment and also make activechoices not to purchase fast
fashion items, for example, sothings that will eventually go
out of style very quickly, theydon't end up in the landfills.
So I think it's very admirable,like this entire circular
ecosystem thing.
Dennis Pratistha (31:32):
Exactly exactly.
So what I like to convey alwaysto to my mates right, you know,
reduce what you use.
Right you, you ensure that youknow you recycle what you use,
you choose what you buy and besustainable.
Essentially right, because ifyou reduce the what you buy, the
(31:55):
unnecessary things that youdon't need, then of course
you'll be, as you mentioned,fast fashion.
They go out of fashion veryquickly, so buy classic ones and
you know you can reuse over andover again.
You end up becoming moresustainable, more responsible
yes, sustainability is alifestyle exactly, exactly and I
(32:16):
think with that we can wrapthis episode up.
Sheryl Chen (32:20):
So that is it for this episode of the Money Pot.
We want to thank Dennis forgracing our show today.
You can be part of the MoneyPot at the Money 2020 Show.
Please send us pitches topodcast at money2020.com and
don't forget to follow uswherever you listen to podcasts.
Thank you for listening.
We love our FinTech nerds.
Welcome to The Money Pot.
I am Sheryl Chen, Head ofContent at Money2020 Asia.
We are live today at The MoneyPot booth at Money2020 Asia 2024
.
With me today I have ScarlettSieber, Chief Strategy and
Growth Officer at Money2020.
Hello, Scarlett.
Scarlett Sieber (00:26):
I have to say, Sheryl, I have to say Sheryl, I
have never co-hosted with youbefore, and it is quite an honor
.
Sheryl Chen (00:33):
No, it is my honor.
How is everything?
How has the conference?
How has the show been for you?
Scarlett Sieber (00:39):
It's been amazing.
This is our first time comingto Bangkok.
Dennis, we were just catchingup.
Before going online.
We prioritize destinationcities Las Vegas, Amsterdam, and
Bangkok is a perfect additionto that mix, so it's been a lot
of fun.
Sheryl Chen (00:52):
It's fantastic and today on our show we have Dennis
Pratistha, Chief InvestmentOfficer at Mandiri Capital
Indonesia.
Welcome.
Dennis Pratistha (01:03):
Dennis.
Thank you, Cheryl Scarlett, forhaving us.
I mean it's great to be here.
Events so far.
This is the third day right.
It's been very enjoyable.
We met a lot of great contactshere at Money 2020.
Sheryl Chen (01:21):
It's fantastic.
Scarlett Sieber (01:23):
So can I call it MCI, or would you prefer for
me to say Mandiri?
Dennis Pratistha (01:27):
No, MCI is good.
Scarlett Sieber (01:28):
Okay.
So over the last few weeks, fewmonths, I've been spending time
with Debbie because I was soexcited when she said, hey, I
got a CBC that's looking at theshow.
I said I want to get involved.
What's going on?
I've been so impressed with thedepth and breadth that MCI
covers.
My first question is andthere's a bit of static here so
(01:49):
why did Mandiri create MCI andwhat is your mission?
Dennis Pratistha (01:53):
Okay, that's a very good question.
Let me give you a bit of acontext.
So Mandiri Capital IndonesiaMCI we were established in 2015
and started operations in 2016.
So initially we were the hub ofinnovation right for Monday
Regroup as a whole.
At that time they wereundergoing a digital
transformation process.
(02:14):
Fast forward to now.
They're very successful doingthat.
You know, we've got the largestfinancial services super
application with over 21 millionactive users.
We've got one of the biggestoffline to online merchants
platform which targets micro,small and medium size merchants.
(02:36):
We've got 2 million activemerchants so far on that.
And, of course, we've got oneof the biggest digital platforms
for large corporations.
So it's a supply chain kind ofplatform.
So we were very much involvedin that, in the digital
transformation process.
And then over the years wetransformed.
We became a CBC, we had ourbalance sheet fund and started
(02:57):
last year we launched our ownfund to become more of an
independent VC essentially.
So we fundraised throughthird-party money LPs.
Scarlett Sieber (03:06):
So in your role as chief investment officer,
that's quite a lofty title.
What does that mean?
What does that mean for MCI?
What is your remit?
What do you cover?
Dennis Pratistha (03:16):
So CVCs, vcs they tend to be quite small,
right, quite intimate, you say.
So basically I'm in charge ofrunning the entire business, of
whatever happens in moneycapital amnesia.
Of course you've got thebusiness function if you've got
the support function right.
So I handle business within thebusiness.
What I oversee, of course we'vegot the venture funds.
(03:36):
We've got three funds up andrunning within the venture funds
besides our balance sheet.
So balance sheet will be thefourth one.
And of course we've got thevalue creation initiative.
I'll share a bit about thatlater on.
Mci is a strategic investor.
We're not a financial investor.
So of course our strategicinitiative, our value creation
initiative, is our strategicinitiative essentially.
(03:59):
And on top of that we've gotthe balance sheet fund right.
Investment happens there.
So I oversee venture fund,value creation and the balance
sheet.
Scarlett Sieber (04:09):
Amazing Cheryl.
Sheryl Chen (04:11):
So, Dennis, as you mentioned, MCI was established
in 2015.
And since then you have 23portfolio companies.
So this size of podcast tellsme that you guys obviously make
very concentrated and highconviction investments.
So could you tell us a littlebit more about your deal
sourcing and due diligenceprocess?
Dennis Pratistha (04:33):
Very good question.
So, yes, since 2015-16,actually we've invested in 26
companies, but we've divestedquite a bit, and very good
divestment.
So our early stage fund is upto 1.4 in our DPI, which is
quite significant, right.
So when our strategy, ourstrategy look, as I mentioned to
(04:56):
you, we have a value creationinitiative.
So our value creationinitiative revolves around three
pillars.
So you've got the businessmatchmaking revolves around
three pillars.
So you've got the businessmatchmaking, which essentially
introduce startups, techcompanies, to big corporations,
right With the output,identifying business
opportunities, mous, right.
Of course, that doesn'tgenerate revenues.
(05:17):
And then we have the secondpillar, which is business
acceleration.
With business acceleration, ittakes what is defined in the
first pillar, which is thebusiness matchmaking.
So, with business acceleration,it takes what is defined in the
first pillar, which is thebusiness matchmaking.
So the business opportunities.
Then we help our foundersnavigate the big corporations
and to ensure they're able toacquire the business contracts.
Business contracts help themwith technology integration,
(05:40):
with the output, of course,generating revenue.
And then the third one, ofcourse, is networking.
So, to answer your question, weuse that the actual program
initiative, as a pipeline forour deal sourcing, essentially.
So that's one aspect we use forour deal sourcing.
We use pipeline from our valuecreation initiative.
We've got a lot of contacts.
(06:01):
We've got a lot of contacts.
Of course, they refer us a lotof deals.
So other VCs, cvcs, iabs andour partners.
So that's why we're here.
We aim to always, you know,grow our partners, grow our
network to be able to havebetter deal sourcing essentially
.
So that's essentially our dealsourcing strategy.
Scarlett Sieber (06:21):
Let me chime in here, because I think the key
things is always about thedifferentiation strategy.
You talked about partners andthe matchmaking.
I'm a recovering ex-banker.
I'm embarrassed to admit it,but maybe not embarrassed at all
because there's so muchopportunities there, of course,
(06:45):
at Mandiri, but at your otherpartners as well, who have been
some of the like.
What are the parts of the orgthat have been most open to
working with startups?
Is it the innovation team?
Is it the line of businesses?
Is it the product team?
Where have you seen the mostsuccess in Indonesia and more
broadly across Asia, for yourstartups to start getting
traction with these big corps?
Dennis Pratistha (07:00):
Okay, that's a very good question.
So what you're asking is howwe're able to help our founders
of the management team get intobig corporations, right?
So, of course, see, that's thething with indonesia.
Everything is a relationshipgame essentially.
I mean, it's pretty much thesame here in thailand and pretty
much around asia.
So it's a relationship game.
So the thing is, it doesn'treally matter if most
(07:23):
corporations, yes, they have aninnovation team, they have
whatever it is, digitaltransformation team, et cetera,
et cetera.
But it doesn't really matterwhere you start, right, because
at the end of the day, you haveto deepen your network, right
With us.
We start anywhere and then wedeepen our network.
We have to end up.
The most important is to end upengaging with the users, right?
(07:44):
So, for instance, if we'rehelping Carbon Accounting SAS,
we helped them recently.
So you know, the ideal userswould be the ESG team within
each corporation.
So, of course, we can startwith the digital transformation
team or the innovation team, butat the end of the day, you have
(08:04):
to get into the ESG team.
So that's what we do.
I mean, we have to navigate.
We help our founders managementteam navigate large
corporations.
So you have to get to knoweverybody, essentially the users
.
They're the most important.
Sheryl Chen (08:20):
So I just want to chime in here.
So, dennis, when I was doing abit of research on you, I saw
that your LinkedIn you statedthat you're a builder of
scalable businesses that areinvestor-friendly.
So every other VC in the region.
They claim to befounder-friendly, but this was
my first time seeing someoneactively brand themselves as
(08:42):
investor-friendly.
So what does that mean?
I heard also just now I pickedup this little juicy little
nugget saying that your DPI is1.4, which is well above
industry benchmarks.
So what does that mean for you?
Is it like generating fundreturners, creating beautiful
metrics for follow-on funds?
What does that mean?
Dennis Pratistha (08:58):
Okay, so, first and foremost, I started my
career as an entrepreneur, so,naturally, I know what it's like
to be an entrepreneur.
You've got to treat them aspartners, right?
I started my career as anentrepreneur, blessed enough,
lucky enough to be able to doseveral exits, so I started in
06.
I ended in 15 and startedgetting into private equity,
(09:23):
private equity, and now I'm herein vc.
Right?
So you know, for us, becauseI'm an ex-entrepreneur, I I want
to make sure that we'repartners, we're not just
investors.
If we invest, we're investors.
We put in our money and sit onour hands.
Right for us, we need to beengaging, we need to be able to
assist them through theirbusiness.
So that's why you know, ofcourse, why I claim not really
(09:49):
self-proclaimed but based onexperience a builder, because I,
I've built several businessesand of course, I'm I know how,
what it's like to fundraise.
So I have to be investorfriendly, you know, with them
and like, so I try to be in aposition where you know, uh,
where entrepreneurs arecomfortable with us.
So that's one aspect, right,you know.
And, of course, why we want todo that?
(10:11):
Because we, as you rightlymentioned, you know what is our
goal, what is our aim as venturefunds, as investors?
Primary goal there's only oneprimary goal generate returns.
Right, to be able to generatereturns there are two factors.
Factor number one is you growthe foundations of the business,
the fundamentals of thebusiness.
(10:32):
And of course, number two aremarket multiples.
But you can't control marketmultiples, you know.
You see, for the past two years, winter, you know market
multiples has depressed and ofcourse you'll be crazy if you
want to focus on the things youcan't control.
So for us, we believe infocusing the things that we can
(10:52):
control, which is helping growthe fundamentals of the business
.
That's why we, our approach isto bring businesses to these
guys.
You know we invest in fromearly stage to sort of later
growth.
If I may share a bit, just togive context.
So we have funds for earlystage, we have funds for early
growth, we have funds for midgrowth and then later growth.
(11:14):
So we have a lot of pockets,right?
So, having said that, I meanyou know we have to be able to
generate returns for these guys.
It's injecting businesses Forearly-stage companies.
These companies are maybe onlydoing annually a buck, right?
So bringing businesses two,three, four, five bucks.
For us, since we're backed byhuge ecosystems right, we're
(11:38):
backed by the money ecosystem,the state-owned enterprise
ecosystem We've got a lot offunds.
It's not something that'sdifficult for us to do.
So imagine you know a companythat's doing annually a buck in
business and then we bring themanother two, three, four, five
bucks.
That's already a huge impact tothe business and that's helping
them grow the fundamentals ofthe business.
And to the other extent, to theextreme, we invest in later
(12:01):
growth, not later stage, butlater growth.
Later growth means what?
In Indonesia it's around 20bucks worth of business annually
and again bringing over fivebucks, 10 bucks worth of
business is already increasingtheir business size quite
significantly.
So that's why we focus on thataspect.
We focus on bringing businessbecause essentially, we're
(12:23):
building their business.
We're helping them build theirbusiness, grow their business,
which generates returns.
Scarlett Sieber (12:29):
So that's really fascinating, and you
talked about going from all lifecycles For early stage.
What is the typical check sizethat you start with?
Dennis Pratistha (12:39):
So early stage we do so our early stage fund.
We have a pre-C, c, pre-A, a.
Usually for a first investmentwe stop at A, but we can do
follow-on up to B.
In our first fund that typicalcheck size is between $500 to
$1.50, right.
And then we've got our earlygrowth and mid-growth.
(13:00):
Typical size is around $1.50,one and a half bucks up to six
bucks.
And then we've got our latergrowth where a typical check
size would be between 20 to 25bucks, right.
So essentially I mean we coverthe entire spectrum.
Scarlett Sieber (13:17):
Very helpful.
So I did not know what we weredoing the research, but I didn't
know that you were.
You said ex-entrepreneur.
I would also use the wordrecovering entrepreneur, because
I did that too.
We have a lot of startups here.
I think it's so helpful thatyou have been on the journey and
felt that.
So two part question.
The first is you've seen this alot.
(13:37):
You've invested in a lot ofcompanies.
Are there patterns of behaviorsor characteristics about
successful founders?
And then the second question iswhen is the right time to
approach MCI?
So for the founders who aregoing to be listening to this
now, the next few days, next fewweeks, next few months, when
should they reach out to MCI andhow do they do that?
Dennis Pratistha (13:59):
Okay, I'll answer the second part first.
So when, when should theyapproach us?
Look, even when they come inearly, we rather they've already
done an actual product marketfit, right.
So that's the earliest.
When you've got a productmarket fit, when you know that,
you know you can generaterevenues from this, then that's
where, ideally, they should comeand approach us.
(14:21):
So so that's the earliest.
And then, of course, followingthat, anytime, if you're a
digital revenue, even better.
You've got a great product.
You can scale even better.
If you want to find businesses,if you want someone to handhold
you and help you grow yourbusiness, then come to us,
because that's what we do,that's what we do best,
essentially.
(14:42):
So that's the second part ofyour question.
And, of course, charactertraits.
There are a lot of charactertraits for entrepreneurs, right,
of course, when we look atbusinesses, we follow the BMP
kind of approach, right?
Bmp, meaning we look at thebusiness, we look at the
management, founders, right.
And of course, we're aninvestor.
We look.
We look at price definitely wewon't invest when it's too high.
(15:04):
But going back to the foundersitself, look, so many character
traits.
But we have to have a look attheir experience, right.
How competent are they in thatparticular business.
Look, if you know they're aseasoned player in agriculture
and then suddenly they want toinvest in Gen AI or start doing
(15:26):
Gen AI, definitely they might bea very experienced and
competent entrepreneur, butthey're not experienced at all
in Gen AI.
So we'd rather invest in people, in founders, that are
competent within what they dowithin the business.
That's one.
Of course, we have to have alook at the integrity.
You know, basically the trackrecord, essentially right.
(15:48):
What have they done?
Have have they been businessbefore?
We prefer someone has greatworking experience strategically
or has a business before right,so and so and besides that, the
standard trait.
If you look at the integrity,of course we ask we do a lot of
background checks, right, andperseverance.
(16:10):
You know how determined arethey and then you can do this by
having a lot of lunches,dinners, coffees, drinks with
them.
So basically, that's the coreof what we look at when it comes
to people.
Sheryl Chen (16:25):
The best time to so ?
Scarlett, you also mentionedwhen is the best time for.
Dennis Pratistha (16:31):
I answered that first, Actually.
Sheryl Chen (16:35):
Dennis, I wanted to ask you a bit more about
because there is this it is veryhard to do business in
indonesia if you're not alreadyattuned in the local ecosystem
because, as you mentioned,everything is so relationship
driven right and because youhave a huge backing of mandiri
(16:55):
and then also a couple of otherconglomerates.
Could you maybe share moreabout how you enable startups
within your network to get themplugged in, to set them up for
success?
Dennis Pratistha (17:06):
Sure, I mean, that's actually what we do.
So our value prop is helpingfounders, management, navigate
corporations, big corporationsand et cetera.
So, as I mentioned to you,right, you know, we are the
biggest bank by assets inIndonesia.
We are the fourth largeststate-owned enterprise company
(17:28):
in Indonesia, so we're backed upby state-owned.
State-owned is still very bigin Indonesia, right?
So we're backed up bystate-owned.
We're backed up by the Mandiri.
So meaning we have hugeecosystems and on top of this,
of course, we collaborate withother private corporations as
well, so we have huge networkhow we help them out, basically
relationship.
We introduce them to who theyneed to know.
(17:50):
So it's different with eachbusiness, right?
Some wants to get to knowpeople within the telco
companies in Indonesia, so wehelp navigate them.
If they're focused on billing,for instance, of course we
introduce them not only to theprocurement team but also to the
(18:12):
finance department, et cetera.
So it's pretty much customized,it's pretty much tailored how
we can introduce them and bringthem to the right people.
But on top of that, as Imentioned, we also have the
formal framework, which is thevalue creation initiative that I
mentioned.
That revolves around threepillars.
So it's called our xyz event.
(18:33):
So the x is for the businessmatchmaking, the y is for
networking and the z as thebusiness acceleration.
Scarlett Sieber (18:41):
So, on the business acceleration, when we
were talking offline, it wasactually a formal program that
you have.
Yes, that goes through fourmonths.
Can you just talk a little bitmore about what that is?
Dennis Pratistha (18:53):
So, as I mentioned right so business
acceleration moves after thebusiness matchmaking.
Business matchmaking identifiesbusiness opportunities and
ensures that the guys that areinvolved in the program, they
get MOUs right.
So, moving from there from thebusiness opportunities and MOUs,
(19:16):
the participants, theapplicants, the guys that are
joining the event we then bringthem over to the respective
businesses and help themnavigate those companies to
ensure that they get businessagreements.
That's one aspect.
That's the program for us.
So it's a six-week program andof course, they also get a lot
(19:39):
of coaching and whatnot.
The coaching revolves aroundhow to get business contracts,
how to ensure there's a productmarket fit and you can really
scale your whether it's product,services and business
essentially not only in thatparticular company that they're
targeting, but across the board,essentially.
(20:01):
So it's a six-week programcoaching and helping them
navigate respective businessesto ensure that when they
graduate from the program theyget business contracts.
They have business contracts.
Scarlett Sieber (20:15):
I think we should move into sustainability,
because one of the things thatwe've seen at our other shows
obviously when we were talkingoffline, dennis, in the other
key geographies sustainabilityis a really especially in our
Europe show, a really hot topicand people care a lot about it.
So, cheryl, do you want to talka little bit more about that?
Sheryl Chen (20:33):
So, dennis, I saw that in November 2023 last year,
you successfully launched yourMandiri Investable Global
Climate Tech Fund and withinthat, your key areas of
strategic geographic regions fordeployment are Southeast Asia
and Oceania, and within that,30% of your investments will be
(20:56):
made in Indonesia.
So could you tell us more aboutthe impact you are going to
achieve with that fund?
Dennis Pratistha (21:02):
Okay, so to give you a bit of a background,
so, as I mentioned, we wereestablished in 2015-16.
During that period, that waswhen Indonesia was forming its
digital tech ecosystem and wewere part of that.
We were part of the journey ingrowing the digital tech
ecosystem in Indonesia.
So what we decided to do?
(21:24):
Hey, look, you know, climateClimate is an issue.
It's been an issue for a fewdecades, but in Indonesia it's
only been a recent focus.
And we thought, hey, we wereexperienced, we have the
framework to help grow thedigital tech ecosystem.
Then why not help governmentsacross Southeast Asia grow their
(21:46):
climate tech ecosystem, right?
So we decided, hey, let'sreplicate the same approach and
customize it slightly tojumpstart the climate tech
ecosystem.
And we decided look, you know,as I mentioned, indonesia is
still quite nascent when itcomes to the climate tech
ecosystem.
And we decided, look, you know,as I mentioned, in Indonesia
it's still quite nascent when itcomes to the climate tech
ecosystem, but when we look atour neighbor, australia, they're
(22:09):
more advanced.
They've been doing this for thepast two decades.
So, you know, they've got overtwo decades experience.
Why not tap into theirknowledge, their technology,
their experience, invest incompanies there, look at
technologies there and thenbring them over not only to
Indonesia but Southeast Asia,with the aim of jump-starting
(22:29):
and building the climate techecosystem.
So, of course, once this formsup again, it's like the digital
side People will start jumpinginto the opportunities and this
will spearhead, fast, expeditethe growth of climate tech
initiatives in our respectivecountries across Southeast Asia.
So, as you mentioned, yes, theidea is to invest in Australia
(22:53):
and all countries withinSoutheast Asia and, of course,
bring knowledge, technology andexperience to the respective
countries and share it across.
So the goal, when you ask whatis the actual goal, the actual
goal is actually just tojumpstart the climate tech
ecosystem.
Scarlett Sieber (23:09):
So it'll become I think one of the things
that's so nice about what youtalked about there and it's now
been a theme.
We're on day three of the showand we've had some of the
regulators all over Asia,southeast Asia, we've had all
the FinTech Association, cheryl,and one of the things that
we're really seeing is aboutthat cross-geographic
(23:30):
collaboration, basically, andhow do we do things better
together, learn what Indonesiadoes really well, learn what
Australia does really well,china, and how do we do things
better together learn whatIndonesia does really well,
learn what Australia does reallywell, china, everyone else and
so I think that's an awesomeexample.
So, as we just get wrapping uphere, last question, dennis you
have the world of money, ofcourse, with the focus on APAC
here and Money 2020 Asia.
(23:51):
What else would you like themto know about MCI?
What else would you?
Dennis Pratistha (23:55):
like them to know about MCI.
Simple With us, we focus oncollaboration, forming
collaboration.
We are all about establishingpartnership so we can
collaborate together.
Look, you know, it's not aboutconquering the world anymore.
It's about having sharedexperiences, partnering up to
(24:16):
make the world a better place.
So that's what we're all about.
We want people to know thatwe're open to establish
partnerships and I'm veryconfident we can partner up with
anybody and everybody acrossthis spectrum, across industries
.
Again, our DNA, you know, atthe heart of commerce, it's all
(24:40):
about payments and lending.
We're part of a bank.
That's our DNA.
So we can contribute.
We can partner up witheverybody that wants to.
You know, make the world abetter place, that's what
climate is all about.
That's what you know.
Un with, that's what climate isall about.
That's what UN, with their SDGprogram, is all about.
(25:01):
So that's the message that I'dlike to push across.
Scarlett Sieber (25:07):
It's a beautiful message.
Sheryl Chen (25:08):
It is Okay.
So actually, dennis, I wantedto zero in on the particular
case studies and the startupsthat you've been seeing,
especially in Indonesia, becausethe last time I went, it was
extremely polluted the airquality in Jakarta.
I think we all know how the airquality is like.
So what cases of climate techhave you been seeing recently?
Dennis Pratistha (25:31):
Okay, maybe to give you a brief background.
Okay, maybe to give you a briefbackground, our fund focuses on
the six UNEP defined industries.
Right, you've got yourindustries, you've got your
(25:53):
energy, you've got yourtransport, you've got your agri,
you've got your forest and landuse, you've got your cities
right.
So, but to answer your question, in indonesia lately I've been
excited and had a lot ofopportunities to look at
circular economy, right, thecircular economy sector.
You know, I've been visiting alot of waste dumps, and I mean a
lot of waste dumps.
So a lot of these guys, ofcourse, they sort through the
(26:16):
waste and they basicallycategorize the different types
of plastics.
For instance, you've got six,seven levels, seven different
plastics.
You sort that out and thenyou've got different types of
waste, which is paper and etcetera, and even wood waste.
So I've been following severalcompanies that have been doing a
(26:41):
lot of plastic recycling, forinstance, and what they do is
they upcycle, they produceeco-planks.
That's one that I saw which isvery exciting to me.
I also looked at anothercompany that just focuses on the
sorting and they sell whateverthey sort to different recycling
companies, which is to either,you know, if they they can, if
(27:04):
they manage to find a lot of uh,reused sorry, recycled water
bottles.
They sell it back to companiesthat produces recycled water
bottles.
So this is a sorting company.
I went to another company thatwas doing wood waste.
So from that wood waste theyprocess it and they produce wood
(27:25):
pallets, which is acomplementary or replacement to
coal, essentially.
On top of that we've beenlooking at carbon accounting
companies and how they interactwith the carbon projects so they
become the marketplace forcarbon projects to buy carbon
credits, essentially.
And also we've looked at a lotof agriculture technologies,
(27:49):
aquaculture technologiesParticularly.
That I like to mention is thatyou know, we looked at a
particular one that is trying toincrease threefold the
productivity of shrimp farmingVery interesting.
I mean it's a combination ofnot only just technology but
(28:09):
it's biotech as well.
They've got the supplements,they've got the different feeds,
et cetera, et cetera.
So I mean there's a lot ofopportunities.
That's just Indonesia, that'sjust scratching the surface of
Indonesia.
I'm pretty sure there's a lotmore opportunities in Indonesia.
But if you look at companieslike in Australia that we
(28:30):
believe would be suitable forIndonesia, even Thailand battery
processing companies you knowright now everyone Thailand
battery processing companies.
You know right now everyone'sshifting over to EV, so we have
to think about on how to be ableto process recycled batteries
right.
So I looked at severalcompanies actually in Australia
(28:53):
that does different aspects ofbattery recycling.
One is to ensure that the wasteis handled appropriately so
it's not to contaminate.
Another is to extract thesebatteries and reuse what can be
reused and these kind of thingsessentially, and even
(29:13):
battery-coated materials, techand et cetera.
So I mean there's a lot ofopportunities that I've looked
at and it's very exciting.
It's something very new butvery exciting.
Sheryl Chen (29:23):
So I think also something else that is the
beauty of having a regional fundright is that you extract all
these lessons from all thedifferent countries in the
region, which are very unique,but also there's a lot of
cross-pollination of lessons andideas, and you've previously
also mentioned that Indonesiathey are starting to get
(29:48):
acquainted with the idea ofclimate tech, and then countries
like Australia, for example,they have already been very,
they are already very familiar.
So what are some lessons thatyou think that Indonesia can
learn from someone likeAustralia?
Dennis Pratistha (30:01):
It's.
Different countries have theirdifferent needs, specifically
for climate tech, right, but ofcourse, there are a lot of
overlaps, a lot of overlaps thatcan be shared.
For instance, waste processing,waste management.
Everyone, all countries, needsit and definitely we can look at
what what australia has beendoing and how they process their
(30:23):
waste and etc.
So, to ensure you know, wasteis a significant issue.
It's a big issue everywherearound the world.
So we want to learn how we canprocess waste better to ensure
that we're not filling uplandfills and polluting the
earth.
That's one aspect that we canlearn.
So, essentially, you look atthe overlaps and you try to look
(30:43):
at the best practices in eachof the countries that we cover.
Sheryl Chen (30:49):
Actually this is the second time you mentioned
circular economy.
I recently read an article onthe circular economy and
actually in particular it wasfor the luxury market and we
were talking about reselling andthen also reducing waste.
So it just made me realize andalso actively as a consumer, to
try and purchase less so that wecan do better for our
(31:15):
environment and also make activechoices not to purchase fast
fashion items, for example, sothings that will eventually go
out of style very quickly, theydon't end up in the landfills.
So I think it's very admirable,like this entire circular
ecosystem thing.
Dennis Pratistha (31:32):
Exactly exactly.
So what I like to convey alwaysto to my mates right, you know,
reduce what you use.
Right you, you ensure that youknow you recycle what you use,
you choose what you buy and besustainable.
Essentially right, because ifyou reduce the what you buy, the
(31:55):
unnecessary things that youdon't need, then of course
you'll be, as you mentioned,fast fashion.
They go out of fashion veryquickly, so buy classic ones and
you know you can reuse over andover again.
You end up becoming moresustainable, more responsible
yes, sustainability is alifestyle exactly, exactly and I
(32:16):
think with that we can wrapthis episode up.
Sheryl Chen (32:20):
So that is it for this episode of the Money Pot.
We want to thank Dennis forgracing our show today.
You can be part of the MoneyPot at the Money 2020 Show.
Please send us pitches topodcast at money2020.com and
don't forget to follow uswherever you listen to podcasts.
Thank you for listening.
We love our FinTech nerds.
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