SGX-listed Sinar Mas Land has launched an investment arm to support technological innovation.
The investment arm, called Living Lab Ventures, will accelerate and fund potential startups in Indonesia. The launch of Living Lab Ventures underscores Sinar Mas’ focus to develop a digital ecosystem, particularly adding the digital aspect within the overall township development.
Living Lab Ventures adopts a sector-agnostic approach hereby opening itself to a wider investment reach. It will focus on three main technological aspects, which are: smart technologies, digital life and mobility.
One of its aspects, smart technologies, focuses on innovative technologies to support smart city living. It is closely related to the digital life aspect, which focuses on technology related to e-commerce and social networking that have an impact on social life. The final aspect, mobility, focuses on smart technology in the movement of people and goods within the city.
Living Lab Ventures will also come with Living Lab X, a laboratory that incubates and develops local startup companies. Living Lab X offers partnerships with other related companies, as well as providing pilot testing for initial implementation trials. In addition, Living Lab will support collaborations and provide mentoring for startup leaders in every process of their company’s development.
Living Lab Ventures will be led by Mulyawan Gani as managing partner and Bayu Seto as partner.
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According to Sinar Mas, both of them come with extensive experience in the executive ranks of several unicorn startups and business transformation into the digital realm.
“To create a holistic smart city, providing smart facilities to the community has become an absolute necessity. Hence, Sinar Mas Land is committed to develop Living Lab Ventures to finance digital startups relating to people’s digital lifestyle, hereby developing an agile and smart life in Sinar Mas Land’s ecosystem,” says Michael Widjaja, group CEO of Sinar Mas Land.
“Indonesia’s smart city exponential growth potentials are increasingly being noticed. To create a conducive digital lifestyle, we need to enable people with innovative and adaptive technologies that goes along with the dynamic needs of the community itself,” says managing partner Gani.
“Living Lab Ventures wants to support local startups to unlock their potential and become the game-changers by integrating their tech innovation and solutions into the people’s daily lives,” he adds.
“Our idea of establishing Living Lab Venture is not only to facilitate startups in terms of funding, but also through Living Lab X incubation process to guide these startups hand-in-hand with their technological innovation and solutions. In the long run, these successful implemented technologies will help the development of smart society, not restricting to BSD City but also Indonesia,” says Seto.
Shares in Sinar Mas closed 1 cent higher or 5% up at 21 cents on June 27.
