East Ventures, the Singapore-based venture capital firm that has supported over 250 tech companies across Southeast Asia, has on Wednesday launched the fourth initiative of Indonesia PASTI BISA, namely Maju Terus Pantang Mundur (Keep Moving Forward, Never Give Up) or IDPB MTPM, to revive and support the digital ecosystem in Indonesia.

East Ventures said in a statement, the initiative is a collaborative project led by the firm in response to the current rampant employee layoffs, especially in the tech ecosystem.

According to the statement, IDPB MTPM is the continuation of IDPB, a collaborative movement spearheaded by East Ventures since 2020 to support communities during the crisis in Indonesia.

Indonesia PASTI BISA Maju Terus Pantang Mundur provides an opportunity for aspiring entrepreneurs to develop their business ideas and take their first step in creating a startup.

Through the designed program, the impacted talents can realize their business ideas, receive direct coaching from experts in the digital ecosystem across multiple areas, connect with investors, and receive a total funding of $500,000 in the form of uncapped convertible notes for 30 teams, with supports from prominent partners, such as IDN Media, Tech in Asia, Katadata.

Under the program, East Ventures will announce up to 120 shortlisted teams.

The shortlisted team will start ten days of coaching and one day of the hackathon with East Ventures and experts, such as Albert Lucius (Founder and Chief Executive Officer of TipTip), Sigit Kouwagam (Co-Founder of Bibit & Stockbit), Rachmat Kaimuddin (Deputy for Infrastructure and Transportation Coordination Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment), Andree Susanto (Chief Executive Officer of Waresix), Stefanus Ade (Chief Investment Officer of Indonesia Investment Authority [INA]), Farid Naufal Aslam (Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Aruna), Izak Jenie (Technical Advisor for Digitalization for Indonesia’s Health Ministry), Henry Hendrawan (Co-Founder of Pintarnya), Willis Wee (Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Tech in Asia), Winston Utomo (Founder and Chief Executive Officer of IDN Media), Wesley Harjono (Managing Director of Plug and Play Indonesia), East Ventures’ investment team, and many more, to hone and sharpen their business ideas.

As a pioneering and leading sector-agnostic venture capital firm, East Ventures has established a robust digital ecosystem in Indonesia and Southeast Asia.

Since its inception, creating intentional impacts has been part of East Ventures’ DNA, which is not only merely created through investments but also through the creation of immediate initiatives in the critical time.

Like other crises it has gone through, this recent crisis will bring opportunities as the country’s digital economy still has much more to offer.

“Thousands of talents within the tech ecosystem were laid off. We believe that the impacted talents have great potential, yet they are just at an unfortunate time and condition,” said Willson Cuaca, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at East Ventures.

“To keep them unleashing their potential, East Ventures wants to create a platform to support those individuals impacted through Indonesia PASTI BISA Maju Terus Pantang Mundur,

“We believe in the importance of collaboration among all players in the ecosystem to go through the hard times, as we always do,” he added.

East Ventures Partner Avina Sugiarto said Indonesia PASTI BISA Maju Terus Pantang Mundur serves as a platform to connect bright talents and aspiring entrepreneurs in receiving the right guidance so that they can realize their entrepreneurial dream.

“We encourage all impacted talents to apply to this coaching and hackathon program. We are looking forward to partnering with any organizations to support this initiative,

“We hope to see many great talents and potential ideas to solve pain points in Indonesia. We are looking forward to moving together in reviving and developing the digital ecosystem and taking steps toward achieving an inclusive and sustainable future,” he added.

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