The real estate and infrastructure sectors are responsible for about 40% of global carbon emissions, and addressing the climate crisis requires reforming these industries. Today, we are talking to Annu Talreja, Founder and CEO of Accacia, an Asian startup that enables large property owners to monitor their carbon footprint in real time by integrating with ERPs and property management systems.  Accacia has already been implemented across more than 20 million square feet of real estate in Asia. Today, the company is expanding across Southeast Asia, the Middle East, the United States, and Ca ..read more

In this NewsCast episode, AC Ventures' Adrian Li and Leighton Cosseboom team up with Jianggan Li from Momentum Works to dissect TikTok's strategic acquisition of a controlling 75% stake in GoTo's Tokopedia for US$1.5 billion, a move sure to revolutionize Indonesia's e-commerce arena in 2024 and beyond. The group unpacks how the acquisition could catapult Tokopedia to e-commerce supremacy in the nation. They discuss the transformative impact on job creation and the potential boon for over 64 million Indonesian MSMEs. Tune in for a deep dive into the intensifying e-commerce rivalry, speculations ..read more

In this NewsCast episode, Adrian Li and Leighton Cosseboom dive into the Indonesia Venture Capital 2023 report, produced in partnership between AC Ventures and Bain & Company. The pair discuss an imminent upswing in sectors like electric vehicles, renewable energy, healthcare, and new retail, despite the global economic downturn. The episode particularly highlights Indonesia's potential in the electric vehicle market, emphasizing its significant global nickel production, crucial for lithium-ion batteries. The local government's ambitious carbon emissions goals and the evolving investment l ..read more

In this NewsCast episode, Adrian Li and Leighton Cosseboom from AC Ventures analyze the e-Conomy SEA 2023 report by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company. They dig into Southeast Asia's digital economic growth trajectory, on track to reach an impressive US$100 billion in revenue, outpacing established tech markets like the US despite global macroeconomic headwinds. Shifting to focus on Indonesia, the pair discuss its growth potential, the build-up of dry powder in the market, local investor insights, and the digital sector's push for profitability – delivering what may be a light at the end ..read more

On today's NewsCast, Adrian Li and Leighton Cosseboom from AC Ventures analyze J&T Express's scaled-back IPO. Amid a sluggish period for Hong Kong's IPO market—currently at a two-decade low—J&T adjusted its expected IPO from an initial US$1 billion to US$500 million due to market uncertainties and diminished investor appetite linked to China's recent performance. The episode also touches on how J&T's association with key e-commerce platforms like Shopee and Tokopedia, and tech giants such as Pinduoduo and TikTok, may influence its strategy regarding Indonesia's shifting online tran ..read more

Today, we kick off an interesting series on value creation for startups in emerging markets. AC Ventures Principal Leighton Cosseboom is joined by Natasha Nababan, founder of NABS & Partners in Jakarta. With over 20 years of legal experience at both private practice and multinational companies, today Natasha is a key advisor for AC Ventures' portfolio companies. But she is also the guiding legal hand for many other tech companies in Indonesia, namely in the multibillion-dollar and ever-evolving e-commerce and fintech sectors ..read more

Today marks the debut of AC Ventures' latest NewsCast series. Host Leighton Cosseboom is joined by ACV's Founder and Managing Partner Adrian Li to discuss the nuances of Indonesia's latest regulation pertaining to TikTok Shop. China's TikTok has 125 million monthly active users in Indonesia, its second-largest market in the world. In 2022, TikTok Shop Indonesia recorded a gross merchandise value of US$2.5 billion. But as per regulation No.31/2023, Indonesia's Ministry of Trade now says that social media platforms cannot facilitate sales, e-commerce sites cannot directly sell imported items und ..read more

Rounding out our latest series on fintech in Indonesia, host Leighton Cosseboom is joined again today by AC Ventures’ Founder and Managing Partner Adrian Li, as well as Ben Haryono, Co-founder and CEO of KoinWorks, a leading fintech company and one of Indonesia’s largest SME lenders. KoinWorks started out as a P2P lending platform and has since grown to become a full-fledged financial super app – complete with a suite of neo-banking services and complex financial instruments. In this episode, we dive into the early days of KoinWorks and map the influence it has had on Indonesian fintech over t ..read more

Continuing our series on fintech in Indonesia, host Leighton Cosseboom is joined by Adrian Li, Founder and Managing Partner of AC Ventures (ACV), as well as Adrianus Hitijahubessy, Co-founder and CEO of Julo, a fast-growing consumer lending fintech company in the archipelago. With a focus on productive and constructive financing, Julo operates in a landscape that's anticipated to reach US$254 billion by 2025. The group unpacks Julo’s unique approach to the complex emerging market and explores the broader implications for the region's financial ecosystem as a whole ..read more

Kicking off a fresh series on fintech in Indonesia, host Leighton Cosseboom of AC Ventures is joined today by Pandu Adi Laras, Co-founder and CEO of Broom. The startup is a digital used car showroom platform that makes it easier for auto dealers to run and develop their businesses nationwide. Broom is also making a name for itself as a fast-rising fintech player, as it provides working capital solutions to local dealers – many of whom are informal MSMEs and thereby underserved by formal financial institutions when it comes to lending. All of this is taking place against a backdrop where the In ..read more