Japan’s largest bank launches a $100 million fund for Indonesian startups

MUFG, Japan's largest bank by market cap, has launched a new $100 million fund that will focus on Indonesian startups.

The fund, which is the third one managed by MUFG's fund management company, MUIP, will be a collaboration between MUFG subsidiaries MUFG Innovation Partners, MUFG Bank and Indonesian commercial bank Danamon. It will be called MUFG Innovation Partners Garuda No. 1 Limited Investment Partnership.

This new fund will make strategic investments in startups that have the potential to work with Danamon, a commercial bank that was acquired by MUFG and MUFG Bank in 2019. Danamon's objectives are to improve product competitiveness, promote digitalization and to partner with portfolio companies to tap into their customer contacts.

MUFG's investment in this new fund follows a successful track record of investments by MUIP, which has invested over 40 billion yen (approximately $307.5 million USD) in startups around the world since its inception in 2019.

In line with MUFG's strategy to increase its presence in Southeast Asia, the launch of this new fund comes just a month after MUFG invested $200 million in Akulaku, a Jakarta-based fintech.

This strategic investment was made with the goal of collaborating with Akulaku on tech, product development, financing, and distribution. Earlier this year, MUFG also purchased the Philippines and Indonesian units of Home Credit BV for €596 million, further solidifying its commitment to Southeast Asia.