Sep 6, 2016

antonia@dealstreetasia.com September 6, 2016: &nbsp Indonesian VC firm East Ventures has launched its first Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) initiative while travel company Panorama Sentrawisata has partnered Malaysia’s OM Solutions to develop an online travel agent (OTA) digital platform. EIR initiative from East Ventures East Ventures , one of Southeast Asia’s most active VC investor, has launched a programme designed for entrepreneurs who have complementary skills to the firm, yet are still finding their next big thing. “Often we meet with people whom we love to engage with, however, they are still figuring out what they want to do next or finding the vertical that is interesting to them,” said Wilson Cuaca, founder and managing partner of East Ventures. “Hence the EIR programme was created to utilize their skills within the firm and also to get them to understand East Ventures more,” he said. The first two EIRs are Steven Suliawan, former co-founder of Loyalbox, and Zing Yang, former associate director of investments at Temasek Holdings . Suliawan ran an app-based loyalty called Loyalbox, which had high growth, but had to discontinue it due to very high churn rate and lack of product-market fit. Spending four months as an EIR with East Ventures, Suliawan provides insights on their ground projects and in sourcing talent. East Ventures also welcomes Zing Yang, former entrepreneur and seasoned investor, to join as an EIR. She was formerly with Capital Group based out of the US, Singapore, and London, before co-founding a company to expand biotech operations in the Americas. Yang then joined Temasek Holdings and covered Southeast Asian markets where she also started becoming active in the early stage space. She also mentors startups across the region. Panorama partners OM Solutions Panorama Sentrawisata has partnered OM Solutions Sdn Bhd , an affiliate company of China’s Galasys , to develop an online travel agent (OTA) digital platform. The partnership is hoped to increase the number of Chinese tourists in Indonesia. Vice president brand and communications at Panorama, AB Sadewa said, the company has been aware of the huge potential of Chinese market since 2015. To capture this market, a number of action plans have been implemented. “The market is large and already shaped, now it’s just a matter of how we could capture this opportunity,” said Sadewa, in a statement. Panorama Sentrawisata, part of the country’s largest tour and travel firm Panorama Group, booked Rp 1.4 trillion ($10.4 million) in sales during the January-April period this year, up by 41.6 percent compared to the Rp 1 trillion collected in the same period last year. The company expects to see its sales surge to Rp 5.18 trillion in 2016, from last year’s Rp 3.7 trillion. Also Read: