BioniQa Secures Game-Changing Pre-Seed Funding from Bali Investment Club

In a monumental stride toward decarbonizing the world, BioniQa, the bio-technology company headquartered in Jakarta, has successfully secured transformational pre-seed funding from Bali Investment Club (BIC). Recognized as a leading angel network, BIC specializes in backing ground-breaking, impact-driven Indonesian ventures.

BioniQa’s trailblazing technology—sophisticated bio-machines known as photobioreactors—convert carbon footprints into both oxygen and carbon credits. Adopting an unprecedented localized approach, BioniQa is committed to fighting the alarming rise in air pollution specifically in Indonesian urban centers. A landmark installation at a Jakarta daycare is already operational, and aggressive plans are in place to install additional units in major schools across the city throughout this groundbreaking year.

Andre Hutagalung, Co-Founder and President of BioniQa, stated: “Our unique photobioreactors house algae in a controlled environment where they thrive on absorbing CO2 and releasing oxygen. This isn’t just a machine; it’s an ecosystem that cleans the air we breathe, making our cities more livable.

ALLOCATION OF NEW FUNDING

This pivotal investment from BIC is earmarked for:

Product R&D:

  • Pioneering the development of state-of-the-art algae farms and labs.
  • BioniQa IoT: Revolutionary enhancements to existing photobioreactor units.

Client Acquisition:

  • B2C: Penetrating the upscale residential sector including luxurious homes and vertical apartments
  • B2B: Strategically targeting private and business-owned structures such as corporate offices and retail spaces
  • B2G: Establishing landmark partnerships with government-owned facilities and high-traffic public spaces

Nicolo’ Castiglione, the esteemed managing partner at Bali Investment Club, concurred, “Our confidence in BioniQa’s mission is unwavering, and we are proud to be the pioneer investors in this paradigm-shifting initiative. The timing of investing in such a company could not have been better since this is an immediate and viable (if not the only one) response to the current air pollution crisis Jakarta is facing in the latest months, being classified as the most air-polluted city in the world. Bioniqa is is essentially combining nature with technology, in fact, the machine basically plays the role of an adult tree. To be precise one (current) machine equals 80 of trees in terms of O2 production and 20 trees for CO2 reduction. In crowded cities such as JKT, we cannot plant trees everywhere and it takes years before they grow and become effective. BioniQa is set to solve a major issue.

Impact of One BioniQa Photobioreactor:

  • Dramatically improves outdoor air quality by 60-80% within an expansive 150m² area in a mere 24 hours
  • Offsets an 165 to 240 kg of carbon emissions annually
  • Generates 6,800 liters of life-giving oxygen each year

About Bali Investment Club

BIC stands as a beacon in angel investing with a resolute mission to elevate profitable, impact-driven Indonesian initiatives. Their diversified investment portfolio proudly includes trailblazers like Indosole, BukaPO, Rekosistem, Robries, and Magalarva, in addition to their newest cornerstone investment in BioniQa.

 

Invest in the change you want to see

5 Essential Tips for Becoming a Successful Angel Investor

Angel investing has become a popular way for high-net-worth individuals to provide funding and mentorship to startups in exchange for equity. This type of investing can provide a high return on investment, as well as the opportunity to support and nurture promising startups. However, it also carries significant risks, including the potential for loss of capital and lack of liquidity. To become a successful angel investor, it is important to follow these 5 essential tips:

1. Understand the Basics of Angel Investing

Before diving into angel investing, it is crucial to understand the basic concepts and mechanics. Angel investors typically invest their own funds in startups that are in the early stages of development. In exchange for their investment, they receive equity in the company. Understanding the role of angel investors in the startup ecosystem and the characteristics of successful angel investors is key to becoming a successful investor.

2. Develop an Investment Strategy

It is important to have a clear investment strategy that aligns with your goals, preferences, and risk tolerance. Define your investment criteria and evaluate opportunities based on these criteria. This will help you make informed investment decisions and manage your risk effectively. A diversified portfolio is also crucial to managing risk in angel investing.

3. Conduct Due Diligence

When evaluating potential investment opportunities, it is important to conduct thorough due diligence. This includes evaluating the team, the market, the business model, and the competition. You should also consider the startup’s growth potential, scalability, and the risks and challenges it faces. This will help you make informed investment decisions and avoid potential pitfalls.

4. Ask the Right Questions

Asking relevant and insightful questions is key to evaluating potential investments. You should ask questions such as the startup’s growth potential, the scalability of its business model, and the risks and challenges it faces. Asking the right questions will help you gain a deeper understanding of the startup and make informed investment decisions.

5. Put Your Skin in the Game

Investing your own money in the startups you back is important to align your interests with those of the founders. This also demonstrates your commitment to the success of the startup. In addition to financial investment, providing mentorship and guidance to the startups you invest in can be invaluable to their success.

Becoming a successful angel investor requires understanding the basic concepts of angel investing, developing a clear investment strategy, conducting thorough due diligence, asking the right questions, and putting your skin in the game. By following these 5 essential tips, you can increase your chances of success and help support and nurture promising startups. Remember to always manage your risk effectively and take an active role in supporting the startups you invest in.

Ready to become an angel investor? Become a member now.

5 MASTERMIND TIPS

Our Managing Partner, Tom Courly, was recently invited to join one of @Gil Petersil’s famous Mastermind Coaching sessions. Gil, a good friend of BIC, and special guest to some of Angels + Founders events, has been coaching and mentoring thousands of industry executives and entrepreneurs for more than a decade. He has refined the art of networking and shares his years of experience in a way that everyone can understand. The session itself brought together over 30 keen minds and it was a fantastic experience to see how Gil and his team are able to bring each person to the light, and facilitate the exchange of dreams, challenges, and insights. By the time we were done, each person left recharged and had new connections to explore. Mission success.

Here are 5 Mastermind Tips we learned from the session that will help attract opportunity to your work and personal goals:

1. AUDIT YOUR NETWORK

The biggest asset you have is your current network. You actually already know all the people that can help you on your journey. So take a moment to really understand who you already know and reach out to them. In today’s world, you are only one degree of separation from the new people that can help you move forward. Who do you need by your side and at which point in time? Speak up and do regular follow ups with people around you. You’ll be surprised with how fast you get results.

2. CARE FOR THOSE THAT CARE FOR YOU

It’s the simple law of the universe, care for others and others will care for you. Remember that giving is receiving. Look at how you can assist others in their journey and others will feel compelled to do the same for you. It’s a natural response and the most powerful feeling we experience as a community. Be curious about the people that have enabled you, check in on them often, see how you can add new value to their lives. Random acts of kindness go very far. Nurture the human connection.

3. COMPLIMENT YOUR AUDIENCE

People want to be rewarded for the attention they give you. Look at the most popular social media accounts, the influencers, the community creators. They engage with their fans, and regularly thank them for their support. Let your audience know you appreciate what they do for you, compliments are a great start, gifts and public recognition are even more powerful. It costs you nothing, and will cement your position as somebody that is in it for more than just personal gain. Be generous.

4. CLEARLY STATE YOUR GOALS

Nobody will know how they can help you if you don’t tell them what you need. Don’t wait for others to ask you, initiate the conversation. Same goes when you are pitching an idea or project. Tell the person in front of you what you need; money, ideas, support, sometimes all three. Make it easy for them to understand where they stand in your journey, that way they can straight get to work on supporting you. And if they can’t, they surely will be able to recommend someone who can.

5. FIND THE RIGHT MENTOR

This is the most important part of the journey. Build on the back of giants, and leverage the experience and insights of a person who has done it before. That way you can learn from their mistakes and move faster towards your goals. Avoid using your boss or family as these relationships are often linked emotionally. Pick someone who will bring a fresh perspective to your life and offer advice in a neutral way. You will need different mentors at different times of your life. Switch with gratitude.

At BIC, we wouldn’t have gotten very far if we didn’t recognise the need to connect with the people around us. This is why, no matter who you are, you are always welcome to reach out to our team and share your entrepreneurial journey with us. And if we can’t help you directly, we’ll do what we can to help you move towards your goals. Our successes are interlinked and today, more than ever, collaboration and compassion are the values we need to embrace to succeed. To all of those that have helped us so far, and to all of you we are still to meet, thank you for being part of this story.

Matur Suksma

Want to find out more about Gil Petersil’s Mastermind Sessions

Great Hedge of Investment With BIC

The Crypto and Stock Markets are currently experiencing extreme conditions. The fall in market prices or bear market is due to global economic uncertainty. For example, the Covid-19 Pandemic to the Russian Attack on Ukraine have become the main factors that have contributed greatly to the increase in food and oil prices around the world.

The aftermath of uncertainty due to this war also caused the crypto asset Terra (LUNA) to plummet. Many investors who invest their assets in Terra withdraw their money when the price of the currency begins to fall. As a result, the price of Terra dropped even more and ended up being frozen in trading on the blockchain.

The latest case of the Celsius (CEL) crypto which is also starting to be abandoned by its investors. The price of the CEL cryptocurrency plunged by more than 70%. In fact, this made Celsius stop all their cryptocurrency withdrawal services.

The central bank of the United States, The Federal Reserve (The Fed), has even raised interest rates three times during the first half of 2022 and is expected to continue to increase. This interest increase is the largest in 30 years to cool the economy and control inflation.

Interestingly, Indonesia is the country with the largest economy in Southeast Asia, a diverse archaeological nation with more than 300 ethnic groups and has achieved remarkable economic growth since it emerged from the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s. With its economy impacted by the pandemic, Indonesia went from upper-middle income to lower-middle income status as of July 2021. The Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2022 says Indonesia’s consumer spending and manufacturing activity have been consistently rising due to the pickup in incomes, jobs, and confidence. The decision to harness digitalization brings both positive and negative influence even to the economic sector, especially in the investment field, that are benefiting from expanding demand, business climate, and unfolding varieties of investing.

As countries around the world come to terms with ongoing economic recovery from the pandemic. Throughout the year, Indonesia currency posted a significant weakening of 271 points or a correction of 1.86% against the US Dollar and became the biggest weekly correction since June 2020 and the continuity downfall of Composite Stock Price Index (ind. Indeks Harga Saham Gabungan/IHSG) to 1.6% (CNBC, 2022). Inflation, which averaged 1.6% last year, has begun to rise to 4.3% in June 2022, primarily caused by the soaring of energy prices in last May. Inflation should ease to 3.0% in the third quarter of 2022 as commodity prices increase abate. Higher prices for Indonesia’s commodity exports, however, should offset lower export volumes, keep a balanced current account and produce some revenue gains.

The Ministry of Investment/Investment Coordinating Agency (BKPM) publishes data on the realization of investment realization in the first Quarter (January – March period) for 2022, which is IDR 282.4 trillion, 28.5% higher than the same period in 2021. The achievements of the first quarter of 2022 also increased by 16.9% compared to the fourth quarter of 2021. As a reflection of economic equality in Indonesia, investment growth outside Java is currently quite stable and continues to increase significantly. In the first quarter of 2022, investment realization outside Java was IDR 148.7 trillion, an increase of 16.6% from the fourth quarter of 2021, which was IDR 127.5 trillion (BPKM, 2022).

While the widening socio-economic gaps and means to fight the inflation during the health pandemic continue to grow, it’s time to consider how we have the potential to benefit and support one another through the right kinds of investment. Impact investors connect the pursuit of risk-adjusted returns with the delivery of positive real-world outcomes through impact investing. With more investors recognized to generate a positive social and environmental impact alongside attractive and stable long-term financial returns, impact investing has been proved to be an effective hedge against volatility and downside risk (Hossain, 2021).

Nonetheless, constructing the index for the investment proved to be challenging. With the portfolio of investment in general going through 30% growth per month, Bali Investment Club (BIC) can help those who look for greater stability and is delighted to see more private capital flow toward solving pressing social needs in Indonesia such as poverty and waste management. By investing in one of many wonderful pipeline projects namely “BukaPO” and “Rekosistem”, it will also give investors rights to future deals along with many other perks. There’s no course of action to control the flow of stocks or crypto along BIC great ecosystem, your investment will also be used to support and mentors the entrepreneurs as it helps the company grows and profit even more, building a positive prominent portfolio and creating the win-win situations to reach more than meets the eye.

Join Bali Investment Club and become a member today.

BukaPO Second Round Funded

The past couple of years have been make-or-break for many industries, who have been forced to take unusual risks in order to stay afloat. The advent of user-friendly apps, tech-enabled driver networks, coupled with a global lockdown, has promoted innovation in food production and distribution. Many who refused to change have seen their business collapse. However, others also received major investments, turning “Mom & Pop” shops into national superstars in record time.

In September 2020, Bali Investment Club approved US$ 200,000 staged funding for BukaPO. A trailblazer in the Indonesian food industry, BukaPO is an online community-driven marketplace, where users can pre-order their favorite homemade meals from over 1,000 merchants across Bali. To date, the start-up has sold more than 500,000 products and brought a similar dollar amount into the hands of micro-entrepreneurs, delivering true impact value to those who need it most. BukaPO was born and operates in Bali since its launch in December 2020 and currently covers food delivery around Denpasar, Badung, and Ubud.

The team has been helping communities on a grassroots level to hop into the digital era by onboarding traditional “street and home cooks” onto its platform. This includes product promotions, free basic branding, product photography, educating and training vendors in order to gain more profit, and expanding their market through cross-collaboration. The pre-order system of BukaPO also helps to minimize the risk of financial loss often experienced by these micro business owners, as meals are paid for ahead of time, a huge change for people with very little disposable income.

Of course, BukaPO also offers many advantages to their customers, such as promos, cashbacks, and rewards that can be obtained through point accumulations from orders made in the application. Customers are also allowed to order from different vendors in one transaction, a feature that is still rare in the food-technology industry.

Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BukaPO, Olaf Purvis, said in a recent interview that

“Pre-Order” food delivery system is a COMMON CULTURE FOR INDONESIAN CITIZENS and has been an ON-GOING TREND since before the Covid-19 pandemic or even Youtube.

The little push that BukaPO brings to this ingrained culture clearly resonates as the merchant onboarding and product sales grew by over 25 times or 6,300% in just 7 months time. Food is just the beginning.

Tom Courly, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of BIC said;

 

“We couldn’t be more proud to see a Bali-born start-up gain so much traction so fast. In fact, we’ve had to constantly adapt our growth and funding plan to meet the company’s record breaking month-on-month results. Our goal now is to help Olaf and his team get similar traction in Java, before we prepare the Series A round and aim for national deployment of BukaPO.”
According to the plan, funding will be used for business expansion and to open their second base in Surabaya City in East Java, while securing even greater market share in Bali. BukaPO Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Fajar also explained that the funds will be used to improve their user interface and make necessary changes to their operational system.

 

These necessary upgrades will ADD GREATER VALUE to both VENDORS & CUSTOMERS, and will help handle the EVER-GROWING PLATFORM TRAFFIC.

Regional Head of BukaPO, Samantha added that the East Java branch will target more than 1,000 micro business owners in the next 3 months. The Java team will also train and develop its merchant community through many educational programs to help this growing workforce provide ongoing service not just to regular customers, but to larger businesses too.

The compass is set West for Olaf Purvis and his team of community leaders who are now entering Indonesia’s largest market, Java. With a full support structure in place, Bali Investment Club is confident that BukaPO is on the right path and will continue to support the company as it continues to expand cross-country. Stay tuned for ongoing updates.

 

Want to be part of Indonesia’s impact economy?

Join the Club today.