The ecosystem provides the opportunity to facilitate internships, mentoring, business incubators, financing, joint research, publication, entrepreneurial development, business case studies, and guest lectures.

This collaboration will be implemented at ITB SBM, specifically in the ITB MBA Business Study Program on both Bandung and Jakarta campuses. The partnership between a university and an industry is hoped to initiate new businesses with the prospects of becoming Indonesia’s future unicorn startup.

The cooperation with MDI Venture–which is part of the Telkom Group–was part of the MBKM (Freedom to Learn–Independent Campus) program, allowing ITB SBM students to learn via the living lab experience: internships, recruitments, training, community services, and access to the entrepreneurial ecosystem to accelerate and fund their startup business.

The letter of agreement was signed at the ITB MBA campus in Bandung by Prof. Tjandra Anggraeni, Ph.D. (Vice Dean for Resources of ITB SBM) and Dr. G. N. Sandhy Widyasthana (Chief Operating and Risk Management Officer of Metra Digital Investama), who is an alumnus of the ITB SBM Doctoral Program in Management Science. The event was also attended by Yunieta A. Nainggolan (Head Study Program of ITB MBA) and N. Nurlaela Arief (Director of Communication and Alumni Relations of ITB SBM).

Sandhy mentioned that the expansion of startups needs to be planned by universities. MDI realized that in the current era, it is the responsibility of Venture Capital to support and train the young talents in ITB MBA to create new unicorns that will contribute to Indonesia’s economy.

Yunieta added that teaming up with venture capital firms like MDI will strengthen ITB MBA’s curriculum and prepare young entrepreneurs who possess a sharp sense of business to formulate ideas in digital businesses.

“This partnership is strategic for both institutions as the entrepreneurial ecosystem can be further developed to achieve the Indonesia Emas goal–to rise as the center of the creative and digital economy in 2045,” Yunieta conveyed.

Aside from MDI Ventures, ITB SBM announced its affiliation with other corporations and startups in the first quarter of 2022. These companies include Taxsam, Tara, Startup Vokraf (integrated career preparation program for final-year students and graduates), and Startup Assembler (3D Augmented Reality content for learning).

Source: SBM ITB
Translator: Ruth Nathania (Environmental Engineering, 2019)