For Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), Thailand’s largest lender by assets, investing in Indonesia-based ride-hailing unicorn GOJEK was a strategic way to counter the rise of tech-enabled models that are disrupting traditional businesses.
“We try to find a way to partner quickly and scale with startups. Even with the big platforms, if you cannot beat them, partner with them. So find more strategic partnerships that you can invest in and grow out of them,” SCB executive vice-president Tana Pothikamjorn told DealStreetAsia on the sidelines of the Bangkok Fintech Fair.
Pothikamjorn said SCB sees more such strategic partnerships as its answer to the rise of technology.
Earlier this month, GOJEK announced an undisclosed investment from SCB as part of its ongoing Series F funding round. The lender will also partner with the ride-hailing startup’s Thai affiliate GET in the area of payments.
The oldest bank in Thailand, SCB is also among the most active in terms of investing in the fintech sector. It operates a venture capital fund, Digital Ventures, which is also a limited partner in other funds such as Siri Ventures, Golden Gate Ventures, Nyca Fund II and Dymon Asia.
In addition, with the doubling of Digital Ventures’ fund size, Pothikamjorn said the firm expected to do more direct investments in startups.
“Initially, it was mostly a strategic mandate, so you have seen a lot of the fund-of-funds operation. But there are opportunities like GOJEK where we have a solid partnership that we can build on a single direct investment.”
Edited excerpts of an interview:-
