We recently hosted around 200 women leaders, startups, youth, industry experts and community advocates at the ‘Bali Women Leaders Network’.  When you have that much talent in one room, we knew we had to ask them to share their advice!

The event, in partnership with ClimateWorks Foundation and facilitated by Pratisara Bumi Foundation, showcased the tremendous potential of women entrepreneurs in driving sustainability and climate action. Among the many women-led climate startups we invited we also celebrated 8 women-led start-startups that successfully completed our ‘Business Incubation and Acceleration Program’.

Here  are some key takeaways.

Have absolute clarity on your intentions and motivations before you begin your entrepreneurial journey

Lala Maelani, the CEO of Gumitri, highlighted the significance of understanding the motivations behind one’s actions.

“Find that common ground, discover the reasons why you do what you do. When you have a clear understanding of your motivations, even in the face of challenges, those reasons will reignite your passion and empower you to overcome obstacles. It is also vital to have a shared mission with your partners, ensuring that regardless of the path ahead, the commitment among colleagues remains unwavering due to the shared vision, mission, and values.”

Find mentors and enroll in programs that help improve your business acumen and industry knowledge

Yufi Gobel, the Founder and CEO of Chickbecik, emphasized the importance of having a mentor during the startup development process.

“Having a mentor is crucial when building a startup. When I connected with the New Energy Nexus Indonesia team, I learned to refine my ideas and challenge my assumptions while understanding the realities of the market. This led to a transformation in our business approach. My message to those interested in developing a startup or innovation is to seek out a mentor. With the guidance of mentors, we can conduct more focused and measurable product testing, and make better decisions regarding every risk and opportunity.”

Find a safe and empowering environment that truly supports female entrepreneurs

Marcella Steffany, Communications and Business Development Officer at Tri Hita Consulting, emphasized the importance of establishing an empowering environment for women to thrive in their careers.

“Creating an enabling environment plays a vital role in our success as women professionals. Having a supportive team, mentors who believe in us, and an environment that values our contributions based on our capabilities rather than our gender are key factors that contribute to our growth and achievements.”

Dini Septiani (AVPN), Atika Benedikta (ANGIN), Samantha Tedjosugondo (Sweef Capital), Helga Tjahjadi (Burgreens)

During the event, another insightful session on fundraising and gender-lens investing, moderated by Dini Septiani, ASEAN Regional Director of AVPN, featured an open and candid discussion between two gender-lens investors and a female founder. Helga Tjahjadi, the CEO & Co-Founder of Burgreens & Green Rebel, shared her journey of building a successful food and beverage business alongside her partner, Max Mandias.

“Throughout our fundraising journey, I encountered discrimination from certain venture capitalists who believed that my maternity leave would impact our business milestones. However, we were fortunate to connect with angel investors and venture capitalists who were supportive of my pregnancy and played a pivotal role in our business’s growth.

“As a result, we secured funding prior to my maternity leave and devised plans to ensure the company’s continuity during my absence. Today, women have more allies and support to pursue their goals, but there is still progress to be made within the system for investors to fully recognize and embrace the value that female founders bring.”

Atika Benedikta emphasized the significance of gender-lens investing and women’s empowerment:

“Supporting and fostering an enabling environment that empowers women as stakeholders, contributors, doers, and decision-makers is crucial. The contributions and perspectives of women hold equal importance. It’s not about power or competition but about empowering everyone equally.”

Establish a well-organized administrative system for operational efficiency

Tasya Karissa, the Founder and Executive Director of Biorock Indonesia, shared her experience in overcoming challenges caused by having two distinct entities, a foundation and a PT.

“One of the difficulties I encountered was managing the administrative tasks effectively due to Biorock Indonesia’s dual structure. As a leader, I realized the importance of overseeing multiple aspects, and establishing a well-organized administrative system became critical for our operational efficiency. Thanks to the guidance of mentors through the New Energy Nexus Indonesia’s Bali Women Climate Entrepreneur Project, I now have a standardized operating procedure for administration.”

Learn to recognize business risks and have strategic mitigation plans

Samantha Tedjosugondo highlighted the importance of acknowledging and addressing challenges in entrepreneurship:

“Recognizing risks and challenges is crucial, but what matters more is having an effective mitigation strategy. We admire startup management teams that openly acknowledge and actively tackle the obstacles they encounter. Risks coexist with promising opportunities, and it’s essential for both leaders and team members to be aware of this reality.”

Sukriyatun Niamah, the Founder and Marketing Director of Robries, discussed her company’s efforts in recycling plastic waste. Despite facing challenges as a young female leader in business, she refused to be underestimated. Niam emphasized the importance of collaborating with diverse partners, embracing different habits and mindsets. Her determination to realize her ambitious vision surpasses these obstacles. Currently, Robries has successfully partnered with over 100 individuals from diverse communities and waste collectors.

Thilma Komaling, Aniek Puspawardhani (Kelecung Village Eco Tourism), Ida Rahayu (Seeds to Table), Sukriyatun Niamah (Robries)

Aniek Puspawardani, the project lead for Desa Wisata Kelucung, expressed her concerns about the impact of land use changes on the livelihoods of the farming community in Kelucung Village. She highlighted the importance of creating sustainable employment opportunities, such as homestay businesses, culinary ventures, merchandise, and other tourism-supporting enterprises, to increase their income. However, this must be accompanied by training programs to develop professional skills across various professions in Desa Kelucung. Additionally, support from stakeholders is crucial to achieving self-sufficiency and empowerment for the village.

Ida Rahayu, the Creator of Seeds to Table, shared insights into her permaculture-based program that tackles waste and food production challenges. She emphasized the importance of paying attention to food labels and understanding the impact of our consumption on our health and well-being. Ida highlighted key steps we can take, such as growing our own food or supporting local farmers, minimizing packaging waste, opting for organic food, and practicing proper waste sorting. She also encouraged cooking our own meals to gain a better understanding of what we consume.

Women are paving the way to become leaders in their communities. Our programs in New Energy Nexus Indonesia aim to close the gender gap and increase women’s participation in  clean energy and climate solutions sectors, helping to improve women’s response and adaptation to climate change.

Learn more New Energy Nexus Indonesia

Senior Investment Associate, New Energy Nexus Indonesia

”As a senior investment associate at New Energy Nexus Indonesia, I’ve reviewed hundreds of pitch decks from startups seeking funding.

It’s no easy task creating a well-narrated pitch deck that captures investors’ attention and effectively communicates your startup’s value proposition. But, here are five essential tips to help you create a killer pitch deck that will maximize your chances of securing funding for your climate startup.”

1. Start with a compelling problem statement

Begin your pitch deck by defining the problem related to climate change that your startup is addressing. Show the urgency and significance of the problem, highlighting not only the destructive impact to the environment but more importantly, the pain points experienced by the users/customers (“the impacted stakeholders”) and its relevance to the local context. You can use statistics, visuals, or real-world cases to make it more compelling. A great problem statement will grab investors’ attention and help them recognize the urgency, relevance, and necessity of your solution.

2. Articulate your unique value proposition

After presenting the problem, you now need to present your startup’s innovative solution. Clearly explain how your technology or product addresses the problem more effectively than existing solutions. Investors need to see the uniqueness and potential for disruption in your approach, why your solution is better than any other solution out there, and why customers would want to buy your product or service. Your solution should be clear and concise, focusing on the heart of the problem, not every last feature.

Explaining the product features with a short video demo or a diagram can be presented in another section of the deck (the product section), while the solution slide should only be telling us: “why instead of doing that, we do this.” Investors shouldn’t spend minutes digesting the content — it should be obvious and to the point. So keep the visuals lightweight in this slide.

3. Showcase your market opportunity

Investors want to know how big the market size is, and how you are going to capture that market. Provide a reasonable Total Addressable Market (TAM), Serviceable Addressable Market (SAM), and Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM) and translate that into $$ value.

You can also include data such as growth rate, key market trends, and highlight any regulatory or policy support that could further catalyze your startup’s growth. A clear market assessment will instill confidence in investors regarding the scalability and potential for profit and impact of your venture.

4. Present a solid business model

Illustrate your business model to demonstrate how your startup generates revenue and achieve profitability as well as impact. Clearly explain your revenue streams, pricing strategy, and financial viability. A well-defined business model will convince investors of your ability to generate sustainable returns on their investments.

5. Highlight your team members

Investors place emphasis on the execution capabilities of the founding team. Therefore it is crucial to fit in a dedicated page in your deck  to introduce key members of your team and highlight their relevant experience and expertise. Showcase any previous achievements, partnerships, or notable milestones that demonstrate your startup’s progress and momentum. Let them know how strategic and capable your team is!

Lastly, there is no such thing as a one deck-fits-all. You need to craft each pitch decks according to whom you are addressing and identifying each investor’s focus or appetite. But all pitch deck require compelling storytelling, market insights, and financial viability. Be sure to iterate and refine your pitch deck based on feedback and learnings from each interaction with investors and practice your presentation skills.

If you’re in Indonesia and  looking for the best-fitting investors to help with your startup journey, New Energy Nexus Indonesia is hosting an Investment Speed Dating event for clean energy and climate tech startups. The event is happening on 7 September 2023 and we are accepting applications from 5 June to 14 July  2023.

Are you ready? Submit your pitch deck now!

Battery life is a crucial pain point for EV users. SWAP Energi aims to solve this by building a network of battery swapping stations for e-motorcycle riders. New Energy Nexus introduced SWAP to potential investors, helped prepare funding documents, and offered business acceleration program support. The startup now has more than 800 swap charging stations in 14 provinces.

We spoke to the team at SWAP Energi about their mission to electrify Indonesia’s booming two-wheeler market.

“Lots of prospective users are curious. Our duty is to explain to them so they will be interested,” said Irwan Tjahaja, CEO at Swap Energi Indonesia. So far, SWAP Energi Indonesia has been educating people about electric vehicles and “Swap Stations” by collaborating with their users, and making them a brand ambassador.

Potential users have many questions: is this vehicle strong enough and can it match gasoline fueled vehicles in terms of cruising range? Also, how cheap are the spare parts and maintenance?

Irwan Tjahaja, CEO at Swap Energi Indonesia

In 2021, the startup launched its electric motorcycle brand Smoot. A year later, Swap Energy and Smoot partnered with Grab and state-owned electric company PLN to develop an integrated EV ecosystem in Indonesia.

“Every Smoot motorcycle user is a brand ambassador,” said Keving Phang, CPO of Swap Energi Indonesia. Kevin believes when a user is satisfied with the product and finds it convenient, they will share their experience with their family and friends, and even form a community that can raise awareness of EVs with their immediate community.

Later on, SWAP Energi Indonesia began focusing on the development of the Swap Energi app, making it more sophisticated and user-friendly.

“A key feature of the app is the ability to find the nearest Swap Station, integrated with Google maps, and track your battery reservation , find parking, analyze the machine’s health, and receive a notification for service or change spare parts,” Kevin said.

These convenient features have been noticed by users.

“SWAP Energi app is easy, everything is there. There is no more coming and finding out that the station has run out of battery,” said Ongko, one of the users of electric motorbike Tempur from Smoot Motor Indonesia.

As an office worker, he admits that electric motorbikes make his life easier.

“I don’t need a charging station at home. It is like you go to the gas station but with an electric motorbike and the app makes it more efficient as I don’t have to wait in line.”

Andi, an online taxi driver has the same experience. “I changed to an electric motorbike because it is environmentally friendly and cheaper. I don’t have to pay for routine services such as getting an oil change.

An online taxi driver such as  him covers a lot of ground: “It could be tens of kilometers each day.”.

However, this isn’t a problem because there are more than 350 points in Jabodetabek (an area of Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia. He no longer worries about running out of battery while carrying passengers. SWAP Energi Indonesia also provides a special price for battery exchange for online taxi drivers, which is IDR 17,000 (US$1.14)/100 km. This price is twice as cheap as petrol fuel.

Since 2019, New Energy Nexus Indonesia in collaboration with IKEA Foundation acts as a bridge between different sectors and stakeholders, running incubation, acceleration, and funding programs to urgently develop the clean energy startup ecosystem. Find out more.