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Indonesia-focused Intudo Ventures raises new $50M fund – TechCrunch

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Intudo Ventures, a VC firm focused on Indonesia, has closed a new $50 million fund. This is Intudo’s second fund to date following its $20 million debut last year.

The firm is a relative newcomer to Southeast Asia but a key differentiator is that it is solely focused on Indonesia, which is the world’s fourth most populated country with over 260 million people and the region’s largest economy.

It is also the dominant market for tech and the internet in the region. According to a much-cited report from Google and Singapore sovereign fund Temasek, Indonesia’s online economy will grow to $100 billion by 2025 from $8 billion in 2015. That’s a dominant chunk of the Southeast Asia market, which is predicted to reach $240 billion as a whole.

A Google-Temasek report forecasts significant growth across Southeast Asia, with Indonesia taking the lead

Another factor that separates Intudo from other firms is its approach to working with local partners. Most VC firms in Southeast Asia tend to source their LPs from Singapore, West Asia and China with a smattering of local families or conglomerates who wield influence on the ground in markets. In Indonesia, Intudo claims to have over 20 families among its LP base, as opposed to the conventional approach of two or three.

However, founding partners Eddy Chan and Patrick Yip told TechCrunch that the majority of its capital comes from U.S-based LPs, with no investor providing more than 10 percent of the fund’s capital. Some of its overseas backers include Founders Fund, the family office of former Walgreens CEO Greg Wasson, Japan’s World Innovation Lab and Taiwan’s CTBC Group, according to the partners.

“Indonesia is a market we feel is dominated by about 100 core families, we are back by 20-some of the most influential groups in the market,” Chan said in an interview.

The goal is to help Intudo’s portfolio companies tap into opportunities from those LPs and their business holdings.

“When we sign up LPs, first and foremost we want to be able to engage the network and resources for the startup we invest into. We find a fit and hopefully provide some kind of unfair advantage… a leg up when they want to compete,” Chan explained.

“We’re not biased to any one family, we invest in a purely financially-driven manner,” added Yip.

Intudo Ventures’ founding partners Eddy Chan and Patrick Yip

Yip provides the on-the-ground presence having returned to Indonesia from the U.S. 15 years ago. Chan is in the U.S. for eight months a year, he said, where he spends much of his time seeking out Indonesia talent studying in the U.S. for prospective hiring or incubating new projects.

“We have a long-term view that we either place them in our portfolio, found companies with them or put them in with a Bain, or McKinsey type company,” Chan explained.

Yip formerly operated an investment firm associated with Goldman Sachs and spent time at retail giant CP, Chan, meanwhile has spent time as an investor and co-founded smart light company Leeo before leaving in 2015 following a restructuring.

The fund itself is focused on Series A and pre-A with some Series B with an initial investment of $500,000-$5 million with more for follow-on rounds, the partners explained. But the focus is on doubling down on a few prospects, with the fund slated to do around 12-15 deals through its lifecycle.

Chan said that when it comes to going beyond the fund’s deal range the thesis is to involve its LPs who, he claimed, are keen to invest in Indonesia further down the line. With just a year since Intudo’s debut fund closed that theory has not been tested yet although one early bet, BeliMobilGue just raised a $10 million Series A. Others in the portfolio include co-working venture CoHive, payment gateway company Xendit and fitness startup Ride Jakarta.

For now, at least, Intudo intends to remain laser-focused on Indonesia.

“Down the road will we add other countries? Time will tell,” Chan said. “This is our bread and butter and where we’re strong and what we have committed to for our LPs.”

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Jeep’s Wild Wrangler Magneto 3.0 Concept EV Is Going Out With A Bang

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To go with that, Jeep has added Dynatrac 60 front axles (5.38:1 ratio) and Dynatrac 80 rear axles (5.38:1 ratio), along with 20-inch off-road beadlock wheels and 40-inch mud terrain tires. The whole thing is lifted by three inches compared to a standard Wrangler. The result, the automaker says, is an EV that excels in off-road situations, not least because of how controllable the power delivery is.

“When you’re rock crawling, you need to be very neat and clean with your driving,” Mike Allen, Jeep Design Chief, says, “especially if there’s a cliff next to you, you need to be very controlled with that.”

To help, Jeep has added a power selection switch. On the one hand, you can have the maximum 650 horsepower and 900 lb-ft of torque; alternatively, the standard setting tamps it down to a more conservative 285 horsepower and 273 lb-ft. Allen says the range is around 150 miles, though that — nor charging times —was never meant to be the Magneto concept’s focus.

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The Best Mods & Upgrades That Can Give New Life To A C4 Corvette

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Replacing your restrictive and likely corroded factory exhaust with a new cat-back exhaust is one of the best power adders that you can do to your C4 Corvette. The term “cat-back” refers to the section of the system that is downstream of the catalytic converter, a device that removes harmful emissions from exhaust gases.

An aftermarket exhaust with modern muffler technology will reduce backpressure, allowing more air to flow into the engine, which increases horsepower. According to the popular aftermarket exhaust manufacturer Corsa, a cat-back system for the L98 engine (the most common C4 engine) adds 14 horsepower and 16 foot-pounds of torque to an otherwise stock powerplant — all while adding a deep, muscular exhaust note that’ll make your C4 sound like a Corvette should.

Returning to catalytic converters for a moment, they’re typically long-lasting but may eventually fail by becoming contaminated, clogged, or overheated, leading to decreased horsepower. In the process of installing a cat-back exhaust, it’s worth inspecting or proactively replacing the catalytic converter itself. High-flow performance converters are available which will boost horsepower beyond the cat-back exhaust alone, yet still keep your vehicle compliant with the emissions guidelines of the EPA and local authorities.

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6 Easy Ways To Unlock Your Android Phone Without A Password

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For years, fingerprints have been the de-facto phone unlock method because of the method’s incredible convenience and relative security. While a bad actor can, in theory, replicate your fingerprint, and while some Android phones have had fingerprint reader bugs, the majority of the time it’s secure enough to trust while allowing you to access your device in less than a second.

Many modern Android phones utilize an under-display fingerprint sensor that uses either an optical light sensor or ultrasonics to analyze registered fingerprints, while others place a trusty capacitive sensor on the back of the phone or the power button.

Importantly, optical sensors are the easiest of the three to fool in the event someone gets access to your fingerprint. Law enforcement can be especially aggressive should they invent a reason to search your device, having once tried to use a dead man’s finger to do so. However, Android stores fingerprint data in a Trusted Execution Environment, an encrypted section of the phone’s memory that cannot be accessed by the main CPU or by apps.

Setting your fingerprints up can be a bit of a hassle, as some Android phones can be finicky. It may be a good idea to register the same fingerprint twice if you find that your phone’s fingerprint sensor has a hard time recognizing your preferred digit.

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