Universitas Gadjah Mada’s Innovation and Creativity Hub (GIK UGM) and the Jaya Creative Entrepreneurs Association (APKJ) brought together business players, startups, and venture capital firms in Yogyakarta on Sunday (May 18).
Over 36 venture capital firms from Southeast Asia and Australia participated in the Meet The Investors #2 event at GIK UGM.
This business meeting aims to spark new ideas between entrepreneurs and investors to further drive national economic development.
“This event that brings together investors and startups is significant in accommodating and facilitating knowledge exchange and the creation of opportunities,” said UGM Rector, Professor Ova Emilia, during the event opening at GIK.
According to Professor Emilia, UGM, through GIK, remains committed to bridging the potential of local innovations with national and international capital access.
She hoped initiatives like this would cultivate a new ecosystem in the startup business environment.
“Innovation that emerges from universities, communities, and startups can become a primary driver of knowledge-based economic development. We aim to continue connecting local innovations with large-scale national and international investment. Ten startups developed by UGM academics and alumni have been incubated through the UGM Innovative Academy,” she explained.
As a tangible contribution from this event, UGM launched the Hii Geek application. Through its career menu, this super app has been developed and integrated to support the innovation ecosystem, including student activities such as internships.
This menu provides information about internship vacancies, career consultation services, and other campus innovation services.
The platform is expected to become a sustainable and concrete medium for collaboration aligned with the tri-dharma of higher education.
Meet The Investors #2 is a collaborative initiative by APKJ in partnership with GIK, designed to open funding access and strategic networks for business players and local innovators in Yogyakarta.
Over a full day, participants were offered key sessions such as pitching workshops, an “Economic & Investment Outlook” seminar, and a talk show themed “How to Grow & Scale Up the Startup for Fundraising.”
At the end of the event, the best-performing startups from the speed dating session pitched their business ideas before all investors and attendees.
The event concluded with the announcement of winners and a networking dinner that strengthened cross-sector connections.
A total of 78 curated startups participated in the Investor Speed Dating session.
Hedar Alaydrus, Chair of the Jaya Creative Entrepreneurs Association and event initiator, stated that Meet The Investors #2 was held to open access to capital and strategic networks for local business actors and innovators in Yogyakarta.
“Meet The Investors #2 success proves that cross-sector collaboration between education, communities, businesses, and investors can foster groundbreaking ideas from the regions. This, of course, can serve as valuable capital for entrepreneurs and anyone involved in becoming major players on the national and global stage,” he said.
Author: Agung Nugroho
Post-editor: Afifudin Baliya