Applications are now open for aspiring Indonesian small-medium enterprises and startups within the country’s blue sector to boost their skills and expertise through the Blue Finance Accelerator (BFA) scheme. The BFA is a joint initiative  by The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Asian Development Bank (ADB)  in collaboration with the Coordinating Ministry of Maritime and Investment Affairs and Instellar Indonesia.  

The BFA is a six-month accelerator programme that aims to provide capacity-building and support mechanisms on business and impact for startups and SMEs operating in blue sectors - including sustainable fisheries, aquaculture, marine debris waste management, plastic pollution reduction, climate change mitigation or adaptation. The programme will target a minimum of 12 SMEs/Startups, consisting of six startups and six SMEs to undergo acceleration. 

Selected startups and SMEs will benefit from support provided by a dedicated team and industry experts. They will receive tailored curriculum and modules, ranging from business, innovation, impact measurement and management, gender lens, and blue-themed topics. Through individual mentoring and consulting, advisory teams and mentors will also support the selected startups and SMEs throughout the process to ensure the business growth.  

Focusing on the objective of this Accelerator Program, Nila Murti, Officer-In-Charger, Innovative Financing Lab noted “Indonesian livelihoods heavily depend on the oceans and marine ecosystems for both community and national level. The Ministry of Investment/BKPM notes that Indonesia’s fisheries sector contributes to USD 29.6 billion to the GDP with the marine commodity industry directly involving 2.8 million households1. With this tremendous potential, UNDP and ADB along with the Coordinating Ministry of Maritime and Investment Affairs is excited to have the Blue Finance Accelerator programme’’ 

“We hope this programme will encourage collaboration between startups and SMEs in the blue sector with government counterparts in developing bankable blue projects with the intention of sustainability and impact -all with the goal of driving transformative change in communities and our seas for future generations,”  she added.  

The BFA program provides participants with the opportunity to get further exposure and network with other ecosystem stakeholders in the blue sector, including as industry experts, investors, and governments. They will also be able to connect to the UNDP and Instellar community networks. Furthermore, this program provides the option to have access to blended financial facilities. 

“We are pleased to be the implementing partner from the Blue Finance Accelerator. Blue sector is clearly the new focus in Indonesia, and we are already seeing everyone heading into this blue economy. We believe that this accelerator programme will benefit to boost and reach the SDGs agenda,” said CEO Instellar Romy Cahyadi.  

The Blue Finance Accelerator also aims to catalyze public and private capital within the social entrepreneurship sector. As a collaborative and innovative platform, BFA enables local startups, SMEs, and Government Units to scale up Blue Economy projects.  

Registration for Blue Finance Accelerator is open until January 14th, 2023. Register your startups and SMEs via instellar.id/bfa. 

For further information about the programme, follow @undpindonesia @instellarid @innovativefinancinglab Instagram and @FinancingLab_ID Twitter, or contact events@instellar.id. 

Text By- Kalila Anneszka and Kamal Najmus Salehin 

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About Blue Finance Accelerator (BFA)  

Blue Finance Accelerator is a programme presented by Asian Development Bank (ADB) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in collaboration with the Coordinating Ministry of Maritime and Investment Affairs as lead ministry partner and Instellar Indonesia as Implementing Partner. This 6-month accelerator programme aims to provide capacity-building and support mechanisms on business and impact for startups and SMEs operating in blue sectors - sustainable fisheries, aquaculture, marine debris waste management, plastic pollution reduction, climate change mitigation or adaptation. The programme will target a minimum of 12 SMEs/Startups, consisting of six startups and six SMEs to undergo acceleration. For further information about the programme, please follow @undpindonesia @instellarid @innovativefinancinglab Instagram and @FinancingLab_ID Twitter, or drop your questions to events@instellar.id. 

For further information about Blue Finance Accelerator, please contact Instellar’s team: 

Program Lead - Adli Nadhif - adli.nadhif@instellar.id  - +62 878-3865-2631 

Program Officer - Fanny Paramesworo Daniel - fannypdaniel@instellar.id - +62 857-3851-1998 

Program Communications Lead - Tiara Mahardika – tiara.mahardika@instellar.id  +62 81337154299