We successfully concluded the ninth edition of our annual Asia PE-VC Summit in Singapore this week and the team at DealStreetAsia is eagerly excited about, and meticulously planning for, the next year.
The 2025 edition will mark a special milestone—the 10th anniversary of our flagship event. It marks the end of the single-digit years—a time of early growth, exploration, and learning—and the beginning of the double digits, where everything feels a bit more seasoned, yet still full of youthful energy.
We are no longer in our infancy, but not quite on the cusp of teenage boldness either. It’s a time when we begin to mature, guided by the wisdom gained from the past nine years.
To be a part of our Asia PE-VC Summit 2025, register here
Takeaways from Asia PE-VC Summit 2024
The 2024 Summit in Singapore brought together over 120 speakers from some of the most influential private equity, and venture capital firms, as well as startups and limited partners from around the world.
Executives from Blackrock, KKR, Pantheon Ventures, StepStone, IFC, BII, Blackstone Strategic Partners, Siguler Guff, Peak XV, Warburg Pincus, Granite Asia, Gaw Capital, and many more shared their insights.
Panellists at the opening session on Sept. 17 said the continuing slowdown in exit activity has been a key reason for turbulence in dealmaking in Asia. Dealmakers from Partners Group, KKR, Warburg Pincus, Pantheon Ventures, and ewpartners agreed that Asia’s long-term growth potential remains intact while underlining the need for disciplined and focused investment strategies.
Southeast Asia’s emerging markets, in particular, continue to offer investment opportunities at reasonable valuations, top industry executives said at another panel discussion. For instance, Vietnam is a market that is showing resilience amid the global economic slowdown that has hit VC investments, said Vy Le, co-founder and general partner of Do Ventures, at the panel.
As Southeast Asia gains prominence in the global PE landscape, the region’s mid-market segment, especially, shows bright prospects, according to seasoned investors who spoke on day 1. The panellists highlighted frontier ASEAN’s underdeveloped private capital ecosystems, with limited institutional early-stage capital and private debt providers.
Meanwhile, startups can face the funding winter through strategic foresight, adaptability, and an unyielding focus on core business principles, said founders in a dialogue on day 2 of the summit.
In a panel on China, experts dismissed the global perception that the country’s deep tech sector is not accessible to international investors. A shift in the LP scene has brought capital flowing into deep tech opportunities—an area deemed strategically important by the authorities, they said.
We will be publishing reports from all the 30-odd panel discussions, watch this space for more: Asia PE-VC Summit 2024. For now, you can catch the highlights on our LinkedIn page.
Despite the buzz around the Summit, we ensured you didn’t miss out on the latest news and trends in the private equity and venture capital world. Here are our other top headlines from the week that went by.
LP-GP updates
US pension funds CalPERS and NYSCRF have committed a total of $1.05 billion to three Asian investment vehicles managed by TPG, Macquarie and BentallGreenOak.
NextBold Capital, a PE firm focused on supporting the growth of small and medium enterprises in Southeast Asia, is seeking to raise $100 million for its first fund focused on IndoChina companies.
Bow Wave Capital Management, a US-based private investment firm, has made another close of its Philippines-focused buyout fund at $89.6 million.
PE firm Insight Partners is on the brink of closing a new $10 billion-plus fund, roughly half the amount originally targeted, the Financial Times reported, citing sources. Insight will not formally close its 13th fund until early next year, the report added, adding that the final figure may be closer to $12 billion.
Shang Qi Capital, a private equity (PE) firm affiliated with Chinese state-owned automaker SAIC Motor Corp, has held the first close of a new technology innovation fund at $84.3 million to invest in AI-powered auto industry chain opportunities. The fund has a target of $112.8 million.
Cathay Life Insurance, the insurance arm of Taiwanese conglomerate Cathay Financial Holdings, has gained $11.5 million after disposing of its stake in a fund managed by US-based investor Dragoneer Investment Group.
US debt investor Muzinich & Co has teamed up with Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing-backed alternative investment firm Orion3 Group to raise a private infrastructure debt fund targeting as much as $1 billion.
Nomura, Japan’s largest investment bank and broking firm, has jumped into the race to acquire Indian investment firm Avendus, per an Economic Times report. Majority owned by US private equity giant KKR, Avendus is best known for advising large startups such as food delivery firm Swiggy and eyewear retailer Lenskart.
Deals, scoops, and corporate news
Healthcare investment platform Asia Healthcare Holdings, backed by TPG Growth and Singapore’s GIC, is in talks to invest in India’s Dr. Dangs Lab, DealStreetAsia reported exclusively. The acquisition, if it goes through, will mark Asia Healthcare’s foray into the diagnostics space in India.
Physics Wallah (PW), an Indian unicorn that offers coaching for engineering entrance exams, has raised $210 million in a Series B funding round at a $2.8 billion valuation, defying the funding slowdown that has heavily impacted the edtech sector. The funding round was led by Asian hedge fund Hornbill Capital. Read our interview with co-founder Prateek Maheshwari.
SaaS-based digital adoption solutions provider Whatfix has raised nearly $100 million in its Series E funding round led by Sweet Nector Investments (Warburg Pincus) and Japan’s SoftBank.
Southeast Asia-focused Dymon Asia Private Equity has invested an undisclosed amount in Singapore-based Mind Stretcher Group, which provides pre-primary and K-12 academic enrichment, tutorial, and student care services.
Temasek is nearing a deal to acquire a 20% stake in Blackstone-owned visa application outsourcing and technology services firm VFS Global, Bloomberg News reported. The deal may value VFS Global at $7 billion, including debt, the report said.
Alphabet Inc’s YouTube and e-commerce platform Shopee said they are launching an online shopping service in Indonesia and plan to expand it in Southeast Asia as competition picks up with a rival operator owned by TikTok.
Southeast Asian last-mile logistics firm Ninja Van said it will try to resolve a dispute in Vietnam over delayed salary payments within the next two weeks. Last week, employees of Vietnam-based ECRM Nobita, an order management software for online sellers wholly owned by Ninja Van, submitted a petition to the labour inspectorates of Hanoi City and Nghe An Province, claiming delayed salary payments and social insurance since July 2024.
Quicktron Intelligent Technology, a Chinese provider of warehouse robot solutions, has secured over $100 million in a Series D round of financing to fuel its global expansion.
Deep dives and analysis
Last week, we delved into some of the trends in the private equity space.
In a report on Southeast Asia’s family offices, we noted how they are slowly but surely opening up to PE investments. “The number of Southeast Asia-based family offices is growing, but their allocation to private equity investments in their home turf may not see a sudden spurt just yet given the limited exit opportunities and the relatively lower risk-adjusted returns of the asset class. At the same time, the need to diversify their portfolios makes it difficult for family offices to ignore private assets,” the report said.
In another report, we detailed how family-owned businesses in Asia are turning to PE firms to drive growth as fewer heirs are stepping forward to take over the reins and a need to raise external capital as the companies mature. Recent deals involving PE players include L Catterton’s investment in the Chinese plant-based beverage company Viee last month.
India’s equity market has been one of the best performing in Asia in the last 12 months, and startups and investors alike are making the most of the good times.
Startups are weathering the shortage in growth capital by tapping the bourses, with some of them even pricing their IPOs lower than their last funding rounds. Electric vehicle maker Ola Electric Mobility and insurance provider Go Digit General Insurance respectively priced their IPOs at discounts of 22% and 13% from their last valuations when they went public on Aug. 9 and May 23. Meanwhile, baby-products retailer FirstCry kept its valuation flat. Analysts expect this restraint to continue as several high-profile startups gear up for public flotations. Among them are the food delivery startup Swiggy, and the logistics companies BlackBuck and Ecomm Express.
At the other side of the table, PE and VC investors are also making the most of India’s buoyant stock markets by realising exits through public market sales.
PE and VC investors earned at least $7.6 billion from selling shares of their investees in Jan-July 2024, accounting for 60% of the value of all exits ($12.6 billion) in the country, according to Venture Intelligence data. In terms of exit volume, 101 exit deals were made via public market listings in the first seven months of the year, far outnumbering secondary sales (31 deals) and strategic sales (21 deals).
In Southeast Asia, meanwhile, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is conducting a review of the country’s equity market in a move to revive it amid global challenges.
In another analysis, Nikkei Asia explored the rationale behind IHH Healthcare paying $900 million for the Island hospital. The acquisition highlights its ambition to attract more foreign patients to Malaysia as competition intensifies. Island Hospital receives about one-third of all inbound foreign patients to Malaysia.
Thank you for reading— your engagement helps us thrive. Until next week, keep exploring and stay curious.
