Fundraising milestones by two Singapore-based venture capital firms were among the top headlines this week.
Openspace Ventures has hit the final close of its fourth early-stage fund. The backer of prominent tech startups such as Kredivo and Kumu, among others, closed its fourth vehicle below target at $163 million. Its Fund III closed at $200 million in 2021.
Openspace Ventures had initially set out to raise a higher amount but had to revise its targets downwards during the last 18 months amid a tough fundraising environment.
Meanwhile, Singapore’s Jungle Ventures is said to have made the first close of its fifth vehicle after raising half of its fundraising target. The milestone could well put Jungle’s fifth vehicle among the top fundraises by SG-headquartered regional VC firms this year.
Jungle is concurrently in the fundraising market with Wavemaker Partners, which launched a $60 million growth-stage investment strategy earlier this month amid a group reorganisation.
Five SE Asian VC funds secured a final close in the first half of the year—B Capital Opportunities Fund II at $750 million, AC Ventures Fund V ($210 million), Seviora T3F Strategy ($173 million), Kamet Capital’s Founders Fund I ($70 million), and Betagro Ventures I ($30 million), according to the SE Asia’s VC Funds: H1 2024 Review report by DealStreetAsia DATA VANTAGE.
Let us move to the other major stories from this week.
Fundraising updates
SE Asia-focused PE firm Navis Capital Partners is raising a second continuation vehicle with a new structure that blends primary and secondary capital. Navis is carving out a 50% stake in its K-12 schools across three Southeast Asian countries into the new fund, alongside dry powder of $90 million to be spent on M&As and brownfield investments.
Trustar Capital has raised $1 billion for a continuation fund that will hold the Chinese private equity firm’s controlling stake in McDonald Corp’s operations in mainland China and Hong Kong, Reuters reported. Sovereign wealth fund QIA has committed the biggest amount to become the anchor investor in Trustar‘s continuation fund.
Canva-backer AirTree Ventures has so far raised a total of $67.7 million from US investors for its two new funds – Airtree Ventures Core Fund V Partnership and Airtree Ventures Opportunity Fund V Partnership.
EQT Group has set a hard cap of $14.5 billion for its ninth Asia buyout fund, BPEA Private Equity Fund IX. It had earlier set the target fund size at $12.5 billion. The predecessor had raised over $11 billion in 2022.
Singapore-based Mizuho Asia Partners, a subsidiary of Japan’s Mizuho Corporate Bank, has closed its third private equity fund at about $320 million. The amount is a tad below the firm’s original target of $350 million for the vehicle, dubbed Exacta Asia Investment III.
Melbourne-headquartered asset management firm Boman Group is launching a new $1 billion venture fund as part of its plan to facilitate both investment and business expansion opportunities across China and Australia.
Sayan Ghosh, a former IFC executive, has launched Ortella Global Capital, a $35.5-million fund looking to back early- to growth-stage startups.
India’s deep tech-focused, early-stage venture capital firm Seafund, which is in the market raising its Rs 250 crore ($30 million) second fund, has pushed its expected closure to mid-2025, citing Indian elections, high inflation, and good returns from the public markets, which is prompting LPs to adopt a “wait-and-watch” approach.
Deal news
SE Asian e-commerce enabler aCommerce is actively exploring potential strategic partnerships as it looks to scale beyond the region and enter new geographies, its group CEO told DealStreetAsia. The company is also looking at an IPO in the near term, aCommerce Group CEO Paul Srivorakul said.
Vietnamese edtech startup Dream Viet Education JSC, the operator of the learning platform Kyna English, has raised fresh capital in the first tranche of a new funding round from local private equity firm Asia Business Builders and DTP Education Solutions.
Podium, a Singapore-founded cloud-based digital platform for industrialised construction, has raised $15.3 million in a Series A-1 funding round anchored by design and software solutions firm Autodesk. Schindler and Lendlease backed the round.
Indonesian coffee chain Kopitagram has raised $4 million in debt funding from OCBC Ventura, the CVC arm of Bank OCBC Indonesia.
Mimin, an Indonesian startup that provides chat commerce solutions and virtual assistance services, has raised $1.5 million in new funding, filings show. The firm secured commitments from Skystar, Kopital Ventures, PT Digital Karya Utama, and Urban Gateway.
World Bank member IFC is considering proposals to invest in Pakistani manufacturing firm Novatex, Vietnamese sugar refiner Bien Hoa Consumer Joint Stock Company, Shanghai-listed pharma company Joincare Pharmaceutical and China’s Qinhuangdao Huaheng Bioengineering.
Alibaba Group will integrate its domestic Chinese and international e-commerce platforms into a single business unit run by one leader for the first time. Alibaba has also raised $5 billion in a dual-currency bond, marking the largest deal of its kind in the Asia-Pacific this year, Reuters reported.
LP-GP updates
CapitaLand Investment is purchasing a 40% stake in pan-Asia real estate fund SC Capital Partners for $214 million to bolster its investment management capabilities. The real estate asset manager will acquire the remaining stake in the GP in phases.
Singapore’s 65 Equity Partners is purchasing around 13% secondhand stake in Tuya, a Chinese software company that’s worth around $969 million, from an existing shareholder. The deal will provide a partial exit for New Enterprise Associates, which has been on Tuya’s cap table since 2014.
The mandate for Australia’s sovereign wealth fund will grow to include domestic housing, energy, and infrastructure in a major revamp that nudges the $150-billion Future Fund towards government priorities, Reuters reported.
US-based alternative asset manager Apollo has opened an office in Seoul to help execute and build on its growth plans in the market as part of its Asia Pacific expansion. The firm has appointed Jay Hyun Lee as partner and head of Korea.
Qiming Venture Partners, a venture capital firm that has backed some of China’s biggest tech companies, is planning a major leadership transition as it prepares to raise a new US dollar venture fund next year, according to The Information.
India desk
IPO-bound quick commerce firm Zepto has raised another $350 million in its third funding round this year, led by Motilal Oswal’s private wealth division.
After logging nearly 35x returns from the IPO of food delivery firm Swiggy this month, Accel seems to be replicating its strategy by betting early on Swish, a rapid food delivery platform, amid rising demand for ultra-fast food delivery in India.
Indian agritech-focused VC firm Omnivore is in advanced talks to re-up in Farmley, a full-stack dry fruit brand, less than a year since it last invested in the startup.
In startup deals this week, online travel company MakeMyTrip has signed an agreement to buy Happay Expense Management Platform from CRED, while The Good Glamm Group has fully acquired The Moms Co.
HealthKart, India’s largest omnichannel nutrition platform, has raised $153 million in a fresh round of funding led by ChrysCapital & Motilal Oswal Alternates.
Greater China desk
Prospects for investments, growth, and returns still exist in China, even at a time when foreign investments into the country have hit their lowest level in decades, said Hartley Rogers, executive co-chairman of the $947 billion private markets investment firm Hamilton Lane.
Private market investors in Asia are seeing investments with ‘true alpha’ returns — the excess return of an asset than its benchmark — despite the ongoing market volatility, according to some of the region’s top investors.
Swedish investment giant EQT expects “a steep increase” in capital allocations to alternatives by private wealth in Asia, particularly China, where wealthy individuals actively seek diversification from their heavy bets in the home market.
Earnings and financials
Glance, the smartphone lock-screen content company backed by Google, reduced its losses for the financial year ended March 2024 driven by increased demand in its two largest markets, India and Singapore.
Indian skincare firm Mamaearth’s parent Honasa Consumer wiped off nearly 35 billion rupees ($414.7 million) in market valuation in two sessions, after a second-quarter loss fanned demand concerns for the beauty products retailer.
Vivance, a Singapore-based medical technology company formerly called AWAK Technologies, and its subsidiaries posted higher losses in 2023 as expenses escalated during the year, regulatory filings show.
Analysis and interviews
Indonesia’s move to set up a mega state-owned investment company, Danantara, which will subsequently manage assets worth nearly $1 trillion, is expected to accelerate foreign investment inflows to fuel big-ticket projects across the country’s growth sectors. Danantara, modelled to become the largest investment firm in the country, will see the Indonesian Investment Authority and seven state-owned enterprises coming under its fold.
Malaysia’s capital markets outclassed other SE Asian exchanges, with the most new listings and the largest total fundraising and market capitalisation in IPOs in the first 10 months of 2024. According to Deloitte data, the country welcomed the highest number of public market debutantes in 18 years with 46 listings that raised a total of $1.5 billion.
Private credit investors, particularly LPs, are seeing rising opportunities in financing the development of housing units as global migration patterns lead to critical shortages for affordable homes in developed markets, Fiera Capital Asia Managing Director and head of Asia (excluding Japan and Korea) John Cappetta said.
With capital deployment in the Asia Pacific picking up significantly, private debt is expected to play an increasingly important role in financing PE transactions, said a senior executive at global asset management firm Barings.
Lastly, one of Indonesia’s oldest VCs, Ideosource, is winding down operations as its only fund expired early this year. Most of its portfolio has been liquidated in the secondary market, and the team has ventured into other businesses. Ideosource began in 2011 as an angel investment platform and later evolved into a venture capital firm in 2014.
We are less than two months away from the Indonesia PE-VC Summit to be held in Jakarta on January 16, 2025. Check out our attendee list and confirmed speakers and join us to kickstart the new year with cutting-edge insights into SE Asia’s top market.
