As polls close across the United States on Tuesday evening, the country – and most of the rest of the world – will wait with bated breath for the verdict. The uncertainty around the 2024 presidential elections has been exceptionally high, and the final verdict, whichever way it goes, could usher in more chaos.
Thankfully, nothing is unpredictable about our weekly recap of significant private market developments in Asia. Here we go…
LP-GP updates
Private markets investment firm TPG has raised $4.4 billion so far for its second TPG Rise Climate fund, per a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Chicago-based investment manager Adams Street Partners has closed its 2024 Global Fund Program, securing $1.1 billion in committed capital, about 34% more than its predecessor vehicle.
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund (PIF) will be an anchor investor in Brookfield Asset Management’s new $2 billion Middle East-focused private fund.
PIF and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) have signed an agreement to anchor a joint fund with a target size of $1 billion.
The Saudi wealth fund plans to cut its overseas investments by about a third as the Kingdom taps into its resources to fund plans to wean the economy off oil.
Abu Dhabi’s sovereign investor Mubadala Investment Company and Temasek-owned Seviora Holdings have teamed up to pursue co-investment opportunities and other strategic ventures globally, including in Singapore and the UAE.
Malaysia-based private equity (PE) firm Creador has announced plans to invest up to 20 billion pesos (about $344 million) in the Philippines over the next five years.
Saudi Arabia’s Beta Lab has launched a $300-million fund to invest in startups in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Southeast Asia. The firm, which has links to the Saudi government, has also secured partnerships with the Indonesia Investment Authority, Telkom, and MDI Ventures.
Wa’ed Ventures, the $500 million venture capital (VC) arm of Saudi Arabia’s Aramco, has announced a $100 million commitment to early-stage AI startups to support positioning the Kingdom as a global AI hub.
Vietnamese behemoth Vingroup has launched VinVentures, a $150-million VC fund to target startups in Vietnam and the broader Southeast Asian region.
Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) has partnered with regional VC firms to attract up to 200 million ringgit (about $45 million) in capital investments.
Singapore’s top two universities have launched a national incubator programme with an initial commitment of S$50 million ($37.7 million) to train up to 300 startup teams by 2028.
Updates from Southeast Asia
Vietnamese electric vehicle (EV) maker VinFast has announced that it will receive an undisclosed investment from a consortium of investors led by Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Driving Company.
JD Logistics, part of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, is looking to revive its presence in Indonesia nearly two years after disbanding its services in the country, multiple sources aware of the development told DealStreetAsia.
Following the revocation of its licence by Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK), questions remain about the unresolved issues at fintech firm Investree, starting with its responsibilities to lenders.
Indonesian fintech startup Fazz is said to be undergoing a business restructuring, including discontinuing certain services at its Fazz Business vertical.
The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is considering a proposal to invest $100 million in Vietnam-based Southeast Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SeABank).
Indonesian sovereign wealth fund INA’s toll road platform has invested in the Medan-Binjai and Bakauheni-Terbanggi Besar sections of the Trans Sumatra Toll Road.
The Singapore government has announced an additional S$440 million ($332 million) investment in the Startup SG Equity scheme focused on deep tech startups.
Singapore telco M1 Limited, a subsidiary of asset manager Keppel, has acquired a 70% stake in Vietnam-based ADG National Investment and Technology Development Corp for a total purchase consideration of 719 billion dong ($28.3 million).
Singapore-based parenting platform Supermom has announced raising S$18 million in a Series B round led by Granite Asia, confirming a DealStreetAsia report.
Chickin, an Indonesian poultry startup, has raised $20 million in a financing round, which includes $5 million in debt funding.
Coolmate, a Vietnam-based D2C men’s apparel brand, has closed a $6 million Series B round led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India.
Finfra, an Indonesian embedded lending API startup, has secured $2.5 million in a funding round anchored by Cento Ventures, while Malaysian investment firm Kairous Capital has led a $1.5-million investment in Vietnam-based B2B startup PangoCDP.
News from Greater China
Funding for Greater China-based startups rose sharply in the third quarter of 2024, a sign that investment momentum is gradually picking up, finds the latest report by DealStreetAsia – DATA VANTAGE. Capital raised by local startups stood at $12.69 billion in the July-September period, up 40.2% from the previous quarter.
Despite being the top industry by funds raised and deals sealed, China’s semiconductor sector is not immune to the chill of the funding winter, said a top executive from the deep tech VC firm G&O Capital, which specialises in semiconductor and AI opportunities.
With competition at home squeezing profits, a growing number of Chinese restaurateurs are looking overseas for fresh opportunities. Southeast Asia, with its proximity to China and large Chinese communities, has emerged as the perfect launchpad.
GDS Holdings Limited, a China-based developer and operator of high-performance data centres in China and Southeast Asia, has raised $1 billion for its international affiliate from US investors who seek to capitalise on the infrastructure supporting a future of artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud.
Riyadh-based ewpartners, which counts Chinese internet giant Alibaba Group and Saudi Arabia’s PIF as investors, has pumped $50 million into Leshines, the supply chain solutions provider of Lenovo Group.
China’s Anhui EIKTO Battery, which develops industrial lithium-ion batteries, has secured 400 million yuan ($56.1 million) in a new funding round backed by state investors.
Dispatches from India
Fund managers in India, particularly those raising capital for their first investment vehicles, have been facing an uphill climb in 2024 as they struggle to win over limited partners (LPs) concerned over low DPIs.
PE major KKR is reportedly in talks to acquire a controlling stake in CVC Capital-owned cancer hospital chain HealthCare Global Enterprises Ltd.
Indian food delivery giant Swiggy has slashed its IPO valuation to $11.3 billion, 25% below its initial goal of $15 billion, as market volatility and the lacklustre debut of Hyundai India weigh on sentiment, according to a Reuters report.
Finova Capital, a Jaipur-based NBFC, has raised $135 million in a Series E round of funding from Avataar Venture Partners, Sofina, and Madison India Capital.
Vridhi Home Finance has raised Rs 310 crore ($36.9 million) in a Series B round led by Norwest Venture Partners, with participation from existing investor Elevation Capital.
B2B marketplace Udaan has raised Rs 300 crore ($35.7 million) in debt financing from investors, including Lighthouse Canton, Stride Ventures, InnoVen Capital, and Trifecta Capital.
Interviews and analyses
With the global liquidity crunch reshaping private capital flows since early 2022, Southeast Asian startups have been pursuing aggressive business reforms to ensure sustainability and accelerate the path to profitability. A recent DealStreetAsia analysis reveals mixed performance but also encouraging signs of recovery. Among the 922 venture-backed companies analysed, 54.4% reported year-over-year revenue growth, indicating that more than half are gaining traction in their markets.
Risk capital investors appear to be increasingly parking large sums of money in Indian startups if the rise in big-ticket transactions this year is an indicator. Mega deals, or transactions worth at least $100 million, collectively raised $4.76 billion in the Jan-Sept 2024 period, recording a 15% jump from $4.12 billion in the comparable period last year.
Investors pouring billions of dollars into India’s quick delivery ecosystem believe that the domestic market is young enough to offer strong growth, and are not expecting startups to replicate their models elsewhere, Zepto CEO Aadit Palicha told Nikkei Asia.
Earnings reports
Indonesia’s tech giant GoTo reduced its losses in Q3 2024 by 29% to 1.7 trillion rupiah. Its adjusted EBITDA turned positive in the quarter to 137 million rupiah, bringing the company closer to its adjusted EBITDA breakeven target for the full year 2024.
GoTo’s fintech division has established itself as the firm’s growth engine and is poised to clock positive quarterly adjusted EBITDA significantly ahead of schedule, said a top executive during the earnings call.
Indonesia-listed e-commerce giant Bukalapak recorded an adjusted EBITDA loss of 168 billion rupiah in Q3 2024, up 76% year on year.
Vietnamese tech major VNG announced growth across its business segments in the first nine months of 2024, with its net revenue reaching 6.9 trillion dong ($273 million).
Southeast Asian e-commerce enabler SCI Ecommerce swung to a net profit of $34.7 million in 2023, compared with a restated net loss of $16.2 million in the previous year, according to regulatory filings.
GoTo-backed PT Bank Jago recorded a 71% growth in net profit in Q3 2024, driven by a 74.6% increase in other operating income.
PT Global Digital Niaga – the parent company of Indonesian e-commerce player Blibli, online travel agent Tiket.com, supermarket chain Ranch Market, and home and living experience centre Dekoruma – continued to narrow its net losses in Q3 2024 and posted higher net revenues.
