Asia-focused venture capital firm Gobi Partners on Tuesday announced a strategic partnership with Japan-based Cross Capital to foster cross-border innovation and enhance the flow of Japanese investments into Southeast Asia’s startup landscape.
The collaboration seeks to empower startups and investors with access to resources, networks, and opportunities across the region.
Founded by veteran venture capital professionals, Cross Capital is a business development-focused fund of funds connecting Japanese and global startups.
Cross Capital’s flagship fund of funds (FoF) connects Japanese corporations to top-tier venture capitalists, offering exposure to a portfolio of approximately 1,800 startups and enabling open innovation, access to global ecosystems, and transforming business models, according to a press release.
The fund-of-funds plans to commit investments in 10 top-tier VC funds across Southeast Asia, Europe, and other key regions. Together, Gobi and Cross Capital aim to accelerate market entry, localisation, and scaling efforts for startups, creating opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors alike, the release said.
“Japan’s strong history of innovation and its growing interest in Southeast Asia make this partnership with Cross Capital a natural fit. Together, we aim to unlock the vast potential of ASEAN’s dynamic startup ecosystem while providing Japanese investors unparalleled access to the region’s brightest entrepreneurs,” said Thomas G Tsao, co-founder and chairperson of Gobi Partners.
Takaki Nakamura, Co-Founder and CEO of Cross Capital, said, “Cross Capital is backed by major corporations as LP investors, all deeply interested in the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem. Together with Gobi Partners and its portfolio companies, we aim to co-create impactful projects spanning business partnerships, investments, and M&A opportunities.”
Gobi Partners has a strong track record of building partnerships with Japanese investors, including selling Hermo, one of its early portfolio companies, to Japan’s iStyle Retail.
Southeast Asian startups recorded 134 equity deals in Q3 2024 to raise a total of $979 million, marking the first time since 2019 that quarterly proceeds have fallen below the $1-billion mark, according to DealStreetAsia’s SE Asia Deal Review: Q3
Due to the weak Q3 performance, the deal volume in the first nine months of 2024 stood at 474—the lowest since 2020. Meanwhile, the year-to-date funding of $3.26 billion was less than half the capital raised in the same period in 2020, highlighting the region’s prolonged funding slowdown amid challenging global conditions.
