The day of the final match in the UEFA Euro 2024 championship is here. Not many were expecting to see England make it this far (was “that” really a penalty?), least of all English fans who had railed at manager Gareth Southgate and his tactics. But does his side have it in them to outplay a stronger Spain whose wunderkind Lamine Yamal has everyone in awe, except maybe German labour officials? We will find out today.
As we wait for the “lessons I learned from Euro 2024” LinkedIn posts to drop, here is a recap of the non-sports-related developments in the week that went by.
LP-GP updates
Singapore’s state-owned investor Temasek Holdings plans to double down on India, betting on its growing domestic market and businesses, while taking “a cautious approach” and monitoring government policies in China this year. The firm, which last year posted a S$7-billion loss for the first time in years, saw its one-year shareholder returns swinging back to positive—to around 2% in Singapore dollar terms—for the year ended March 31, 2024.
Sovereign wealth fund Indonesia Investment Authority (INA) more than doubled its investments in 2023, disbursing $1.9 billion with co-investors. The investments led to an increase of 37.7 trillion rupiah ($2.3 billion) in INA’s total assets under management (AUM), bringing its total AUM to 147.6 trillion rupiah by the end of last year.
Zephyr Peacock, the Indian investment arm of New York-based private equity (PE) firm Zephyr Management, may undergo a top management reshuffle, according to sources familiar with the matter. The potential restructuring could impact the timeline for closing its fourth India-focused fund, originally slated for July.
Venture capital (VC) firm HongShan, previously known as Sequoia Capital China, has closed a new RMB-denominated fund at about 18 billion yuan ($2.5 billion) to back companies in the technology, healthcare, and consumer sectors. The development, first reported by the Financial Times, was independently confirmed by DealStreetAsia.
South Korean PE firm Hahn & Co surpassed its target to hit the final close of its fourth flagship fund at $3.4 billion, becoming the largest single country-focused fund in Asia this year, according to a Bloomberg article posted on the firm’s website.
Singapore- and US-based VC firm B Capital is in the market for new growth, healthcare, and climate funds, according to filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
South Korean VC Atinum Investment, which has backed companies such as ride-hailing giant Gojek and Korean video game publisher Kakao Games, plans to increase its focus on Southeast Asia after closing its flagship global fund, a top executive told DealStreetAsia.
Secondary transactions, which are gaining momentum as both limited partners (LPs) and fund managers prioritise liquidity amid a bleak exit environment, might take time to become mainstream in Southeast Asia’s VC space, say industry watchers.
Notwithstanding the challenging fundraising landscape, Singapore-based early-stage VC firms M Venture Partners and TNB Aura are in the market to raise fresh funds to invest in the region and beyond.
LongRiver Investments, a VC focused on the healthcare and technology sectors, has raised its inaugural US dollar fund at $385 million, defying a challenging fundraising time, especially for emerging managers.
China’s Glory Ventures is in the market for its third USD-denominated fund, its filing with the US SEC showed. The deep tech specialist had closed its second USD fund at $120 million in May 2021.
Hong Kong-based Isola Capital has roped in alternative investment company Sun Hung Kai & Co as one of the anchor investors for the first close of its latest fund with Sydney-based Mantis Funds.
Algorithmic trading firm Auros has launched an investment arm that plans to deploy over $50 million into digital asset enterprises over the next two years.
India’s National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) is all set to launch an agri fund for startups and rural enterprises with an initial corpus of Rs 750 crore (around $90 million). NABARD and the agriculture ministry will each provide Rs 250 crore, with the remaining amount coming from other institutions.
Funding and other corporate news
Temasek-backed global investment firm 65 Equity Partners has invested S$100 million (about $74 million) in Hi-P International, a Singapore-headquartered manufacturing firm.
Startup funding in Southeast Asia dipped in June after hitting a five-month high in May, another reminder of the stubborn challenges in private capital fundraising in the region. Last month, 52 venture deals, the lowest this year, raised a total of $781 million, down 11% month over month.
Singapore’s competition watchdog has said that ride-hailing firm Grab’s proposed acquisition of local peer Trans-cab will significantly weaken competition in the market. Grab is one of the city-state’s top ride-hailing companies, with the deal for Trans-cab reported to be valued at around S$100 million ($74 million).
Singapore-headquartered blockchain payments network Partior has held the first close of an over $60 million Series B round led by Peak XV Partners. The firm’s regulatory filings show it has raised $35 million in fresh equity funding from Peak XV, Jump Trading, Valor Capital, and Deutsche Bank.
Vietnam-based creator economy startup METUB has secured $15.5 million in funding from North Haven Thai Private Equity, a mid-market PE fund managed by Morgan Stanley Investment Management, according to regulatory filings.
Vietnam-based co-living startup M Village has secured fresh funding from a subsidiary of Chinese online travel group Trip.com (formerly Ctrip), according to regulatory filings. Following the completion of the round, Trip.com will own a 22.5% stake in the Vietnamese firm.
Indonesian poultry startup Pitik, which reportedly laid off more than half its workforce earlier this year, has ceased operations after its attempts to secure fresh funding failed, DealStreetAsia has learnt.
Singapore-based investment firm Clime Capital has invested $10 million in Vietnam’s clean energy company Nami Distributed Energy.
Indonesian gym operator Faster Than Light (FTL) has raised venture debt funding from OCBC Ventura, the venture capital arm of Indonesian lender PT Bank OCBC NISP.
Singapore fund manager Heritas Capital has led a S$2-million round in The Gentle Group, a local social enterprise which provides food solutions and care services for patients with swallowing difficulties.
The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) approved 42 new projects totalling more than $5.1 billion in the quarter ended June 30, including projects worth at least $230 million across Asia.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank) have announced a collaboration to provide supply-chain financing of up to $150 million to Vietnamese coffee exporters.
Startup financing in Greater China declined 41% YoY in June to nearly $2.8 billion as macro uncertainties, geopolitical tensions, and a tepid exit landscape continue to dampen investor interest.
China’s DST has completed its Series E+ round of financing after roping in Twin Towers Ventures, the corporate VC arm of Malaysian state energy giant Petronas, to its cap table.
Chinese deal activity in the US for the first half of the year sank to the lowest since 2006 as fraught relations between the two countries fuel tighter scrutiny of Chinese companies and further decouple the two economies.
Chinese electric vehicle major BYD will acquire a 20% stake in local distributor Rever Automotive in Thailand, its largest market outside of China.
Canada’s Brookfield has acquired a majority stake in Indian renewable energy company Leap Green Energy through a combination of primary and secondary transactions worth a total of $200 million.
US-based PE firm TA Associates has made an undisclosed investment in Vastu Housing Finance, an affordable housing finance player in India. According to media reports, the $400 million investment was made at a valuation of Rs 10,000 crore.
IFC is considering an equity investment of up to $20 million in healthcare SaaS firm Innovaccer, which is domiciled in the US and also has operations in India and the Middle East.
Earnings and analysis
M-DAQ Global, a Singapore-headquartered fintech company backed by PE firm Affinity Equity Partners and China’s Ant Group, more than doubled its losses in 2023, according to recent regulatory filings. The company reported a consolidated net loss of S$26.5 million (about $19.7 million) last year.
Singapore-headquartered quantum communications technology startup SpeQtral reduced its losses by 70% in 2023 despite shrinking revenue. The Xora Innovation-backed company, which develops products and services to protect critical infrastructure from cyber attacks, posted $1.15 million in losses last year.
While RMB fundraising continues to flourish amid a lacklustre USD fundraising market due to drawn-out geopolitical tensions, it remains to be seen if China’s fundraising conditions will improve anytime soon. Industry experts say it will be hard to bridge the gap created by the dearth of USD funds, especially as a few road bumps hinder investment opportunities.
Vietnam’s agritech startups face an uphill task leveraging technology for growth, even as the sector continues to draw investor interest and gradually warms up to the idea of precision farming. The recent shutdown of startups such as Kilimo and Koina underscores the challenges faced by the nascent industry.
Led by Indonesia, which is witnessing a ‘green IPO’ boom as clean energy companies and those in the EV space go public, Southeast Asian bourses defied the global slump in public market fundraising in 2023. The region saw a steady stream of 160 IPOs last year, up from 150 and 135 in 2022 and 2021, respectively, notes our latest report. However, in line with global trends, funds raised from the initial share sales fell 19.8% YoY to $5.8 billion in 2023.
