Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India (VVSEAI) declared on Tuesday that it had successfully raised $541 million for its fifth and newest fund. The 2019-raised VVSEAI Fund IV is now 80 percent smaller than VVSEAI Fund V, according to a statement from the Singapore-based venture capital firm.
The launch of VVSEAI’s new Fund V follows the portfolio’s impressive cash-on-cash returns. This includes profitable exits from its investments in a number of different companies, including Grab, FirstCry, XPressBees, and Recko. Existing and new limited partners, including family offices, corporations, sovereign wealth funds, and financial institutions from Asia and Europe, support the VVSEAI Fund V. Japan Investment Corporation (JIC), International Finance Corporation (IFC), and DEG (German Development Finance Institution) are among the new Limited Partners, according to the venture capital firm.
Ben Mathias, Managing Partner of Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India commented, “Our earlier funds have had superior cash-on-cash returns and are outperforming benchmarks. This track record led most of our investors from VVSEAI Fund IV to return as investors in VVSEAI Fund V and increase their allocation. In addition, we expanded our total investor base significantly and are happy to welcome all our Limited Partners.”
Chua Joo Hock, Managing Partner of Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, also shared, “We continue to be bullish about the tech startup opportunities in this region as we see the ecosystem evolving deeper and becoming more mature. We have been an early, and in many cases, the first institutional investor in successful Southeast Asian and Indian startup companies. Our investment approach has always been and will continue to be – investing selectively and judiciously. We do not believe in being a prolific investor, but in closely partnering founders and supporting them throughout their journey through ups or downs. This approach has enabled us to build unicorns including Grab, PatSnap, Nium, FirstCry, XpressBees, and Licious.”
The fund corpus has a $50 million co-investment envelope set aside for investing alongside the primary fund in startups founded by women. This envelope will be used to advance the fund’s goal of supporting more women entrepreneurs, which is represented by more than 35% of the startups in VVSEAI Fund IV.
Rohit Sipahimalani, CIO of Temasek and Board Member of Vertex Holdings said, “We are pleased with the progress of Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India especially its support of startups with women founders. While our focus is investing in regional champions, this parallel fund provides the additional resources to reaffirm our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
With a primary focus on Singapore, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and other emerging hubs throughout the region, VVSEAI invests in high-growth startups looking for their early round of institutional venture capital funding in Southeast Asia and India. The company has invested in more than 80 startups and will keep doing so in a variety of industries, including enterprise technology, financial technology, consumer internet, digital health, sustainability, mobility, and others. It employs 22 investors in total across its offices in Singapore, Bangalore, Jakarta, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, and Gurgaon, with 8 investing partners.
In Vertex’s extensive network of venture capital funds, VVSEAI is one of six sizable funds. Each of these funds focuses on making investments in their particular region and industry. The majority of the funds raised by each Vertex Fund, which is independently managed and has Vertex Holdings as its anchor investor, come from international investors.
Temasek Holdings has a 100% ownership stake in Vertex Holdings.
