An independent venture capital fund known as Go-Ventures that was connected to Indonesia’s GoTo Group has changed its name to Argor and announced the completion of a new US $240 million venture fund.
Argor’s name, according to partner Aditya Kamath, is a combination of the words “ardor,” “rigor,” and “go.” The company intends to look for both early-stage and mid-stage businesses that take on sizable and alluring market opportunities while making a significant contribution to society.
“Despite the challenging macro environment globally, we remain excited about the potential of Southeast Asia’s technology ecosystem, which is underpinned by secular consumption and technology adoption across both consumers and businesses,” Kamath added.
Argor was reportedly raising $200 million for its second fund last year, with super app Gojek contributing 20% of the total.
Argor has already invested in a number of companies in the past, particularly in those that operate in industries like embedded finance, specialized B2B marketplaces, tech-enabled consumer businesses, SME digitalization platforms, and environment tech.
Before Gojek and Tokopedia combined to form GoTo Group, Argor was introduced in 2018 with the support of Gojek. High-growth startups in Indonesia and other Southeast Asian nations are supported by the VC firm.
The business claimed that while it maintains close ties with GoTo and its other limited partners, its investment strategy and decisions are made independently of them.
It has backed 19 companies thus far and closed its first venture fund in 2020 with a total commitment of US$175 million. Previous investments made by Argor include those in the Singapore HR platform Skuad, the Indonesian agritech company AgriAku, and the Philippine coffee startup Pickup Coffee.
