To fund food & agritech firms in Southeast Asia, Thai Wah Group establishes venture capital arm

Thai Wah Group, a publicly-traded agrifood company located in Thailand, has established a new venture investment arm to help B2B food and agritech entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia.

According to the official release, the subsidiary would have a registered capital of US $3 million (THB 100 million). The registration is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2022.

According to TechinAsia, the VC arm expects to invest in eight to 10 early-stage firms in its first phase over the next two to three years. It wants to partner with other venture capitalists to invest in revenue-generating companies raising $3-10 million in pre-Series A or Series A rounds.

Thai Wah Ventures will provide value-added services such as R&D, pilot development, and production roll-out in addition to finance. Startups will have a better understanding of the retail, wholesale, and cross-border distribution industries thanks to the VC.

The main purpose is to invest in food and technology businesses in a variety of areas related to Thai Wah Group’s core industries, such as agricultural technology, food processing, and bioplastics, among others.

According to the company, it is in negotiations with some of Asia’s venture capital firms to co-invest in the selected startups, with the goal of helping at least four portfolio companies become unicorns in the short future.

“Not a single person or company can do everything themselves if they want to make the right move and fast. We believe open innovation will help us develop the right solutions faster,” Hataikan Kamolsirisakul, head of Strategy and Innovation at Thai Wah Group, told last year.

Thai Wah Group, founded in 1947, is a global food supply chain company that produces B2B food ingredients, starch, tapioca starch, and flour.

The company claims to be Asia’s largest distributor of vermicelli noodle items, with 13 facilities in Asia and a business that spans 30 countries in Asia, the United States, and Europe.

Over the last three years, Thai Wah Group has been included on the Stock Exchange of Thailand’s Sustainability Investment list. Since 2020, it has also been a member of the United Nations Global Compact initiative.

Southeast Asia’s agri-foodtech startup ecosystem, according to AGFunder, is one of the world’s fastest-growing marketplaces. In 2019, the region received $423 million in support from 99 different sources.