East Ventures announces US$30mil fund for SEA startups focusing on Indonesia

By Digital News Asia September 21, 2017

Leverage on the fund’s local expertise to empower young digital entrepreneurs
Has contributed to 192 deals or 50% of Indonesia's total deals

East Ventures announces US$30mil fund for SEA startups focusing on Indonesia

SOUTHEAST Asian venture capital firm East Ventures announced a US$30 million (RM125.68 million) investment fund for seed to Series A technology startups in Southeast Asia.

This is the sixth fund managed by partners Willson Cuaca, Batara Eto, and Taiga Matsuyama, and will focus on Indonesia to leverage on the fund’s local expertise to empower young digital entrepreneurs across Southeast Asia.

According to a recent AT Kearney report, investments in Indonesia are soaring due to a strong macroeconomic outlook and favourable demographics.

Deals in Indonesia from January to August 2017 alone reached US$3 billion (RM12.6 billion), more than 60x since 2012.

The study also shared that 244 companies completed 381 deals in Indonesia between 2012 to 2017 year-to-date.

East Ventures is amongst the most active technology investors in the region, contributing to 192 deals or 50% of Indonesia’s total deals.

According to internal data, more than 70% of companies who received funding rounds of series A and above in Indonesia were seeded by East Ventures.

East Ventures has invested in 116 companies to date with an 83% survival rate.

Of the 96 active companies, the majority have raised follow on investment rounds of Series A and above.

As shareholders in three out of five unicorns in SEA, the firm has constructed a fast growing portfolio including companies such as Traveloka, Tokopedia, Kudo (now Grab), Loket (now Go-Jek), Shopback, Orami, Valuklik, MokaPOS, Ruangguru, IDNTimes, EV Hive, Julo Finance, Cicil, Omise, Cermati, 99.co, Sociolla and Ralali.

This year East Ventures’ portfolio has seen significant deals including a US$1.1 billion (RM4.6 billion) Alibaba-led investment in Tokopedia, US$500 million (RM2.1 billion) Expedia-led investment in Traveloka, acquisition of Kudo by Grab, acquisition of Loket by Gojek, and one of the largest initial coin offerings in Southeast Asia by Omise.

The firm’s dedication to delivering results for its investors is paralleled only by its mission of empowering local small to medium businesses and building the local ecosystem to support the country’s growth.

The fund has collaborated with various governments and local corporations in order to achieve this.