Southeast Asia witnessed a strong year in 2018 as venture capital firms raised larger funds and several new names entered the fray, including some sector-focused and country-focused funds.
Before we take a look at the top VC funds of 2018 in terms of largesse, here are some notes on our methodology. For this exercise, we only looked at funds that were either launched or closed this year. So, Vickers Venture Partners’ $230-million fund and Vertex Ventures’ $210-million fund, both of which were closed last year, are not included.
Also omitted are funds that held a first close last year and are expected to make a final close by the end of this year (the $100-million Kejora-InterVest fund) or next year (the $200-million Meranti ASEAN Growth Fund).
So, what really changed this year?
One, $100-million became the new normal. This year saw several $100-150 million funds being launched, including more than one first-time funds.
Siam Commercial Bank-backed Digital Ventures, which did not make this list on account of a mere technicality, saw its corpus double to $100 million in May.
In September, Fidelity-backed Eight Roads Ventures opened its first Southeast Asia office in Singapore and managing partner Raj Dugar said the VC saw the potential for a $200-million fund focused on Southeast Asia.
Two, more sector-focused funds gained ground. Prominent names include B2B tech-focused Qualgro and Tin Men (both $100-million funds) and healthcare-focused HealthX Capital (which announced a $25-million fund for SEA and India).
Three, 2019 is already promising to be bigger. Indian impact investor Aavishkaar has already announced plans to raise a $300-million Southeast Asia-focused fund. Chinese VC firm GGV Capital is looking to set up an office in Singapore early next year, while Qiming Ventures may soon decide if it wants to launch a dedicated fund for Southeast Asia.
Here are the top VC funds of this year:
| Fund | Amount (USD) | Status | Focus | Investments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sequoia Capital | $695 million | Closed | India and Southeast Asia | |
| 2 | B Capital *First-time fund* | $360 million | Closed | Global Series B+ | Bird, Carro, Ninja Van |
| 3 | Latitude Venture Partners *First-time fund* | $200 million | Closed | Global Healthcare/Healthtech | |
| 6 | Jungle Ventures (Fund 3) | $200 million | First Close | India and Southeast Asia Consumer internet, fintech, B2B/SME digitization | |
| 4 | EV Growth *First-time JV fund* | $150 million | Launched | Southeast Asia Growth-stage startups | |
| 5 | Monk's Hill Ventures (Fund 2) | $150 million | Launched | Asia Series A and B | |
| 7 | Grab Ventures *First-time fund* | $150 million | Closed | Series A and B | |
| 8 | Openspace Ventures | $135 million | Closed | Southeast Asia Series A and B Fintech, healthtech, edtech,consumer applications, cloud-based solutions | |
| 9 | Hatcher+ H2 | $125 million | Launched | Global Formation, pre-seed, seed, series A | |
| 10 | Insignia Ventures Partners *First-time fund* | $120 million | Closed | Southeast Asia | First Circle, Carro, Awantunai, Logivan |
| 11 | Golden Gate Ventures | $100 million | Closed | Southeast Asia Tech, especially e-commerce, payments, mobile apps | |
| 12 | Qualgro (Fund 2) | $100 million | First Close @ $60 million | Southeast Asia Series B and onwards B2B tech, AI, security, data analytics, SaaS | |
| 13 | Tin Men Capital *First-time fund* | $100 million | Launched | Southeast Asia Pre-Series A B2B tech | Overdrive IoT, Globaltix |
| 14 | VinaCapital Ventures *First-time fund* | $100 million | Launched | Vietnam Technology, especially logistics, fintech, digital media | Logivan, FastGo |
| 15 | Alpha JWC (Fund 2) | $100 million | Launched | Fintech, SaaS, Big Data analytics, marketplace and e-commerce | |
| 16 | ComfortDelGro Capital Partners *First-time fund* | $100 million | Closed | Global Mobility | |
| 19 | Golden Equator - Korea Investment Partners' joint fund | $87 million | Launched | Southeast Asia Series A and B Fintech, marketplaces, enterprise solutions, e-commerce, AI | |
| 17 | Wavemaker Partners (third fund) | $80-$100 million | Soft Launch | Deeptech, B2B, fintech | |
| 18 | Kejora Ventures | Slightly below $80 million | Closed | Fintech, HR, healthcare, media, logistics, education | Investree, Cekaja |
| 20 | MassMutual Ventures *First-time fund* | $50 million | Launched | Southeast Asia Series A and B Digital health, fintech, insurtech, enterprise software | |
| 21 | Decacorn Capital | $50 million | Launched | Women’s health, newborn health and life science tools |
