Diverse investors fuelled Southeast Asian startup growth last week

Last week witnessed a surge of investment activity in Southeast Asian startups, with a diverse range of investors pouring funds into the region’s burgeoning tech ecosystem.

From early-stage venture capital firms to angel investing platforms, a multitude of players displayed confidence in the potential of Southeast Asian companies. These investments signal a growing interest in the region’s digital markets, underscoring its emergence as a hub for innovation and entrepreneurial growth.

Let’s delve into the varied e27 Connect investors who participated in this funding spree.

M Venture Partners (MVP)

MVP is an early-stage VC investor. Based in Singapore, the company invests in companies across Southeast Asia, from pre-seed to Series A stages. The average cheque size is US$500,000 to US$2 million.

Cento Ventures (e27 connect)

Cento Ventures specialises in under-invested emerging digital markets, primarily in ASEAN. It invests in emerging digital markets, primarily Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. It backs Series A and B-stage companies. The average ticket size is US$1 million to US$4 million.

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Gobi Partners

Founded in 2002, Gobi is one of the most active early-stage investors in digital media and technology in Asia. It manages four funds with over US$300 million under management. Since its establishment, Gobi has funded dozens of early to traction stage companies and continues to invest actively in the region. It invests from the seed stage to Series C and above. The focus markets are China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates, and Pakistan.

All three VCs invested in ProCredit, a tech-enabled SME lender in the Philippines.

Iterative

Iterative Capital is an accelerator exclusively investing in companies based in Southeast Asia. Founded by co-founders of Decide.com (acquired by eBay), Iterative differentiates itself with partners, mentors, advisors, and investors who have all previously started, sold, and operated startups. It invests in angel and seed startups. The average cheque size is US$150,000.

The startup invested in is the Vietnam-based wealth management platform 1Long.

Monk’s Hill Ventures

MHV is an investor in early-stage technology startups in Southeast Asia. Founded in 2014 by entrepreneurs Peng T. Ong and Kuo-Yi Lim, MHV invests in early-stage technology companies throughout Southeast Asia, mainly Series A. It takes a first-principles approach and is sector agnostic, investing across industries and sectors including healthcare tech, edutech, fintech, and logistics.

The startup invested in is the Vietnam-based wealth management platform 1Long.

Indelible Ventures

Indelible Ventures is a seed-stage VC investor in Malaysia funding tech-enabled seed-stage startups with B2B products that can expand internationally. It invests in seed to pre-Series A. The average ticket size is US$150,000 to US$500,000.

The startup backed is K-LINK, a Singapore-based provider of a unified contact centre platform.

A2D Ventures

A2D is an angel investing platform. Based in Thailand, it invests from pre-seed to pre-Series A companies. The average ticket size is US$100,000 to US$1 million.

The startup backed is K-LINK, a Singapore-based provider of a unified contact centre platform.

Accelerating Asia

Accelerating Asia is an early-stage fund headquartered in Singapore that invests in pre-Series A startups in Southeast and South Asia. Licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Accelerating Asia invests up to US$250,000 in pre-Series A startups, and the current portfolio covers ten Southeast and South Asian countries including Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Bangladesh and Malaysia.

The startup backed is K-LINK, a Singapore-based provider of a unified contact centre platform.

500 Global

500 Global is a multi-stage VC firm that invests in founders building fast-growing tech companies across 30-plus sectors. A multi-stage VC firm with US$2.7 billion in assets under management, it focuses on markets where technology, innovation, and capital can unlock long-term value and drive economic growth. 500 Global has backed over 5,000 founders representing more than 2,700 companies operating in 81 countries.

The startup invested in is Komerce, an e-commerce enabler for SMEs in Indonesia.

Protege Ventures

Protege is a Singapore-based student fund with two distinct characteristics: it is run by students and only invests in startups with at least one student co-founder. A joint initiative by Kairos ASEAN and the Singapore Management University (SMU), it leverages Kairos’s network in the regional startup ecosystem as well as SMU’s expertise in entrepreneurial know-how to prepare university students for real-world success in venture capitalism and entrepreneurship.

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The startup it invested in is ZOLO, an AI-powered B2B software company started by two alumni from two Singapore universities.

Pi Ventures

Pi Ventures is an early-stage venture investor based out of India. The fund focuses on backing product and technology companies in the areas of AI, machine intelligence and IoT. It aims to invest in startups at different stages ranging from early proof of concept and product/market fit stages to the Series A stage.

The startup it backed is Silence Laboratories, a cybersecurity startup focusing on Web3 technologies.

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