Singapore-headquartered VC firm East Ventures says it closed its sixth fund at USD 75 million, more than double the firm’s initial USD 30 million target.
The oversubscribed fund is supported by a diverse set of high net worth individuals (HNWI), Asian family offices, fund of funds, and several sovereign wealth funds, according to the official statement.
The HNWI are Wang Xing (CEO of Meituan-Dianping), Singapore-based Eduardo Saverin (co-founder of Facebook), and Kaling Lim (co-founder of Razer). Institutional investors joining the fund include Pavilion Capital, Adams Street Partners, and Temasek, as well as the Asian family offices of Indonesia-based Sinarmas Group, Triputra Group, and Emtek Group. Existing limited partners (LPs) are joining as well to support the fund but their names were not revealed.
With the fresh funds, East Ventures said it remains committed to continuously support the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem, especially in Indonesia, by providing Seed to Series A funding for startups from all sectors and industries.
The participation in the sixth fund has been driven by the success of the previous funds with 30 notable exits including Disdus’ exit to US-based Groupon back in early 2011, according to the firm.
In 2017, two companies under East Ventures’ portfolio, Kudo and Loket, were acquired by Southeast Asian unicorns, Grab and Gojek, respectively. In 2019, East Ventures-backed Bridestory was acquired by Indonesia based unicorn Tokopedia.
Founded in 2010 by Willson Cuaca, Batara Eto, and Taiga Matsuyama, East Ventures is one of the pioneer VC firms in the region and has been listed among the top-performing funds in the world by an alternative assets data source provider Preqin.
It is also one of the most active in terms of number of deals closed. According to CrunchBase, it has made 202 investments so far across Southeast Asia and Japan, the latest being the seed round of Indonesia-based boutique fitness and indoor cycling studio, Ride Jakarta.
Last year, the firm also strengthened its commitment to continuously build the digital infrastructure of Indonesia with the launching of its USD 200 million joint growth fund, EV Growth, in collaboration with SMDV and Yahoo! Japan Capital.
