Weekly digest - February 15 2023
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15 February 2023
COVER STORY
With Australia poised for a rarely seen period of economic difficulty, the operational capabilities developed by domestic PE firms will be put to the test.
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PORTFOLIO
KKR AND NVC CHINA
 KKR is targeting the short-video generation in the traditionally middle-aged world of home lighting fixtures with NVC China. But that hasn’t stopped the brick-and-mortar footprint from mushrooming.DEAL FOCUS
ZYPP AIMS FOR THE EV FAST LANE
 Zypp Electric’s USD 25m Series B comes on the back of a business model pivot, a pandemic-driven boom, and a tie-up with its lead investor to put swappable batteries into its two-wheelers.DEAL FOCUS
ADAMANTEM EXTENDS RETAIL ZOO'S PE STORY
 Adamantem Capital bought Retail Zoo from Bain Capital with a view to continuing the rollout in Australia and overseas while potentially picking up more food and beverage brands.DEAL FOCUS
TAKING ELECTRIFICATION TO CHINA'S SKIES
 TCab Tech has won USD 15m in funding to bankroll its electric-powered alternative to helicopters. The path to market might be relatively short, but revenue and regulation pose challenges. |
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AVCJ AWARDS 2022
EXIT OF THE YEAR - MID CAP: PROBE CX
 Five V Capital identified an opportunity in Australia-based outsourced business services and brought in Quadrant Private Equity to help scale the concept. A USD 792m exit to KKR was their reward.AVCJ AWARDS 2022
EXIT OF THE YEAR - IPO: GOTO
 GoTo’s rocky start on the Indonesia Stock Exchange betrays the pioneering nature of the listing and cements a legacy as an ecosystem lynchpin. Long-time backer Openspace Ventures reflects.AVCJ AWARDS 2022
DEAL OF THE YEAR - SMALL CAP: WELL-LINK
 By taking computing to the cloud, graphics-as-a-service player Well-Link Technologies is looking to broaden access to video games and help power the metaverse. VC investors are keen to get involved. |
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By the Numbers
AVCJ RESEARCH
SCALING UP IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is making its first foray into venture capital through a USD 160m programme aimed at small-scale funds targeting cleantech and technology-enabled sustainable infrastructure. The capital – a core pool of USD 130m plus USD 30m for co-investment – will be deployed over the course of three years.
It is not Asia-only. AIIB flagged opportunities in South and Southeast Asia and across the Caucasus, Central Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, noting that VC investment in these geographies continues to thrive. At the same time, “these regions are facing less representation, which invites further capital to bridge the funding gap.” PE and VC investment in Asia cleantech has been on an upward trend in recent years, rising from USD 691m to USD 1.38bn, and then a record USD 4.62bn in 2019, 2020, and 2021. There was an inevitable retrenchment to USD 791m in 2022. Activity is heavily weighted towards China and the electric vehicle supply chain (though the annual totals exclude investment in electric vehicle manufacturers, which is even more skewed towards China). However, similar themes are beginning to play out in markets like India, which would boost the Asia ex-China showing. It remains to be seen how broadly AIIB defines cleantech and what criteria is put in place for manager selection. Specialist early-stage cleantech GPs are scarce in Asia and those with meaningful track records are even scarcer. However, there is increasing generalist activity in the space – and some managers may even rebrand themselves as cleantech for the sake of a commitment. 
All of the trends featured here were sourced from AVCJ's proprietary database, AVCJ Research, featuring comprehensive information on private equity deals, fundraises and exits.
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