500 Startups closes Thailand fund at $15.4m

The vehicle, known as 500 TukTuks, was launched in early 2015 and expanded its target last year on the back of increased interest from high net worth individuals and corporate investors. The firm claims to be the first major Silicon Valley accelerator and seed-stage investor in the Thai market.

“We have reached the 30th investment in our portfolio, which we believed, marked the status of the most active seed investors in Thailand and in Southeast Asia – but we still want to invest in around 30 more companies,” Krating Poonpol, a venture partner at 500 Startups, said in a statement. 

500 Startups plans to launch a second Thailand fund in the near term that will pursue later stage investments than the current vehicle, with a stronger emphasis on Series A rounds. Almost one third of existing TukTuks portfolio companies have already received follow-on funding or are considered close to raising their next round.  

Recent activity by the fund includes commitments to online holiday home booking platform FavStay, payment solutions start-up Omise and online fashion retailer Pomelo. The Pomelo investment was led by Jungle Ventures and amounted to $11 million with additional participation from Fenox Venture Capital.

Interest in Thailand's emerging start-up ecosystem was piqued earlier this year with the launch of a THB20 billion ($566 million) venture fund as part of a government economic modernization agenda. 500 Startups’ entry into the country coincides with a broader Southeast Asia push, including the launch last year of regional seed fund and a Vietnam-focused fund. 

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Consumer
• Financials
• Technology
• Early-stage
• Fundraising
• Thailand
• 500 Startups
• seed
• TMT