Gobi reaches $50m first close on Southeast Asia fund
Gobi Partners, a Shanghai-based venture capital investor focused on China and Southeast Asia, has reached a first close of $50 million on its latest Southeast Asia fund.
The vehicle, Meranti ASEAN Growth Fund, launched earlier this year with a target of $200 million. LPs include Malaysia Venture Capital Management (Mavcap), Korean e-commerce company GS Shop, and Indonesian investment firm CKM. Gobi hopes to develop a broad investor base so that its Southeast Asia-based portfolio companies can draw on a wide range of sector experience.
Meranti will focus on start-ups based in Southeast Asia in the cloud services, e-commerce, and financial technology sectors, along with companies that use technology to serve Muslim communities. The fund plans to invest in at least 15 companies, with ticket sizes ranging from $5 million to $20 million, primarily in Series B and C rounds.
Mavcap has previously partnered with Gobi for a MYR60 million ($14.5 million) fund to make seed-stage investments in Southeast Asia. The Gobi-Mavcap ASEAN SuperSeed Fund is managed out of Gobi’s Kuala Lumpur office, with Gobi’s co-founder and managing partner Thomas Tsao, Singapore-based partner Kay-Mok Ku, and Mavcap CEO Jamaludin Bujang on the investment committee.
“Our decision to once again partner with Gobi for this new fund was backed by their 15-year track record, not to mention our own fruitful 2-year working experience with them, which has produced a first exit this past June,” said Bujang in a statement. “This fund is the biggest growth stage fund to come out of Malaysia at this point, and is also one of the biggest in ASEAN. Mavcap is more than optimistic about the benefits to be gained by being a part of this fund.”
Meranti has already made its first investment, taking part in an extended Series B round of $27 million for Indonesian e-commerce player Sale Stock. Alpha JWC Ventures, Sinar Mas Digital Ventures, Golden Equator Capital and Convergence Ventures also participated.
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