Gobi Partners makes ASEAN appointments
Gobi Partners has strengthened its ASEAN team with the appointment of Dan Chong as COO for the region and the recruitment of two partners for its ASEAN and Thailand funds.
Chong joins from Singapore’s MediaCorp where he was a vice president for corporate strategic development and participated in a number of M&A deals and growth-stage investments. Chong has been hired to help Gobi expand its infrastructure and improve its process efficiency in ASEAN.
The venture capital firm, which is headquartered in Shanghai and focuses on China and Southeast Asia, reached a first close of $50 million on the Meranti ASEAN Growth Fund in August 2017. With a target of $200 million, the vehicle is intended to support companies as they pursue meaningful scale in Southeast Asia. B Capital, Monk’s Hill Ventures, and Vickers Venture Partners have similar aspirations.
Khairul Khairi will serve as a partner in this fund. He previously spent seven years working for Malaysia’s Khazanah Nasional as a senior vice president in the co-investment strategy and innovation and entrepreneurship divisions. Before that, Khairi was an investment banker for Maybank and served as an investment manager in CIMB’s private equity department.
Shannon Kalayanamitr has been appointed as a venture partner in Gobi’s upcoming Thailand fund, which is expected to concentrate on early-stage deals. She co-founded Moxy, an e-commerce platform that subsequently merged with industry peer Bilna to form Orami, and most recently served as founder and CEO of Ikigai Group, an education-focused business. Kalayanamitr also advises Thailand’s Digital Economy Promotion Agency.
“We think they can deepen Gobi Partners’ involvement in Southeast Asia’s venture capital industry,” Thomas Tsao, a founding partner at the firm, said in a statement. “Dan’s extensive networks and experience in corporate venture capital, Khairul’s close ties to Malaysian corporates and investment banks, as well as Shannon’s substantial entrepreneurial experience and understanding of Thailand’s entrepreneurial ecosystem will make our team even stronger.”
In addition to the Meranti ASEAN Growth Fund, the firm invests in the region through Gobi Fund III and Gobi Mavcap ASEAN SuperSeed Fund.
More on Southeast Asia
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.