Openspace closes second SE Asia VC fund at $135m

A first close of approximately $60 million came in December 2017, and four months later the GP changed its name from NSI Ventures to Openspace Ventures. This was part of a decision to end an affiliation to private equity firm Northstar Group that had stood since NSI was founded in 2014. The firms retain a strategic relationship.

The rebranding did not disrupt the fundraise. Temasek Holdings and StepStone Group were among the backers of Openspace’s first vehicle – which closed at $89 million in 2015 – that re-upped for Fund II. The full LP base is said to include Australian superannuation funds and regional insurance companies, as well as endowments and family offices. In addition to Australia and Singapore, investors come from the US, Europe, Japan, and Korea.

“The breadth and quality of innovation continue to deepen in our region. The size of the problems being addressed through tech and the rapid progress in a space like health are remarkable. We have been busy in some large segments like healthtech but also fintech and edutech and we will continue to dig into these areas,” said Shane Chesson (pictured), who co-founded Openspace with Hian Goh. He also expects to see more opportunities to develop consumer-driven brands and B2B services.

Openspace has invested in 19 companies and helped those businesses raise over $2.6 billion in follow-on capital, including 13 Series B rounds. Go-Jek is the outlier, having raised $1.5 billion in Series E funding earlier this year at a post-deal valuation of more than $5 billion. As of March, Fund I was ranked by Preqin as the third-best performer among VC funds globally in the 2003-2015 vintage.

While Openspace does selectively come into Series B rounds as a new investor - as well as re-upping in promising start-ups - Series A remains the optimal entry point. Other portfolio companies include fashion e-commerce player Love Bonito, Indonesian drug delivery start-up HaloDoc, Vietnamese online education company Topica, insurance specialist CXA, Indonesian online credit provider FinAccel, and Bangladesh-based ride-sharing and food delivery business Pathao.

Pathao is an example of Openspace adding a new geography and Chesson added that this flexibility in terms of strategy – it might also apply to new tech subsectors – will stay. “We have typically been ahead of the curve and seen followers jump onto sectors in which we provided our initial funding in years past. We have also seen the value creation potential if you have a playbook on going regional – when to do it and how,” he said.

Openspace has a team of 16 including on-the-ground resources in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. In addition to investment and business development expertise, it gives companies access to a dedicated operations unit that helps in areas such as IT, marketing, human resources, legal, and finance.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Venture
• Technology
• Fundraising
• GPs
• Openspace Ventures
• TMT
• Venture