Singapore's Wavemaker reaches $60m first close on third fund

LPs include Pavilon Capital, the International Finance Corporation, and Temasek Holdings, as well as family offices associated with co-founders of Microsoft and Facebook. They were joined by Keppel Corporation, Aglaia Family Office, and Lance Gokongwei, CEO of Philippine conglomerate JG Summit Holdings.

Wavemaker raised $66 million for its second fund in 2017, beating a target of $50 million. The firm, which claims to have more than $265 million in assets under management, aims to differentiate itself by focusing on deep tech, which it sees as underpenetrated in Southeast Asian VC versus consumer-oriented digitization plays.

According to a release, Wavemaker has made about 80% of its investments since 2012 – or 88 out of 109 deals – in enterprise and deep tech companies. The firm said it would extend this strategy with its latest fund, investing in about 60 new companies with initial check sizes of around $500,000. Target verticals include financial services, healthcare, agriculture, marketing, manufacturing, and cybersecurity.

Enterprise-focused portfolio companies marking development traction in the past 12 months include cybersecurity provider CashShield, which raised a $20 million Series B round, marketing tech supplier Saleswhale, which raised a $5.3 million Series A, and Open Data Exchange, a blockchain-based marketplace that has raised $60 million. All three companies are based in Singapore.

Wavemaker has invested in more than 300 companies since inception in 2003. It is a regional partner for southern California and Southeast Asia in the Draper Venture Network, a global alliance of 10 venture firms formed by Tim Draper. The alliance gives Wavemaker portfolio companies have access to the network for collaboration and support.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Fundraising
• Venture
• Singapore
• USA
• IFC
• Temasek Holdings
• Technology