Singapore's Quest Ventures achieves first close for new fund
Quest Ventures, a Singapore-headquartered venture capital firm, has achieved the first close for a new fund. The target for the vehicle is $50 million.
QazTech Ventures, a subsidiary of Kazakhstani sovereign fund Baiterek National Management, has contributed $10 million to Quest Ventures' second fund, according to an announcement on Strategy 2050, a state-run news portal covering the activities of the country's long-term economic diversification project. Temasek Holdings-owned Pavilion Capital is another anchor LP.
In return for QazTech’s contribution, Quest will also manage a start-up accelerator program and introduce portfolio companies to Kazakhstani entrepreneurs.
According to Singaporean media reports, Quest was looking to raise two funds last year for venture and impact-focused investments. It had set a total target of $120 million for the two vehicles. It seeks to invest in pre-Series A and Series A rounds of start-ups in emerging economies like Myanmar, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Quest Ventures, formerly known as QuestVC, was founded in 2011 by James Tan (pictured, left) and Wang Yunming, co-founders of 55tuan, a Chinese discount-based marketplace that listed on NASDAQ in 2015. Tan resigned as CEO in 2017. Quest was registered in Singapore last year when it began to look for external capital to support its activities.
“Today, the venture market in Southeast Asia has high potential and is developing at a rapid pace. We expect that in the near future projects funded by this fund will be able to be competitive both in Kazakhstan and abroad, in particular in Southeast Asia”, said Adil Nurgozhin, a managing director at Baiterek.
Quest claims to have invested in more than 50 companies, typically focusing on e-commerce start-ups, utilizing personal capital provided by Tan. Notable portfolio companies include Singapore-based used goods marketplace Carousell and real estate portal 99.co, as well as Shopback, a reward-based e-commerce marketplace in Malaysia.
The article has been updated after Quest Ventures released an official statement.
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