Singapore’s Her Capital targets $10m for debut fund
Singapore-headquartered venture capital firm Her Capital is seeking to raise a debut $10 million fund to invest in Southeast Asia with a gender lens-focused thesis.
The VC firm will invest exclusively in women-led businesses. It was founded earlier in the year by Tanya Rolfe (pictured, left), formerly an employee at UK law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, and Gail Wong (pictured, right), a managing director at Sloan Capital, a Singapore-headquartered management consultancy firm. The firm is a successor to Ladies Investment Club, a Singapore-based network of angel investors established in 2017.
As angel investors, the duo have been involved in investments in four companies in Asia, including Singapore online marketplace Gifts Less Ordinary, Indonesian sustainable chocolate brand Krakakoa, Vietnam skincare company Soul Story, and Singapore's LUXE Botanics. Wong is also on the advisory board for Tessaract, an artificial intelligence-enabled cloud-based enterprise management system.
The firm counts five venture partners and a four-person advisory panel on its team. Deal targeting will be sector or technology agnostic.
Investments could involve products or services where women are a key decisionmaker such as household goods, as well as those seeking to enhance quality of life such as healthcare or wearable technology. Companies tackling social issues including financial inclusion, gender inequality or climate change will also be considered.
“We are fundamentally about inclusion not just for women but designing a world that includes all,” said Wong. “I think fundamentally some of the VC approaches tend to focus on one kind of founder or one type of company, primarily in technology, but we do see opportunities elsewhere.
"Women-run businesses across Southeast Asia are underfunded and tend not to be hyper growth companies but are nevertheless good businesses.”
Other venture capital firms seeking to invest in companies led by women include Cleo Capital, Fearless Fund, SoGal, Female Founders Fund, Halogen Ventures, Aspect Ventures, Built By Girls Ventures, Portfolio, Women's Venture Capital Fund, and WXR Fund, most of which are based in the US.
Earlier in the year, Nupur Garg, formerly the South Asia regional lead for the International Finance Corporation, established the Women in India Private Equity (WinPE) network, a non-profit initiative seeking to enhance gender diversity in the Indian investing ecosystem.
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