Korea, Singapore investors back Vietnam's Do Ventures
Korea’s Naver and Woowa Brothers have joined Singapore’s Sea and Vertex Holdings as LPs in the debut fund from Vietnam-based Do Ventures.
They contributed to a $28 million first close for the vehicle, which is targeting a final close of $50 million next year. The fund will make commitments of up to $5 million in local technology start-ups, including both consumer and enterprise-facing businesses.
Do Ventures was founded earlier this year by Vy Le and Dzung Nguyen. Le is a serial entrepreneur who served as a general partner at Vietnam and Southeast Asia investor ESP Capital for about two years until February. Nguyen was previously head of Vietnam and Thailand for Japan-based CyberAgent Ventures.
“COVID-19 is such an unprecedented event that makes it difficult for investments, since most investors have low visibility of the global financial landscape, and travel restrictions seriously impede our mobility,” Le told KrAsia regarding the first close. “Specifically, the travel restrictions have affected our original plan quite a bit.”
The investment plan aims in part to leverage behavioral changes related to COVID-19. Vietnam has been seen as a relatively resilient market in light of the pandemic, and openings are expected to emerge in segments such as remote healthcare and education, business digitization, and online-enabled logistics in rural areas.
Do Ventures has not identified the companies in its pipeline but is expected to confirm a number of deals within a month. It flagged social commerce, software-as-a-service, data management, and e-commerce enablement as areas of interest.
Naver is also a direct investor in Vietnam, with recent activity including participation in a $30 million round for online entertainment broadcaster Pops. Vertex typically targets the country through its Southeast Asia and India fund, which closed last year at $305 million.
Woowa Brothers is recognized as the largest online food delivery operator in Korea. It was acquired late last year by Germany’s Delivery Hero at a valuation of around $4 billion, facilitating exits for several private equity investors.
Sea, a NASDAQ-listed entertainment and gaming platform formerly known as Garena, is active in Vietnam through its payments service AirPay and e-commerce marketplace Shopee.
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