SEAF hits first close on Southeast Asia women's fund
The Southeast Asia division of US-headquartered impact private equity firm SEAF has reached a first close of at least $16 million for a women’s economic empowerment fund.
Denmark's Paedagogernes Pension, a teachers' retirement fund, contributed DKK100 million ($16.2 million), according to a statement. The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and Global Affairs Canada are also investors.
The target corpus has not been confirmed. However, AVCJ reported in 2019 that SEAF was planning a gender-lens fund targeting $100 million to invest alongside its existing Women's Opportunity Fund, which also targeted Southeast Asia. Last year, ESCAP said it was teaming up with SEAF for a $150 million investment agenda that included launching the fund in question plus an expansion of SEAF's dedicated Bangladesh VC unit.
The SEAF Women's Economic Empowerment Fund will invest in women-led businesses as well as those operating in sectors where women comprise a large portion of the labor force. Companies delivering products and services meeting unique and unmet wants and needs of women and girls will also be considered, as will those where the leadership demonstrates a strong commitment to gender equality and wider diversity.
Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines are the core geographies. The fund is managed by local teams, the majority of which consist of women investment professionals. In addition to seeking financial returns, the local teams will aim to ensure a transformative and long-term impact for women.
"We have learned that meeting the needs of women entrepreneurs requires us to innovate and go beyond the usual lending modalities towards promoting mentorship, business development support services and access to growth capital and that is exactly what our partnership with SEAF offers," Kaveh Zahedi, deputy executive secretary at ESCAP, said in a separate disclosure.
SEAF launched its Women's Opportunity Fund in 2017 with a A$9 million ($6.9 million) commitment from the Australian government. It is fully deployed in six women-led or women-owned businesses, including Organica, a Vietnamese natural produce retailer founded by a mother concerned about the pesticide-heavy local food system. Organica experienced a rapid expansion post-investment.
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