500 Startups closes $140m global fund, rebrands

The US-based VC is known as an early-stage investor, not least in Asia where it has backed the likes of Southeast Asian unicorns Bukalapak, Carousell, and Grab, as well as Australia’s Canva.

The firm was founded in 2010 and entered Asia the following year. There are currently offices in Singapore, Seoul, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, and Kuala Lumpur. In January, Ee Ling Lim, formerly country director for Singapore, was appointed regional director for Asia Pacific.

There are country funds for Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam, as well as a $50 million Southeast Asia fund anchored by Mavcap, Malaysia’s largest VC. Accelerators have also been set up in Indonesia and Cambodia. The Japan team spun out amicably in 2019 to form, Coral Capital, which continues to cooperate with 500 Global.

500 Global claims to have made more than 6,000 investments to date, 46% of which are outside the US. They include 33 companies that have gone on to become unicorns and 120 now valued at more than $100 million. The latest fund brings assets under management globally to $1.8 billion and formalizes a recent broadening of the seed-stage mandate to include larger deployments.

“Today, global start-up ecosystems are developing at a pace that has never been seen before,” Christine Tsai, CEO and a founding partner of 500 Global, said in a statement.

"As venture capital continues to globalize and the percentage of unicorns from outside the US increases further, 500 Global is uniquely positioned with deep expertise and a strong track record of investing in markets around the world. Our new brand reflects this vision.”

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• Topics
• North America
• Southeast Asia
• North Asia
• GPs
• Fundraising
• Venture
• USA
• Singapore
• 500 Startups
• seed