Northstar raises $590m for fifth Southeast Asia fund

The vehicle launched towards the end of 2019 and a first close of approximately $260 million came in April 2020. Participants in the first close included sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, family offices, and high net worth individuals. Similar details were not given for the final close.

Northstar’s last two fundraising processes have been challenged. The firm closed Fund IV on $810 million in 2015, following the end of the commodities boom and economic difficulties in Indonesia. Meanwhile, Fund V largely coincided with COVID-19.

The strategy has evolved over time to prioritize consumer and financial services, with a strong technology overlay. Fund V will pursue opportunities in this vein, backing mature growth companies – primarily in Indonesia – as well as start-ups on a selective basis. Supporting Southeast Asia’s pandemic recovery has been added to the thesis.

"The past two years have seen unprecedented volatility, uncertainty and complexity, but Southeast Asia and, in particular, Indonesia continues to present compelling medium to long-term investment opportunities,” said Patrick Walujo, co-founder and managing partner of Northstar, in a statement.

“As these markets recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, their favorable demographics, increasing wealth and consumption, greater levels of education and further digitization will drive outsized growth.”

The Fund V portfolio already includes Greenfields Dairy, a $236 million carve-out completed in conjunction with TPG Capital; Advance Intelligence Group, a Singapore start-up best known for providing identity verification and fraud prevention services, which closed a $400 million Series D in September; and Ula, an Indonesian B2B e-commerce player that has raised $140 million to date.

Among the value drivers in Fund IV are GoTo, an Indonesian super app created through the merger of Gojek and Tokopedia, which is being primed for an IPO, and Bank Artos, an Indonesia-based digital lender established by Northstar in conjunction with Bank Tabungan Pensiunan Nasional, a former portfolio company. GoTo is also an investor in Bank Artos.

Northstar was founded in 2003 by Walujo and Glenn Sugita. They pursued a combination of small investments and M&A advisory work before raising a debut fund of $110 million. A second vehicle closed at $285 million in 2010 and a third – which saw the remit expand from Indonesia to Southeast Asia – at $820 million in 2011.

The firm has deployed more than $3 billion in the region, including co-investment, backing 35 companies. It currently has more than 25 professionals based in Singapore and Jakarta.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Fundraising
• Growth
• Technology
• Consumer
• Financials
• GPs
• Indonesia
• Northstar Group
• Fundraising