Jafco closes latest Asia VC fund at $130m

Jafco Asia S-8 Fund, launched in April last year, will be managed by the GP’s Singapore-based subsidiary, which closed its most recent Asia ex-Japan vehicle at USD 140m in 2017.

LPs include large Japanese corporations, which are expected to offer significant portfolio support, according to a statement. Taiwan electronics giant Wistron is among the backers in previous vintages.

Jafco Asia – which also operates via bases in Taipei, Seoul, Beijing, and Shanghai – has raised around USD 2bn and invested in more than 500 companies since its inception in 1990. Funds under management currently exceed USD 500m, including a Taiwan fund that closed at NTD 2bn (USD 73m) last year.

Yoshiyuki Shibusawa, a board member of Jafco in Japan, has headed Jafco Asia as president and CEO since relocating to Singapore in 2012. He is half of a two-person investment committee alongside CFO Melvin Teo, a Singapore citizen. They are supported by 16 investment professionals across the region.

Mobile and internet, consumer and services technologies, cybersecurity, medical tech, and renewable energy are among the favoured sectors historically. Standout investments include Taiwan-founded advertising technology supplier Appier, which re-headquartered in Japan as part of a USD 270m Tokyo IPO last year.

Jafco was founded in 1973 as Japan Associated Finance and set up the country’s first VC fund in 1982. In addition to Japan Asia, it operates a US-focused division called Icon Ventures established in 1984. Jafco closed its sixth flagship Japan fund at JPY 80bn (USD 691m) in 2020, while Icon’s latest vintage secured USD 375m in late 2015.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Fundraising
• Venture
• Technology
• Singapore
• China
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• JAFCO