Hong Kong's Betatron hits $15m first close on VC fund
Hong Kong’s Betatron Venture Group has reached a first close of USD 15m on its latest fund, which will make early-stage investments across South and Southeast Asia. The target is USD 50m.
Betatron said in a social media post that the first close was secured within two weeks of launch. This is said to be the firm’s fourth fund.
Betatrong was set up as an accelerator in 2016 by a group of VC firms and incubators including MindWorks Ventures, Vectr Ventures, CoCoon Ignite Ventures, Aria Group, IC Studio, and Incu-Lab.
The firm, which also maintains an office in Singapore, targets B2B start-ups and makes equity commitments of up to USD 2m. It is led by Matthias Knobloch, an emerging markets specialist who has led around 250 deals in Asia as a managing director and head of the Asia Pacific debt syndicate at HSBC.
Current portfolio companies include International Compliance Workshop, a Hong Kong supply chain platform also backed by Mindworks and Aria, as well as India’s PhableCare, a chronic disease management app that raised a USD 25m Series B last month led by Kalaari Capital.
The latest fund features Pakistani grocery delivery app 24Seven and 91Squarefeet, a technology and networking services provider for Indian offline retailers. Both companies have reportedly achieved double-digit month-on-month growth for the past two quarters.
“We’re funding companies just when they’re poised to scale,” Arshad Chowdhury, a managing partner at Betatron, told Tech In Asia. “The typical Betatron portfolio company has meaningful traction, strong unit economics, a competitive advantage, and capable leadership.”
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