Vertex raises $541m for Southeast Asia, India
Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India (VVSEAI), an early-stage investor affiliated with Temasek Holdings-owned Vertex Holdings, has closed its fifth fund with USD 541m in commitments.
The corpus – which had an initial target of USD 450m – includes a dedicated co-investment envelope of USD 50m for deployment alongside the main fund in start-ups led by female founders.
The LP base comprises sovereign wealth funds, financial institutions, corporates and family offices across Asia and Europe. Disclosed new relationships include Japan Investment Corporation (JIC), International Finance Corporation (IFC), and German development finance institution DEG.
Fund V represents a significant step up in size from Fund IV, which closed on USD 305m in 2019. VVSEAI was among the last Vertex Holdings affiliates to operate independently of the parent. Prior to Fund III – a USD 210m vehicle from 2017 – the firm did not raise third-party capital.
Vertex Ventures China has also been in the market recently, closing its fifth fund on USD 390m, just short of the USD 400m target. Much like VVSEAI, the LP base is Asia and Europe-centric. China-headquartered investors accounted for 3% of the corpus. The rest came from Europe and Southeast Asia.
VVSEAI claims a strong track record, though it did not disclose performance information. The firm has made successful exits from the likes of ride hailing platform-turned-super app Grab, mother and baby retailer FirstCry, last-mile logistics specialist Xpressbees, and financial technology start-up Recko.
The strategy is unchanged. VVSEAI will back high-growth companies, participating in early institutional rounds. Prominent themes in the existing portfolio include enterprise technology, fintech, consumer internet, digital health, sustainability, and mobility.
The firm identified the likes of cross-border payments platform Nium, online fresh meat supplier Licious, podcast start-up KukuFM, patent and innovation database PatSnap, digital insurance player Sunday, omnichannel retailer Ace Turtle, content monetisation platform TipTip, and hospital operator Ayu Health as standout investments from the existing portfolio.
The firm has 22 investment professionals – including eight partners – working out of offices in Singapore, Bangalore, Jakarta, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, and Gurgaon.
“Our earlier funds have had superior cash-on-cash returns and are outperforming benchmarks. This track record led most of our investors from VVSEAI Fund IV to return as investors in VVSEAI Fund V and increase their allocation. In addition, we expanded our total investor base significantly and are happy to welcome all our LPs,” said Ben Mathias, a managing partner at VVSEAI, in a statement.
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