Vertex launches $200m captive fund for SE Asia, India

While the resources for the new fund come entirely from parent company Temasek, this represents a separate fundraise from the $600 million that Temasek committed to Vertex last month, Vertex CEO Kee Lock Chua told Deal Street Asia. That earlier commitment will be invested in Vertex's family funds in the US, Israel and China.

The new vehicle will focus on supporting companies coming out of Southeast Asia's incubators, particularly in Singapore. Temasek believes that local start-ups face a shortfall in support after incubation and need the additional funding that VC firms can provide. It has recently supported a number of Singapore-based GPs, including Jungle Ventures and Golden Gate Ventures, for this purpose.

Vertex's recent moves in India include appointing Ben Mathias, formerly of New Enterprise Associates, as managing director and country head. The firm expects India's venture market to remain active, as the current field of start-ups has too many players that will need to be winnowed down.

Vertex targets a wide range of sectors, including information technology, retail, medical and manufacturing. Its investments in Southeast Asia include Indonesian online grocer HappyFresh, for which it co-led a $12 million round with Sinar Mas Digital Ventures earlier this year, and Malysia-based taxi booking app GrabTaxi; the GP first invested in the start-up in 2013, and went on to lead a round in 2014 and participate in the Tiger Global-led Series C round later that year.

The firm's activities in India include participating in a $26 million Series D round for child-focused retailer FirstCry, and leading a funding round for parenting portal theAsianparent to support its India expansion.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• South Asia
• Fundraising
• GPs
• Venture
• Singapore
• India
• Vertex Management (II)
• GPs
• Venture
• Fundraising
• Southeast Asia