Fund focus: Plugging ASEAN family offices into global tech

Singapore's iGlobe Partners' latest fundraise illustrates how the firm has quietly become one of the longest-standing VC investors in Southeast Asia. There was no dramatic step up in target size for Platinum Fund III or an ambitious redrawing of the LP base. Rather, the GP sought $100 million – the same as in the previous vintage – and relied on a familiar circle of family offices.

Southeast Asian family offices alone account for about 40% of the capital raised, with iGlobe noting that venture capital is a natural fit for these investors. For iGlobe, which started life in the US with a $70 million debut fund, the family office factor has been a strong theme ever since it relocated to Singapore in 2010. This is when the firm launched its Platinum series funds, tapping ASEAN appetite for the more advanced start-up ecosystems abroad.

"Southeast Asian investors are typically not able to get into tech deals in the West," explains Shihao Koh, iGlobe's head of investor relations. "We're unique in giving them that exposure, and that shows in the investor base. Word-of-mouth has been pretty strong. Family offices that have trusted us during the past couple of decades are introducing us to others as more people these days set up family offices. By the time we were done fundraising, we had to turn some of them away."

Despite Platinum III being the iGlobe's fourth fund in a more than 20-year history, only two large institutional investors feature in the LP mix. High net worth individuals also played a significant role, especially where they are traditional business owners with family office-style agendas or intentions of outflanking new-economy disruptors.

"We don't just pitch it as ‘buy our product and we'll see you in 10 years,'" Koh says. "We try to share our insights with LPs and get them to share their insights with us on a yearly or bi-yearly basis to know more about what we're thinking in terms of tech, where it's going and how it's affecting businesses."

Platinum III will make 15-20 early growth-stage investments in total, with ticket sizes ranging from $500,000 to $10 million. It will focus on iGlobe's historically core areas of smart cities and financial technology, as well as an emerging interest in synthetic biology. There have been at least six investments to date, with Asian commitments including Tonik, a digital bank in the Philippines that had raised $44 million in total as of a $17 million round led by iGlobe last month.

Global access continues to be iGlobe's key differentiator, however, and at least 50% of the Platinum III corpus is likely to be deployed in the West. LPs are clearly confident this can still be done despite COVID-19 travel restrictions, since the fundraising process launched around the time the pandemic began.

The new fund has made three investments in the US and one in the UK so far. Two of the four are existing portfolio companies. Due diligence for the others was done entirely remotely – but the opportunities were sourced in-country by a deep rolodex of investee connections.

"Our experience and history helps a lot wherever we go in terms of network," Koh says. "The CEOs and ex-CEOs that we've invested in are strong supporters and always close to their industries. They're the forward party to give us a heads up and point us in the right direction."

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Venture
• Technology
• North America
• Fundraising
• GPs
• Singapore
• iGlobe Partners
• TMT
• Family office