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The VC firm initially aimed for US$50 million; got investment from both Asia and Europe
Last year, Golden Gate Ventures (GGV) announced that it was raising US$50 million for its second early stage venture fund, securing US$35 million by July 2015.
Today the company revealed that it has managed to exceed the initial target by closing US$60 million, from Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank, South Korea’s Hanwha Life Insurance, and Germany’s Hubert Burda Media, in addition to existing investors such as Temasek and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin.
Both Hanwha Life Insurance and Siam Commercial Bank treat their partnership with GGV as “a rare opportunity to tap into the region’s rapidly maturing consumer markets.”
Siam Commercial Bank has also set up its venture capital arm Digital Ventures.
As for Hubert Burda Media, a German media conglomerate and one of the largest consumer Internet companies in Europe, the investment stresses its increasing commitment to become a player in Southeast Asia.
“We take an opportunistic approach with our investment thesis. We like to look at all early-stage deals in this region in order to best understand trends and new opportunities we may not have forecasted from past results (or other markets),” wrote Golden Gate Ventures Managing Partner Vinnie Lauria in an e-mail to e27.
Also Read: Golden Gate Ventures pumps over US$4M into six new companies
According to a statement by GGV, despite perceived difficulties in China that affects investor sentiment in the
country, investment continues to flow into Southeast Asia.
Venture capital funding doubled year-on-year in the first quarter of 2016. Data also indicates a growing number of investment rounds with US$1.7 billion being invested in 473 deals over the last five months (details on the exact numbers each Southeast Asian countries received can be seen in the graphic below).
The region also saw the emergence of unicorns (companies with private valuations of over US$1 billion) which can be seen in the following table:
Also Read: Clothing e-tailer Grana bags US$3.5M funding led by Golden Gate Ventures
GGV also indicates that Southeast Asia’s prospect will also be affected by GDP growth across its countries, which falls between 614 per cent year-over-year, thanks to its 600 million people and a rapidly growing middle class.
According to Google and Temasek’s “e-conomy SEA” report, the region has 260 million Internet users, with an additional 3.8 million people coming online every month. This unprecedented adoption makes it the fastest growing Internet market in the world, predicted to reach around 480 million users and US$200 billion in online spend by 2025.
The report forecasts US$40-50 billion in investment over the next 10 years to match the region’s GDP growth.
According to Lauria, the ‘hottest’ sectors for up-and-coming investments are what he referred as “the ‘utility’ services of early ecosystems: e-commerce, marketplaces, and payments.”
“Additionally, with small business in the region using the Internet for more of their business, we’re seeing a number of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) startups pop up in places like Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand,” he added.
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Image Credit: Alejandro Scaff on Unsplash
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