Golden Gate Ventures Closes 800 Billion Rupiah Funding Pool

Singapore-based VC, Golden Gate Ventures (GGV), has announced that it has closed its pool second round of funding dedicated to funding early-stage startups in Southeast Asia. Initially targeting the acquisition of managed funds with a total value of $50 million (approximately 670 billion Rupiah), GGV eventually obtained $60 million (approximately 803 billion Rupiah) or excess (oversubscribed) $10 million, which shows the enthusiasm of global investors to invest in the Southeast Asian startup market. pool GGV funding previously announced end of july 2015 worth $50 million.

GGV also announced the entry of three institutions as new LP (Limited Partners), namely Korean insurance company Hanhwa Life Insurance, Thai bank Siam Commercial Bank, and German media conglomerate Hubert Burda Media.

Previously, Siam Commercial Bank had formed an investment vehicle called Digital Ventures. Regarding the joining of banking institutions as GGV partners, Chairman of the Executive Committee of Digital Ventures Thana Thienachariya in his statement stated:

"Banks need to adapt to industry changes quickly in order to stay competitive. We are preparing Digital Ventures to deal with these changes and working with startups in various ways, including investment. We believe Golden Gate Ventures is the right partner to help us identify and participate in opportunities investment in Asia which has become the next innovation hub."

Compared to other regions that have begun to reduce the pace of investment into startups, including in Silicon Valley, the Southeast Asia region still shows above-average growth. GGV noted that around $1,7 billion (Rp 22 trillion) of funds went into Southeast Asian startups in the January-May 2016 period.

Of that figure, $1,1 billion went to Singapore-based startups, especially Lazada which Alibaba acquired last April. Startups in Indonesia in the same period took the third position, after Malaysia, with a total investment value of $233 million (Rp 3,1 trillion).

A number of startups based in Indonesia and receiving funding from GGV are Bilna (now Orami), Coda Payments, Indotrading, and Laku6. GGV was founded and led by a trio of Jeffrey Paine, Vinnie Lauria, and Paul Bragiel.