Wavemaker Partners Announces Second Investment Fund For Southeast Asia Worth Nearly 900 Billion Rupiah

Singapore-based venture capital firm Wavemaker Partners announced the acquisition of a second investment fund specifically geared towards technology companies in Southeast Asia of US$66 million (or around Rp.891 billion). The funds obtained by Wavemakers exceeded initial expectations of the original target of US $ 50 million.

One of the companies that participated in this fundraiser was a member of the World Bank, the International Financial Corporation (IFC) who put up US$10 million in funds.

IFC said that this participation shows the company's commitment to supporting startup penetration at an early stage. At the same time forming an ecosystem to continue to innovate and drive growth in emerging markets in Asia.

"Our focus at IFC is on supporting innovation, digital transformation and entrepreneurship in developing countries in Southeast Asia. This has prompted us to partner with a venture capital company that focuses on early-stage regional funding," said IFC Head of Investment Asia Pravan Malhotra, in the official statement received DailySocial.

In addition to IFC, other venture capital companies from Thailand, namely AddVentures, also participated. The company is part of the conglomerate Siam Cement Group (SCG). AddVentures participation marks the first step in investing in Wavemaker. Another company also named is Temasek, a state-owned investment company based in Singapore.

Wavemaker Partner Managing Partner Paul Santos said the company took a different approach when investing in Southeast Asia. Almost 80% of the investment made by the company is classified as early stage funding. The company also emphasizes that the selected portfolio must be led by a founder who is proficient in their field.

"We have come a long way since we first started in Singapore five years ago. In many ways, we have experienced many of the same bitter experiences as startups. We are also encouraged by the results achieved and the response from investors," said Paul.

With this newly acquired fresh fund, Wavemaker has made significant follow-up investments for several companies. These include Coins.ph, a blockchain-based financial services platform; Wavecell, a communication platform with cloud computing; and Zilingo, a fashion marketplace from Thailand which has now expanded to Indonesia.

Furthermore, Paul estimates there will be at least three additional new investments for the Series B round before the end of this year. He also said several startup portfolios had scored more than $3 million in annual revenue.

Among them, Smove, a car-sharing platform in Singapore; Ematic, a marketing solutions provider; and Lynk, a knowledge sharing platform with experts.

Wavemaker also announced new portfolio additions, such as Structo, a 3D printing solution for dental; and Silent8, artificial intelligence to combat money laundering practices.