As we curate the list of important developments that unfolded last week, it’s worthwhile to note how Indonesia is increasingly evincing investor interest as the startup ecosystem there bustles with activity. Quite a few transactions were clocked in the archipelago last week, followed by countries such as Singapore and Malaysia in the region.
China and India, too, continued to witness increased deal momentum as funding by startups and fundraising by general partners (GPs) continued to gather steam.
Big-ticket transactions
Jakarta-headquartered KoinWorks raised $108 million in its Series C round led by MDI Ventures, with the participation of other investors. The fintech startup raised $43 million in equity and $65 million in debt to scale up its solutions and team as it looks to recruit 400 new employees globally.
Meanwhile, agritech startup eFishery in the archipelago raised $90 million to expand regionally, targeting the top 10 countries in aquaculture, such as India and China. While Temasek, SoftBank and Sequoia co-led the round, the firm’s existing investors including the Northstar Group, Go-Ventures, Aqua-Spark, and Wavemaker Partners also pumped in capital.
In a significant deal scoop, last-mile delivery startup SiCepat Ekspres, also headquartered in Indonesia, is understood to be in talks with investors including Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC to raise over $150 million. Sources told us that the proposed investment could turn SiCepat into a unicorn.
In Malaysia, auto marketplace Carsome announced raising $290 million in its Series E round. The development confirmed an earlier DealStreetAsia report.
In China, materials tech firm Vital Thin Film Materials Co Ltd (VTFM) garnered over $188 million led by private equity firm CICC Capital and Chinese electric car maker BYD. Sinopec Capital and energy solutions provider TBEA also participated in the round.
Separately, Primavera led a $100 million funding for Shenzhen-based plant-based meat startup Starfield. E-commerce giant Alibaba’s strategy chief Ming Zeng also participated in the deal, alongside its existing investors.
In India, edtech startup LEAD entered the unicorn club after a $100 million Series E funding round, while earned wage access platform (EWA) platform Refyne raised $82 million in a round led by Tiger Global Management.
In other deals
Singapore-headquartered loyalty programme company Giift secured $50 million in its Series C from UK-based PE firm Apis Partners to expand its operation in the Asia Pacific and Africa, and build on its market share in North America and Europe. It also plans to invest a part of the corpus in proprietary technology.
Separately insect protein maker Entobel, also headquartered in Singapore, made headlines for raising $30 million to finance the construction of a production facility in Vietnam.
Xurya, a Jakarta-based startup that develops rooftop solar panels for businesses and industries in Indonesia, announced raising a total of $21.5 million in a round co-anchored by East Ventures and Saratoga Investama Sedaya.
In yet another funding development in Indonesia, investing platform Pluang raised $55 million from US venture capital firm Accel and others to develop its technological capabilities and expand its asset classes.
On the fundraising trail
East Ventures bagged a capital commitment of $28.4 million from Germany’s DEG for its second growth fund as it targets investments in tech companies that are instrumental for the economy, such as B2B distributions and logistics, artificial intelligence and cloud-based applications, e-commerce, fintech, healthtech, and digital media.
Meanwhile, San Francisco City and County Employees’ Retirement System (SFERS) committed $49 million to two investment funds operating in the Asia Pacific region.
In China, private equity firm Huagai Capital closed its latest early-stage healthcare fund at $125 million. The vehicle drew commitments from LPs including financial institutions, government-led industry funds, funds of funds (FoFs), and listed medical groups.
SoHo Advisors, a US and Singapore-based boutique bank that focuses on the fintech sector, is launching a $200 million fund to invest in technology, media and telecom firms in the Asia Pacific region.
In India, venture debt firm Anicut Capital made the final close of its second debt fund at $118 million. The vehicle has so far invested in over 12 early-stage startups.
ESG gains traction
ESG is increasingly emerging as a dominant investment theme among GPs & LPs, Chibo Tang, an executive at Gobi Partners who is actively sourcing deals across southern China’s Greater Bay Area for a new Alibaba-backed fund, told us.
“Many large-scale institutional investors from university endowments to pension funds, listed companies and major corporates now prioritise ESG in their overall strategies,” he added.
Action on the bourses
The Singapore Exchange is preparing for its first set of SPAC listings with Vertex Holdings, Tikehau Capital and Novo Tellus filing papers this week within hours of each other. While Vertex and Tikehau submitted their final documents, Novo Tellus formally announced its S$150 million ($111 million) SPAC bid in a preliminary prospectus last week.
Meanwhile, all eyes are currently on Indonesian tech behemoth GoTo’s upcoming IPO that hinges on finding the right valuation. GoTo, which was formed after the merger of ride-hailing giant Gojek and e-commerce marketplace Tokopedia in May last year, is said to be seeking to raise $1 billion from its Indonesia listing.
