EV Growth Closes Oversubscribed US$200 Million Fund 1
30 May 2019
Singapore headquartered venture capital firm, EV Growth, has hit the final close of its first fund at US$200 Million, exceeding the firm’s initial US$150 Million targets. This oversubscribed fund is supported by a diverse set of strong partners including SoftBank Group, Pavilion Capital, Indies Capital, and other regional investors.
Launched in March last year, EV Growth is a joint venture between East Ventures, SMDV, and YJ Capital Inc. that focused on providing growth capital to startups in Indonesia and the rest of Southeast Asia with an agnostic industry focus. The company is led by three partners – Willson Cuaca from East Ventures, Roderick Purwana from SMDV, and Shinichiro Hori from YJ Capital Inc., while Batara Eto involved as Advisor.
EV Growth has a multitude of portfolio companies encompassing different sectors including leading beauty tech player Sociolla, leading multi-platform online media company IDN Media, mobile point-of-sale player Moka, micro-retail tech player Warung Pintar and region’s number one Edutech player, Ruangguru. To date, the VC has deployed 40% of the total fund to more than 12 deals out of which 90% of it coming from Indonesia.
Willson Cuaca, Partner of EV Growth, explained, “We set up EV Growth to capture some of the best startups from Indonesia, including but not limited to portfolios of East Ventures. The timing, fund size, and fund deployment pace are right and we are glad that we could attract smart money within a short period of fundraising. We believe EV Growth will quickly make its mark into Southeast Asia digital economy.”
Shinichiro Hori, Partner of EV Growth, said, “We are excited to have YJ Capital Inc.’s parent company, SoftBank Group, as well as many of the key regional investors onboard. As a joint venture fund, we aim to bring value to our portfolio companies by leveraging the network and capabilities of the partners, our parent companies and affiliates, and our investors with experience in global markets. We hope we can be a bridge between SoftBank Vision Fund and SEA unicorns.”
Roderick Purwana, Partner of EV Growth, added, “For SMDV, this collaboration marks the next evolution of what we’ve been doing in the tech space in the region for the past 5 years. We’ve been very fortunate to have partnered with East Ventures early on and are delighted to add another great partner in YJ Capital Inc. The combination of the three firms, allows us to leverage further the network of Sinar Mas group to support a growing ecosystem of tech companies in Indonesia and the region. We believe we have the right setup and team to tackle the growing opportunity of tech growth funding in Southeast Asia.”
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About EV Growth
EV Growth is a joint venture between East Ventures, SMDV, and YJ Capital Inc. that is focused on providing growth capital to startups in Indonesia and the rest of Southeast Asia with an agnostic industry focus. It has one of the largest networks of companies and partners in the region and has invested in more than 12 portfolio companies since its first close in April 2018.
EV Growth aims to bridge the gap in VC growth funding with the ultimate goal of creating a well-diversified portfolio of Southeast Asia early growth tech stage leaders. Leveraging Sinar Mas’ deep business knowledge and combined with East Ventures’ reputation as one of the leading VCs with the largest seed and Series A portfolios in the region as well as YJ Capital Inc.’s long experience in the Internet industry, EV Growth has unrivaled access and insight into upcoming trends and opportunities in the industry.