This week, we at DealStreetAsia released two reports to mark International Women’s Day.
The Female Founders in Southeast Asia 2023 and the Female Founders in India 2023 reports celebrate the resilience, innovation, and impact of several women entrepreneurs in these regions and provide insightful data.
Southeast Asian startups with at least one female founder raised $1.41 billion in equity funding in 2023, which is 18.3% of the private capital secured by all startups in the region. The share is a step up from the 12.6% garnered by female-founded startups in 2022.
In India, the share of capital raised by startups founded or co-founded by women stood at 9.25%, as women-led startups bagged $1.1 billion in equity and debt funding in 2023.
The reports also include interviews with several female startup founders who shared their entrepreneurial journeys and their experience in raising capital.
Yoonjung Yi, who co-founded Baskit, a company that aims to digitise the distribution business within Indonesia’s supply chain, said raising venture funding is more challenging for female founders in a male-dominated landscape. She, however, contended that it has not hindered female entrepreneurs in Indonesia.
Meanwhile, Shruti, the co-founder and CEO of Apnaklub.com, said the performance of women-owned businesses often impacts the perception of investors towards female-founded companies in general.
The reports also include interviews with HD co-founder Raya (Ten) Chantaramungkorn, MADCash founder Nuraizah Shamsul Baharin, Kindred co-founder Jessica de Mesa, Genexyz co-founder Belinda Luis, Novatr co-founder Vipanchi Handa and InCruiter co-founder Ritu Mathran, among others.
Data-led stories
We released our monthly data on startup fundraising in India and China this week, which doesn’t bode well for the outlook for 2024.
Fundraising by Indian startups rose marginally to touch $876 million across 106 private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) transactions in February from $853 million in January.
Privately-held firms headquartered in Greater China, meanwhile, raised a meagre $2.9 billion from venture investors in February. The fundraising value, down 12.5% month-on-month (MoM), was the lowest since May 2023.
LP-GP news
PE firm Actis has sold its 75% stake in Jakarta-based Singapore Intercultural Schools (SIS) Group, which runs private schools in Indonesia, India, South Korea, and Myanmar, to Adivira Capital. Sources say Adivira Capital counts a Sinar Mas Group founding family member as one of its limited partners, indicating the conglomerate’s possible plans to focus on the education sector.
For our LP View column this week, we interviewed Xu Qing, managing partner at Oriza FOFs, which is planning to enter Hong Kong as a first step to fundraise beyond mainland China. Oriza FOFs may raise a smaller USD FoF, a direct investment fund, or even a PE secondary fund in the city.
Kuala Lumpur-based secondary investor Bee Alternatives is set to raise its seventh fund in the second half of this year with a rough target of $200 million or more.
Malaysia-based Bintang Capital Partners has officially launched its second fund with a target corpus of $100-150 million, confirming an earlier DealStreetAsia report. The firm’s founder and CEO, Johan Rozali-Wathooth, said the firm is also looking to broaden its LP base by roping in investors keen on impact investing from the US and Europe.
Filter Capital, led by former Warburg Pincus executives Nitin Nayar and Sumit Sinha, is in advanced talks to raise about Rs 800 crore (about $97.5 million) for a new investment vehicle as it gears up to back growth-stage, technology-led businesses in India.
Alibaba Group’s Yu Yongfu is stepping down as the head of the Chinese technology giant’s local services business, to steer eWTP Capital in its exploration of global business opportunities.
French investment manager Tikehau Capital is planning to launch its fourth Asia office in Hong Kong this year to unlock investment opportunities in China.
Lighthouse Funds, a growth-stage PE firm in India, has roped in LPs from the domestic market for the first time since its inception in 2007 as it gears up to raise its Rs 3,500 crore (over $400 million) fourth investment vehicle. “About a third of the commitments to Fund IV will be from India,” said Sachin Bhartiya, the firm’s co-founder and partner.
New York-based Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) has closed its debut emerging markets infrastructure fund with an aggregate capital commitment of over $2.1 billion. Earlier media reports had stated that the fund was looking to raise $5 billion.
US infrastructure and real estate investment firm Stonepeak announced the final close of its maiden Asia-Pacific fund at $3.3 billion, exceeding the $3 billion target set in 2021.
Having fully deployed its $70 million first fund, Philippines-based PE firm Sierra Madre is currently charting out an exit path for two of its earliest investments: XDE Logistics and TeamQuest Technology.
Funding and other startup updates
Among startups that raised capital this week, these were the prominent ones:
wagely, an earned wage access (EWA) provider based in Indonesia and Bangladesh, raised $23 million. The investment was a mix of equity and debt financing, anchored by Capria Ventures, which led the equity portion.
Indonesian proptech startup Rukita secured $15 million in Series B1 funding from new investors, including MPower Partners, BNI Ventures and Openspace Ventures.
Singapore-based AI foodtech startup Ai Palette secured $4 million from VC firm Tin Men Capital as part of its Series A1 funding.
China-based VC investor Sinovation Ventures has exited its investment in 3D digital building startup Vizzio. The exit followed the resignation of AI scientist Lee Kai-Fu, chairman and CEO of Sinovation Ventures, from Vizzio’s board of directors in January. Last month, Singtel Innov8, the corporate venture arm of Singtel, also exited its investment in Vizzio.
Fairbanc, a Singapore- and Silicon Valley-based B2B embedded finance startup that operates in Indonesia, has announced securing $13.3 million in debt financing.
Lighthouse Funds, a mid-market consumer and healthcare-focused fund in India, has invested Rs 229 crore (around $27 million) in luggage maker Safari Industries.
Results and earnings
NYSE-listed Sea Ltd. reported its first full-year profit in 2023 this week. The Southeast Asian tech giant, which runs the popular e-commerce platform Shopee and gaming platform Garena, clocked a net income of $162.7 million for the year ended Dec. 31, 2023. This marks a significant improvement from a net loss of $1.7 billion in 2022. Sea Ltd is optimistic about maintaining the momentum this year despite the competitive environment for its mainstay e-commerce business.
Singapore-based proptech firm PropertyGuru reported a net profit of S$1.1 million ($820,000) for the quarter ended December 31, 2023, compared with a net loss of S$5.2 million in the year-ago period.
Sustainable waste management firm Blue Planet Environmental Solutions slipped into the red for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023, as big spending on acquisitions weighed on its bottom line. In April 2022, the group acquired a 100% stake in Singapore-based Vac-Tech for a cash consideration of S$33.2 million.
Thai fashion brand Pomelo’s losses narrowed marginally while revenues jumped significantly in 2022, according to recent regulatory filings.
Vietnam-based Sky Mavis, the company behind the play-to-earn game Axie Infinity, reported a 78x surge in losses for the financial year that ended March 31, 2022. In the year, the group saw about $625 million worth of cryptocurrency stolen from Ronin, the blockchain underlying its popular crypto game.
Analysis and deep dives
This week, we did a deep dive into India’s burgeoning quick commerce sector, where giants like Swiggy’s Instamart, Zomato’s Blinkit, and Zepto are racing against each other and time to deliver goods. What drives players to fight for the lucrative pie by offering competitive discounts, often at the cost of their margins, is the growing user penetration rate for quick commerce—expected to touch 3.8% by 2028 from 1.8% in 2024. Flush with funds, quick commerce companies that started out delivering groceries and perishables are slowly expanding their offerings to include books, plants, phone chargers, board games, and bouquets.
In another analysis, we explored Indonesia’s gaming industry, which, despite its enormous market potential and large user base, has long been an afterthought for investors. However, the new presidential decree, known as Perpres, is widely expected to change the landscape for the local gaming sector. While gaming is largely perceived as mere entertainment for children, industry sources believe the right ecosystem will enable games to showcase Indonesia’s culture and history to an international audience.
