500 GLOBAL RAISES US$143 MLN FOR EARLY-STAGE, GROWTH VEHICLES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Venture capital firm 500 Global announced the successful close of US$143 million across its largest Southeast Asian early-stage fund to date, 500 Southeast Asia III L.P. (500 SEA III), and its growth investment vehicle for Southeast Asia. (US$1=RM4.67)

According to a statement, the new early-stage and growth vehicles demonstrate the team's commitment to supporting founders in Southeast Asia from pre-seed to pre-initial public offering (IPO).

Limited partners (LPs) across its early-stage and growth investment vehicles include a sovereign wealth fund, public and private pension funds such as Khazanah Nasional Berhad, Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan) [KWAP], and Employees Provident Fund (EPF).

A university endowment, family offices of prominent global investors, and portfolio companies valued at over US$1 billion from 500 Global's first Southeast Asia early-stage fund have invested as LPs as well.

“We continue to believe in the strong potential and opportunities in Southeast Asia. With a global portfolio of over 2,800 companies across more than 80 countries, we believe that the founders in Southeast Asia will benefit from one of the few truly global venture platforms with deep local roots and in-market expertise.

“We are confident that with access to insights, connections and capital, this can help the next generation of Southeast Asian founders build global tech giants,” said 500 Global Chief Executive Officer & Founding Partner, Christine Tsai.

500 SEA III is 500 Global's third Southeast Asia-focused early-stage fund, with each successive fund having nearly doubled in size since 2014. Originally targeted for US$75 million, 500 SEA III closed at US$100 million with over half of the fund coming from returning LPs.

The early-stage fund will focus on investing in businesses and artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled technologies that advance rural digitalisation, sustainable cities, human and machine productivity, healthcare, food security and financial inclusivity.

500 SEA III aims to invest in 100 pre-seed to Series A startups, providing first checks between US$250,000 to US$500,000 across Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia.

Over the past decade, 500 Global backed over 340 companies across Southeast Asia and has a rich history of supporting early-stage founders in Southeast Asia, bolstered by its deep in-market expertise that forms the foundation of the firm's multi-stage platform.