Singapore's Forge Ventures launches debut US$21.9m fund
SINGAPORE venture capital firm Forge Ventures on Tuesday launched its debut fund, which raised US$21.9 million at first close.
According to the firm, its fund was oversubscribed and has led a total of three investments across three countries to date. These investments comprise Vouch, a digital concierge platform in Singapore; Indonesian grocery delivery service Dropezy; as well as Marathon, a tutoring business based in Vietnam.
Forge Ventures also highlighted its limited partner base as a first in Southeast Asia, as it is designed to help the founders with whom it partners. A majority of limited partners in the fund are founders and operators of technology companies and startups, including Airbnb, Carousell, Facebook and Grab, among others.
Over the next three years, the firm intends to build a concentrated portfolio of 15 companies with a focus on Singapore and Indonesia. Limiting the number of companies within the portfolio will ensure partners will have the bandwidth to work closely with every founder, it said.
Forge Ventures was founded by Foo Tiang Lim and Kaspar Hidayat in partnership with Alto Partners, a multi-family office in Singapore. It aims to found South-east Asia businesses at the seed stage while providing access to experts through its network of collaborators, advisers and limited partners.
Mr Foo was a partner at early-stage investment fund SeedPlus and before that, head of market development for note-taking software provider Evernote in Asia-Pacific. He brings with him over a decade of experience in building, operating and investing in startups in the region.
Meanwhile, Mr Hidayat has held investment roles at numerous venture firms, including 500 Startups, Venturra Capital and Maloekoe Ventures. He was vice-president at Pomelo, where he was responsible for managing the online retail platform's Indonesia business and overseeing regional marketing and business intelligence.
"South-east Asia's startup ecosystem is at an inflection point and with the current abundance of capital, founders demand more from their seed investors... Our proprietary in-house technology, community and network are a force multiplier for our portfolio companies," commented Mr Foo.
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