S-E Asia-focused EV Growth closes first fund at US$200m, exceeds target by US$50m

VENTURE Capital firm EV Growth reached the final close of its first fund at US$200 million, exceeding its initial target of US$150 million as it clinched commitments from SoftBank Group Corp, Pavilion Capital, Indies Capital and other regional investors. 

Headquartered in Singapore, the firm was launched in March last year as a joint venture between East Ventures, SMDV and YJ Capital Inc. The firm focuses on providing growth capital to startups in Indonesia and the rest of South-east Asia. EV Growth adopts an industry-agnostic focus, where it does not focus on a specific type of sector when investing, but targets companies across a wide range of industries.

Its portfolio companies currently include Indonesian cosmetics marketplace Sociolla, multi-platform online media company IDN Media, and tech-based education company Ruangguru. To date, EV Growth has deployed 40 per cent of its total funds to more than 12 deals, with a majority of 90 per cent sealed with Indonesian startups, the firm said in a press statement. 

The company is led by three partners - Willson Cuaca from East Ventures, Roderick Purwana from SMDV, and Shinichiro Hori from YJ Capital Inc. In a statement, the three partners said that they look forward to collaborating with key investors and regional startups to seize growing opportunities in tech growth funding and the thriving tech ecosystem in the region. 

Mr Cuaca said: "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 South-east Asia digital economy."