Altara Ventures closes inaugural fund for early-stage startups at US$130m

ALTARA Ventures, a Singapore-based venture firm by investment veterans such as Koh Boon Hwee, has closed its debut fund at US$130 million.

Backers of the fund include institutional funds, sovereign wealth funds, financial services institutions, listed corporations and family offices, Altara said in a statement on Friday (Feb 11).

Launched in September 2020, the firm is led by 5 general partners: Koh and his Credence Partners co-founders Tan Chow Boon and Seow Kiat Wang, as well as venture capitalists Dave Ng and Gavin Teo.

Altara has made 7 investments to date, which include Philippine digibank Tonik, Indian fintech Stashfin, Indonesian gig economy staffing platform Sampingan, Vietnamese edtech Clevai and Malaysian insurtech PolicyStreet. It also has 2 US investments: AI player Senseye and software provider FreeAgent CRM.

It will continue to deploy capital into Series A and B investments in fintech, consumer tech, enterprise software, logistics, healthcare and edtech. "These sectors represent the fastest-growing market opportunity segments within the ecosystem, and will continue to witness new category leaders emerging in the region," the firm said in its statement.

Altara is leading and closing another 3 new investments in Q1 and expects 2022 to offer more market opportunities for entrepreneurs to capture.