RedBeat Ventures, the digital ventures subsidiary of Malaysia-headquartered airline operator Air Asia, launched a corporate venturing fund called RedBeat Capital yesterday in partnership with US-based venture capital firm 500 Startups.
The fund will focus on startups in the travel and lifestyle, logistics and financial technology sectors, in addition to artificial intelligence, big data and internet-of-things companies, that have passed seed stage and which are looking to expand into or within Southeast Asia.
Silicon Valley-based RedBeat Capital is targeting a $60m close according to TechCrunch, but has not revealed details of how much it has raised from limited partners so far. Air Asia CEO Tony Fernandes told TechCrunch the new fund could potentially invest up to $5m per startup.
Redbeat Ventures currently oversees digital lifestyle offerings such as BigLife, BigPay, RedCargo Logistics, RedBox, AirAsia Big Loyalty, Travel360.com, Vidi, Rokki and Ourshop.
The unit’s portfolio will be transferred to Redbeat Capital and it will henceforth function as an incubator and company-focused investment unit, as opposed to the independently managed Redbeat Capital.
Aireen Omar, CEO of Redbeat Ventures and also deputy chief executive of technology and digital for Air Asia, will head Redbeat Capital.
Omar said: “Collaborating with digital, tech-enabled startups will help us to innovate and advance our position as a market-leading travel technology company, and we look forward to exploring the integration of new, disruptive ideas into our growing portfolio of digital businesses.”
