AAA CyberAgent puts $50m into Southeast Asian fund

CyberAgent puts $50m into Southeast Asian fund

CyberAgent Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of Japan-based internet holding company CyberAgent has launched a $50m fund yesterday that will support early-stage companies in Southeast Asia, Tech in Asia reported yesterday.

The fund is particularly interested in Indonesia-based startups, and will invest at seed, series A and series B stage. It will look to provide funding to educational technology, real estate, automotive listings platforms and fintech startups, and also startups operating predominantly in the mobile space.

Steven Vanada, vice president of CyberAgent Ventures in Indonesia, told Tech in Asia that it is still in the process of raising the $50m and is looking to secure capital from foreign investors. However, enough limited partners have committed capital for the fund to begin operations next month.

“We are very bullish, especially on Indonesia,” Vanada said. “In the next few years, I think we will see a tipping point.

“For us, we want to be able to produce the next unicorn from Southeast Asia. […] We want to support the ecosystem as far as we can, and we want founders not to worry about the funding, but just focus on the product.”

Companies that have been funded by CyberAgent Ventures since it was formed in 2011 include Tudou, the video streaming website that floated in 2011 and was acquired by competitor Youku for $1.1bn the following year, and crowdfunding platform CrowdWorks, which went public in December 2014.

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