Hanwha Asset Management, an investment subsidiary of diversified South Korea-based conglomerate Hanwha, has joined venture capital firm Golden Gate Ventures to raise $200m for an investment partnership, Bloomberg reported today.
The two have already secured $80m in capital for the fund from external investors, according to people familiar with the matter. The as yet unnamed unit will target consumer-focused technology companies in Southeast Asia, investing around series B stage.
Vinnie Lauria, managing partner at Singapore-based Golden Gate, told CNBC: “Just like there was a seed-stage gap in 2013 that closed by 2015, then a series A gap in 2015 that closed by 2017, now there is a series B gap that started in 2018.”
Hanwha Asset Management operates in a variety of spaces including stocks, bonds and real estate but has begun making early-stage investments, backing specialty chemical producer Zymergen in November 2018 and driver-assistance system developer Brodmann17 earlier this month.
Golden Gate Ventures has invested in seven Southeast Asian countries since being founded in 2011. Its portfolio includes ride hailing service Go-Jek, which is currently raising up to $3bn in funding, and Stripe, the payment technology provider valued at $22.5bn as of January 2019.
