JAKARTA - Venture capital firm Alpha JWC Ventures has closed its second early-stage fund with a value of US$ 123 million, having secured investment commitments from investors in Southeast Asia, South Korea, China, Japan, and Europe.
The second fund has so far invested in 14 startups, including Kopi Kenangan which snagged US$ 8 million in November 2018. The fund is also a follow-up to Alpha JWC’s debut fund of US$ 50 million in 2016, which backed 23 Southeast Asian startups including Funding Societies (known as Modalku in Indonesia) and Kredivo.
“With the new fund, we can be more active and cover more sectors and regions than before. However, we do notice that the digital economy’s landscape, trend, and behaviour have been changing, especially in the past year,” said Alpha JWC co-founder and Managing Partner Chandra Tjan as quoted by DealStreet Asia, Tuesday (17/12).
The VC firm, which currently has 33 active portfolio companies, is also looking to expand to Southeast Asia, having established an office in Singapore and planned to focus on Vietnam.
“We believe that Vietnam is Southeast Asia’s next biggest market [after Indonesia] and it’s still a greenfield for both founders and investors. So far, we have three investments in Vietnam and several more in the pipeline,” Mr Tjan said. (MS)