Singapore’s Golden Gate raising US$100m venture capital fund: source

Singapore’s Golden Gate Ventures is raising a US$100 million third fund to continue investing in South-east Asia’s burgeoning market for e-commerce, payments and mobile apps, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The new fund is expected to have a first close before the end of this month and the final close by the end of 2018, said the person who asked not to be identified because the information is private.

Founded by former Silicon Valley entrepreneurs Vinnie Lauria, Jeffrey Paine and Paul Bragiel in 2011, Golden Gate Ventures was one of the earliest VC (venture capital) firms to target South-east Asia’s nascent technology sector. It has since launched two funds and invested in more than 30 companies across the region. They include online classified app Carousell, Jakarta-based healthcare platform Alodokter and Appota Corp, a Vietnamese mobile platform with more than 30 million users.

Investors in Golden Gate Ventures’ previous funds include Temasek Holdings Pte, Facebook Inc co-founder Eduardo Saverin and South Korea’s Hanwha Life Insurance Co and Naver Corp.

The move underscores a flurry of fundraising activities amid an influx of money into the region as investors seek opportunities beyond the US and China. Wavemaker Partners, also an early-stage VC firm, in October closed a US$66 million fund for South-east Asia, while NSI Ventures is currently raising a US$125 million second fund. Temasek’s Vertex Ventures also closed its third South-east Asian fund in October at US$210 million, a record in the region.