Korea Investment Partners Southeast Asia Pte. Ltd. (KIPSEA), the Singapore-based team of Korea Investment Partners (KIP) has successfully closed $60 million for its first flagship Southeast Asia venture capital fund.
KIP said in a statement on Monday that KIP Southeast Asia Venture Fund I has attracted contributions from institutional investors from South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore, including Samsung Life Insurance, Korea Development Bank, Korea Growth Investment Corporation, D.camp, Woomi Global, Mirana Ventures and Korea Investment & Securities Asia.
It said the fund will be dedicated to investing in Seed to Series B, high-growth technology startups in Southeast Asia, with a small proportion reserved for South Korean companies looking to expand into the region, and will be focusing on sectors such as fintech, proptech, and enterprise software.
KIP, incorporated in 1986, is one of the largest venture capital firms in South Korea, having made over 900+ investments.
With more than $3 billion in assets under management, some of its notable portfolio companies include Kakao, Naver, and YG Entertainment from South Korea, and Halodoc and Tiki.vn from Indonesia and Vietnam respectively.
KIP is a subsidiary of publicly-listed Korea Investment Holdings, a financial conglomerate with multiple financial verticals including securities, asset management, banking, credit finance, private equity, and real estate.
KIP first established its foothold in Southeast Asia with the launch of the GEC-KIP Technology and Innovation Fund in 2018, with Singapore as the headquarters, and has been actively deploying capital to promising start-ups within the region.
“Underpinned by strong macroeconomic factors and the development of technological and digital capabilities within the region, Southeast Asia remains a key target market for KIP,
“We target to utilize KIP’s strategic networks and the strength of its ecosystem to identify and nurture early-stage, high potential and category-defining companies across the region,” said Synclare Kim, Head of KIPSEA.
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