Jungle Ventures closes $600 million fund, bringing the fund’s total assets under management to over $1 billion – TechCrunch
Joint venture company based in Singapore Jungle Ventures is digging deeper into Southeast Asia and India with the closing of its fourth fund. Fund IV totals $600 million, with $450 million in new investments and $150 million in follow-up investments in its portfolio companies. The closure of the fund brings Jungle Ventures’ total assets under management to more than $1 billion, making it the first Singapore-based independent venture firm to invest across Southeast Asia and India reached this milestone.
Fund IV limited partners are divided equally between old investors and new investors. Returning backers include Temasek, IFC, FMO and DEG, while new LPs include StepStone Group. TechCrunch includes funds the first close is $225 million in September 2021.
Jungle Ventures was founded in 2012 by Amit Anand and Anurag Srivastava, launching with a $10 million investment fund. Jungle Ventures has about 60 portfolio companies and says their business value is more than $12 billion on $250 million in invested capital, with a loss rate of less than 5%.
Some of Jungle Ventures’ most notable investments include the unicorns Kredivo, Livspace, and Moglix. It looks for companies that can expand between Southeast Asia and India; for example, Livspace was founded in India and currently operates in Southeast Asia as well.
Fund IV will continue Jungle Ventures’ “focused portfolio” approach, making 15 to 18 significant investments out of India and Southeast Asia. It made many subsequent investments and has invested around $30 to $40 million in several companies, over several rounds.
“We have invested in that philosophy since our founding in 2012. It is driven by two key factors that influence our thinking. The number one factor is that most of the founders in this area are first time founders and you need a lot of help and support from these founders to help them grow their business, help they grow as a leader,” Anand told TechCrunch. “Going from a founder to becoming a CEO is a very long road, a very painful journey, and not many people become successful CEOs.”
He added, “The area hasn’t penetrated all the sectors completely and we wanted to focus our time, energy and capital on fewer investments to make them bigger.”
Fund IV has supported Vietnam digital bank Timo; Singapore’s back office operating system Sleek; D2C India’s Atomberg consumer electronics brand; Web3.0-based crypto-social community platform for women Eveworld; and inFeedo, an employee retention SaaS platform.
“If I take a step back and think only of a single general point, I can say that we are now very, very inspired by the whole decentralized and equal Internet movement going on on the Internet right now. around the world, whether it’s concepts like Web 3, whether its concepts Anand said. “Basically, bringing the power of the internet to the smallest participants in the internet economy is the most exciting aspect of this fund.”
