24/5/2019 – Chinese venture capital firm ZWC Ventures said that it has closed its first Southeast Asia and China fund at US$150 million.
Limited partners (LPs) in the fund includes corporates, fund of funds, family offices, and high-net worth individuals from mainland China and Hong Kong including Jason Jiang, the Founder and Chairman of private media and advertising companies Focus Media.
According to ZWC Ventures co-founder and partner Terrance Lok, the fund will target in early to late-stage startups that are operating in e-commerce, social commerce, fintech, and AI sectors, as well as their sub-sectors, such as first-mile fulfillment logistics or supply chain fintech.
Checks will have an average size of US$ 500K to US$10 million for early-stage investments and US$10 million to US$60 million for growth-stage investments.
The firm’s footprint in Southeast Asia also includes a venture builder arm, Zynergy, that aims to provide financial, operational and strategic support for startups across the region.
Zynergy allocates US$500K to US$1 million initial seed funding for each selected startup and these will have access to Zynergy’s network of entrepreneurs and investors in China. The firm aims to work with at least five Southeast Asian startups through Zynergy program this year.
So far, the VC firm has already channeled US$100 million to five investments in the region, which include Singapore’s online tuition startup Tenopy, Jakarta-based media company Target Media Indonesia, and an unnamed Indonesian ecommerce platform.
The firm is also currently eyeing two potential investments – an Indonesian logistics first-mile provider and Singapore-based AI startup.
ZWC Ventures currently has US$1 billion s assets under management across more than 30 companies from its USD and RMB denominated funds.
Most of its investments are in China, and they include social app Tan Tan, AI startup 4th Paradigm, food, and lifestyle e-commerce platform Global Scanner, and smart charging company Xiao Dian.
ZWC Ventures targets to channel another US$300 million into the region in the next three years. Part of that will come from the ambitious USD 500 million second fund ZWC wants to start putting together in Q3 this year.
