Last week, a diverse group of investment firms supported promising startups across Southeast Asia and India. From established giants like Temasek with billions under management to early-stage champions like 100Unicorns, these investors represent a range of focus areas, from fintech and healthcare to AI and sustainability.

Let’s delve into the investment landscape and discover the firms shaping the future of these dynamic regions.

B Capital Group

B Capital is a multi-stage global investment firm with US$6+ billion in assets under management across multiple funds. The VC firm focuses on seed to late-stage venture growth investments, primarily in the technology, healthcare and climate sectors.

Founded in 2015 by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, B Capital leverages an integrated team across nine locations in the US and Asia, as well as a strategic partnership with BCG, to provide the value-added support entrepreneurs need to scale fast and efficiently, expand into new markets and build exceptional companies.

British International Investment (BII)

Established in 1948, BII is the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor with a mission to help solve the biggest global development challenges by investing patient, flexible capital to support private sector growth and innovation.

It invests in creating more productive, sustainable and inclusive economies in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, enabling people in those countries to build better lives for themselves and their communities. It invests every year in green infrastructure, technology and other sectors that need our capital the most.

BII currently partners with over 1,500 businesses in emerging economies and has a total assets of £8.1 billion.

Quona Capital

Quona Capital is a global venture firm focused on inclusive fintech. It invests in startups that expand consumers’ access to financial services and grow businesses in India, Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East.

It focuses on markets that are massively underserved by the legacy finance infrastructure, where it sees the biggest opportunity for transformation into more equitable financial systems.

Beyond pure-play fintech, Quona also invests in startups solving broader economic and social challenges, where embedded financial solutions can serve as a catalyst—from supply chain and agtech platforms to e-commerce, proptech and health.

Since 2015, it has invested in emerging markets while simultaneously measuring its impact on financial inclusion at the company and portfolio level.

Last week, B Capital, British International Investment, Quona Capital, and Stellaris Venture Partners invested in Turno, which offers financing solutions to SMEs, distributors, logistics firms, and e-commerce operators that plan to buy commercial three-wheeler electric vehicles.

Stellaris Venture Partners

Stellaris is an early-stage, technology-focused, sector-agnostic investment firm. It started its first fund in early 2017 and is currently investing from its second fund (US$225 million).

It prefers to partner at the ground floor level and is typically the first or the second institutional investor in companies that it partners with.

Stellaris has partnered with 30+ businesses across various sectors, including SaaS, financial services, B2B commerce, consumer brands, social commerce, education, electric vehicles, healthcare, and others.

9unicorns

9unicorns (now 100Unicorns) is an India-based accelerator VC. The fund operates uniquely as an accelerator and invests in very early-stage startups. It aims to disrupt idea-stage funding in India by backing founders with early access to capital with mentorship.

100Unicorns has funded 145 startups, including ShipRocket, VideoVerse, Zypp Electric, Renee Cosmetics, Assiduus, IGP – Join Ventures, Homeville, Alo Fruit, TruNativ, Rezolv.AI, OTO Capital, Klub, Wiom, BluSmart, DrinkPrime, LeverageEdu, Prescinto, and Rooter.

Indian Angel Network

Indian Angel Network is a leading network of angel investors keen to invest in early-stage businesses with the potential to create disproportionate value. The members of the network are leaders in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, having strong operational experience as CEOs or a background in creating new and successful ventures.

IAN is an angel investor network with over 500 investors across 10 countries. Over 80 per cent of its investors are actively investing, leading, etc.

IAN has invested in 200 companies spanning various sectors, including education, healthcare, QSR, e-commerce, gaming, semiconductors, robotics, and manufacturing.

Last week, 9unicorns, IAN, and Venture Catalysts invested in India-based Zypp Electric, which plans to expand into Southeast Asia.

Venture Catalysts

Established in 2016, Venture Catalysts++ is a multi-stage VC in India. It has a presence in 50+ cities in countries such as the UAE, the USA, the UK, Singapore, Luxembourg, Thailand, Canada, Eastern Africa, Zimbabwe, Hong Kong, and Southern Africa. It has US$700 million syndicated across 300+ portfolio startups. Besides making seed-stage and Series A investments for startups, Venture Catalysts is known for its startup-building capability, strategic guidance, generating business leads, leveraging its network across the globe through its partners and providing phenomenal returns to its investors.

Wavemaker Partners

Wavemaker Partners invests in a broad range of technology-driven companies in the US and Southeast Asia. The Singapore-based VC firm invests in angel, seed, pre-Series A, and Series A-stage startups across Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, the US, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos. The average investment size is US$250,000 to US$5 million.

Last week, it invested in Beppo, which automates accounting and tax compliance for Filipino businesses and the self-employed.

Hitseries Capital

Hitseries Capital provides growth-as-a-service (GaaS) to its portfolio. The firm invests in artificial intelligence/machine learning, vertical SaaS applications, connected IoT, healthcare, mobility, fintech, and the marketplace across Asia Pacific.

Last week, the VC firm invested in WeSale, a proptech platform connecting partners, individuals and organisations to project owners and developers.

Temasek

Incorporated in 1974, Temasek is an investment company headquartered in Singapore. Supported by 13 offices internationally, Temasek had a net portfolio value of US$287 billion as of 31 March 2023. It aims to build a forward-looking and resilient portfolio that delivers sustainable returns over the long term.

Temasek deploys capital to catalyse solutions that can enable the transition to a low-carbon economy, tap into opportunities to build future growth sectors, and lead enterprises through our efforts in innovation.

Last week, Temasek invested in Marketnode, a digital market infrastructure operator aiming to develop a multi-asset ecosystem starting in Asia Pacific.

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