Golden Gate Ventures just announced its second round of investment in Southeast Asia worth no less than $50 million. During the first round , Golden Gate successfully planted 25 investment worth around $35 million, which was coming from a number of investors including Temasek, Eduardo Saverin (Facebook’s Co-Founder), and Monitor Capital Partners. Golden Gate Ventures’ vision is to bridge Silicon Valley and Asia, in terms of startup development.
At the same time, Golden Gate Ventures also released a research regarding the comparison between investment trend in Southeast Asia and the investment in China and India. The report shows that besides having an explosive growth in Southeast Asia, the trend also resemblances the one existed in China (2005) and India (2010). China and India today are two biggest investment destination, with Southeast Asia to follow the lead as the region noted magnificent $120 million worth Series A investment.
The research also shows that the investment growth in Asia Pacific will be divided into four prospective areas: (1) Singapore, (2) Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, (3) The Philippines and Vietnam, (4) Myanmar. Singapore is the current most growing area since the country acts as a bridge and investors’ center of attention in Southeast Asia.
The most interesting thing is that the report projects Indonesia as the next big thing in the region, saying that the tech-based startups will keep on growing significantly for years to come. Moreover, the ASEAN Economic Society, which is believed to be a trigger to many more innovation in the region, will be started in the near future. Golden Gate Ventures also perceives that Indonesia’s Year over Year growth in B2C e-commerce segment is too sexy to be passed by.
As for the tech-based players in Indonesia, Golden Gate Ventures has invested at a number of startups so far, with e-commerce portal Bilna being one of them. In this case, the VC partnered with DG Incubation and TMS Entertainment. Alodokter also got the privilege, so did business directory Indotrading. Other awardees were CodaPay and MoneySmart.
Within its second round of investment, Golden Gate Ventures admit that they will focus more on internet and mobile-based products, specifically e-commerce, online payment, online marketplace and SaaS-based apps. They will also use community-based approach to support those growing startups.
