Wed, Nov 12, 2025
A A A
Welcome Guest
Free Trial RSS pod
Get FREE trial access to our award winning publications
Industry Updates

EV Growth closes debut $250M fund

Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Opalesque Industry Update - EV Growth, a Singapore headquartered venture capital firm, has hit the hard cap of its first fund at US$250 Million, exceeding the firm's initial US$150 Million target. This milestone is the result of the firm's admission of new Limited Partners (LPs) which include several Asian based family offices and two of Asia's largest sovereign wealth funds.

Launched in March 2018, EV Growth is a joint venture between East Ventures, SMDV and Yahoo! Japan Capital that focuses on providing growth capital to startups in Indonesia and the rest of Southeast Asia with an industry agnostic focus. The company is led by three partners - Willson Cuaca from East Ventures, Roderick Purwana from SMDV, and Shinichiro Hori from Yahoo! Japan Capital.

EV Growth has invested across different sectors in Southeast Asia. Some of its recent investments included:

Indonesia leading Edutech Ruangguru US$150 Million Series C round

Indonesia leading Beauty-tech Sociolla US$40 Million Series D round

Regional cashback startup Shopback US$45 Million round

Indonesia supply chain logistic Warung Pintar US$27.5 Million Series B

Indonesia trucking and warehousing platform Waresix US$14.5 Million Series A

Other major follow on rounds included the latest round of two Indonesian unicorns Tokopedia and Traveloka, Indonesia SME lending Koinworks, Indonesia premium online-to-offline coffe chain Fore Coffee, and Indonesia leading media company IDN Media.

Presently, EV Growth has deployed more than 50 per cent of its total funds in 20 deals. 80 per cent of EV Growth's portfolio companies are Indonesian, where the fund's IRR stands at 36 per cent.

Willson Cuaca, Managing Partner of EV Growth and co-founder of East Ventures said, "The inflection point in Southeast Asia is now and we are lucky to be here early. Our firm's operating experience, deal velocity, local knowledge and regional networks have helped us capture some of the best deals in the region. We plan to deploy US$325 Million for Southeast Asian startups combining active funds size, for both seed and growth stage."

By having two funds, East Ventures supports the start-up ecosystem and has been consistent, long term and founder friendly. In example, East Ventures has been a long-time supporter of Ruangguru where Willson Cuaca was a board member since the initial stage and participated in the company's seed round in 2014. East Ventures assisted with the follow-on round and supported further through EV Growth fund by investing in its recent US$150 Million series C round.

"We are proud to have East Ventures as our partner. Willson Cuaca from EV Growth believed in us from the very beginning and gave us our first seed funding in 2014. We are thankful that EV Growth supported us and participated in our latest US$150 Million round. We continue to demonstrate a strong commitment to East Ventures and look forward to working together with them to reach even greater heights," added Adamas Belva Syah Devara, CEO and co-founder of Ruangguru.

What do you think?

   Use "anonymous" as my name    |   Alert me via email on new comments   |   
Previous Opalesque Exclusives                                  
Previous Other Voices                                               
Access Alternative Market Briefing

 



  • Top Forwarded
  • Top Tracked
  • Top Searched
  1. Global fintech investment slumps to seven-year low of $95.6bn[more]

    Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: Global fintech investment plummeted to $95.6 billion across 4,639 deals in 2024, marking its lowest level since 2017, as investors grappled with persistent macroeconomic challenges and geopolitical tensions, revealed a study. According to the Pulse of Fintech H2'

  2. Opalesque Exclusive: Private capital deal value climbed 19% in 2024[more]

    Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York: Private capital deal value climbed 19% in 2024, according to the latest data from the Global Private Capital Association. Growth was driven by big-ticket investments across Southeast Asia, Latin America and Central & Eastern Europe (CEE). Investor confidence

  3. Opalesque Roundup: Citco: 77% of hedge funds achieved positive returns in January 2025: hedge fund news[more]

    In the week ending February 21st, 2025, a report revealed that hedge funds enjoyed one of their best opening months this decade in January, as Equity and Multi-Strategy funds posted strong returns. Funds administered by the Citco group of companies (Citco) delivered a weighted average return of 4%,

  4. Opalesque exclusive: Permuto's new equity unbundling product to change investment model[more]

    Opalesque Geneva for New Managers: Here is a different way of owning stocks coming to you soon: the option of holding just the dividend portion of a stock, independent of its price movements. Or capturing the stock&

  5. Opalesque Exclusive: Hedge funds outperform mutual funds in managing extreme risk contagion - key insights for investors[more]

    Matthias Knab, Opalesque for New Managers: Hedge funds and mutual funds are among the most prominent vehicles for investors seeking growth and diversification. However, a critical question persists: which fund ty