Temasek's Vertex closes US$210 million fund for southeast Asia, India

Vertex Ventures, the venture capital arm of Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings, said it has raised a US$210 million fund to invest in southeast Asian and Indian startups, exceeding its original target size of US$150 million.

Vertex plans to continue its strategy of investing in early-stage technology companies in southeast Asia and India across enterprise technology, financial technology and consumer internet, it said in a statement.

Vertex was an early investor in ride-hailing firm Grab. In July, Grab announced a US$2.5 billion fundraising round, which a source said values it at US$6 billion.

Vertex's recent investments include SpaceMob, which has been acquired by co-working space startup WeWork, remittance payments firm InstaRem and digital marketer Synup.

The combined Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India team operates out of three main offices in Singapore, Bangalore, and Jakarta. "In addition to our current offices, we will expand our presence to other SEA cities in the near future to better access local opportunities," Joo Hock Chua, managing partner, said.

The new fund is Vertex's third for the region, but the first with external investors. Vertex's previous two funds for southeast Asia were fully funded by Temasek Holdings.