Indonesian venture capital firm Alpha JWC Ventures closed an oversubscribed third fund with USD 433 million, making it the largest early-stage fund in Southeast Asia, the firm said on Tuesday. Alpha JWC received financing from global and regional limited partners and investors, including the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners, for its Fund III.
So far, Fund III has already invested in seven companies in fintech, B2B SaaS, and SME solutions that are implemented in Indonesia, Singapore, and Vietnam.
Founded in 2015, Alpha JWC launched its first USD 50 million fund in 2016 and used this cash to invest in 23 regional startups. It closed its oversubscribed second fund with USD 143 million in 2019, and then invested in 30 companies, some of which were already part of the firm’s portfolio. Alpha JWC currently has around USD 630 million in assets under management across its three funds.
The VC firm will undertake investments in early and growth-stage tech companies. While the firm will continue to focus on Indonesia, it has been expanding its regional presence over the past five years with investments in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines. The firm will increase its investment size to a ceiling of USD 60 million in multi-stage funding.
“IFC’s partnership with Alpha JWC Ventures underscores our long-term commitment to Indonesia’s economic development and digital transformation,” said Kim-See Lim, IFC regional director for East Asia and the Pacific, in a statement. “Alpha JWC’s focus on innovative technology-enabled businesses is key, as these investments enable long-term development and have the power to transform lives.”
Some of Alpha JWC’s notable portfolio companies are Carro and Ajaib, which both became unicorns this year, coffee chain startup Kopi Kenangan, B2B marketplace GudangAda, as well as fintech firms Kredivo and Funding Societies. Alpha JWC’s portfolio companies have already collectively raised more than USD 1 billion this year, according to a press statement. The firm has made nine exits so far, involving stakes in Singapore co-working space network Spacemob that was acquired by WeWork in 2017, and Vietnamese enterprise SaaS provider Base.vn, which was acquired by the country’s largest IT firm, FPT Corporation, in May 2021.
“With this larger fund, we will be able to double down on our efforts in driving our mission to support our founders as they create scalable and sustainable companies in Indonesia and the region,” said Jeffrey Joe, Alpha JWC Ventures’ general partner.