The most recent announcement from AC Ventures will instill hope in Southeast Asian companies under a protracted funding freeze.
The venture business with its headquarters in Jakarta, Indonesia, revealed today that it has completed the final close of its fifth fund, ACV Fund V, with a total of $210 million raised. The IFC of the World Bank and investors from the US, the Middle East, and North Asia are examples of limited partners. Over 50% of the fund was contributed by returning limited partners, and over 90% of the total is comprised of institutional money.
Beginning with Fund V, AC Ventures has already made investments in companies including Koltiva, a sustainable agricultural firm, and MAKA Motors, an Indonesian manufacturer of electric vehicles. Currently, the company manages assets worth over $500 million across its five funds. The 120 firms that AC Ventures now has in its portfolio will gain about 25 more through Fund V. The amount of the cheque, which will depend on investment prospects, will be between $2 million and $5 million. For instance, rapidly expanding firms that meet the impact objectives of AC Ventures may receive a cheque for between $20 million and $30 million.
Co-founder and managing partner Adrian Li tells TechCrunch, “2023 was a challenging time for venture and technology businesses in the context of fundraising, perhaps one of the toughest in the past decade,” in response to a question about what it was like to raise Fund V during the ongoing funding slowdown. However, AC Ventures discovered fresh and recurring limited partners who shared its optimism about Southeast Asia and Indonesia.
According to Li, “our limited partners have a strong conviction that difficult times frequently present the best investment opportunities.”
“We are very optimistic that our most recent fund will turn out to be among the greatest vintages, because of Indonesia’s consistent, long-term demographic trends and solid economic foundation.” He continues by saying that the AC Ventures team has encountered more excellent teams in the last year that value profitability and are accessible for investment at competitive valuations.
Despite investing throughout Southeast Asia, AC Ventures prioritizes investments in Indonesia, which accounts for 40% of the region’s GDP. By 2030, Jakarta’s GDP is predicted to reach $360 billion, and the nation has pro-investment policies in place, such as steps and changes to strengthen its digital sector.
AC Ventures co-founder and managing partner Michael Soerijadji says Indonesia’s economic growth is driven in large part by private consumption, plus manufacturing, services and exports.
