1982 Ventures’ shopping spree in Indonesia

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For the football fans out there, you know how Chelsea and Manchester City like to sign a whole bunch of young players, most of whom usually don’t come close to making it to the first team? Some people criticize this “loan farm” strategy, but I do that on my Football Manager games too. I see this as a form of diversification – you can never be sure how many of these heralded wonderkids actually fulfill their potential.

This might be 1982 Ventures’ investment strategy as well. The firm says it has invested in five Indonesian startups over the past few months, taking the number of such startups in its fintech-focused portfolio to a total of nine. Find out more about its progress in today’s premium article.

Today we look at:

• The continuation of 1982 Ventures’ investment spree
• The successful series B round of a Philippine payments firm
• Other newsy highlights such as the funding rounds of a Singapore-based augmented reality firm and a Hong Kong fintech platform

Premium summary

The shopping spree continues

Image credit: Timmy Loen

More new house stories: Whenever I go to the supermarket these days, it’s difficult to resist the limited-time offers. Maybe I should get this large bottle of detergent that’s on sale (even though I still have three-quarters of a bottle at home). And what’s that? Fish fingers are on a two-for-one promo? Guess I’ll toss my meal plan out the window!

I manage to not succumb most of the time (in large part thanks to my wife shutting my nonsense down), but having the cash to spend semi-freely is fun. And 1982 Ventures must have cash out the wazoo, looking at the way it’s going.

• Not finished yet: 1982 Ventures now has 21 companies in its portfolio. The VC expects to invest in another 15 to 20 companies via its first seed-stage fund.

• It’s all about fintech: Herston Elton Powers, 1982 Ventures’ managing partner, tells Tech in Asia that Indonesia is a “core market” for the firm. “There is no better time to be a fintech investor in Indonesia,” he says.

• A regional slant: Besides investing in Indonesian firms, 1982 Ventures also backed companies from other Southeast Asian countries. These include Infina, a Vietnamese retail investment platform; Bluesheets, a Singapore-based bookkeeping automation platform; and NextPay, a Philippine SME-focused digital bank.

Read more: Exclusive: 1982 Ventures announces investments in 5 Indonesian startups

Never mind that, here comes PayMongo