Facebook co-founder’s new $143m fund wants to close funding gap in Asia

Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin has closed US$143 million in funding for his venture capital firm B Capital, according to US regulatory filings. It’s targeting a fund size of US$250 million. What’s unique about this fund though is its global focus, especially on Asia.

B Capital founder Raj Ganguly explained the opportunities in Asia, and further said that the continent faces a funding gap:

It is also noteworthy to highlight that many investments across India and Southeast Asia have been focused around early stage.

This is especially true for Southeast Asia, where 90 percent of investments made in 2015 still revolved around seed and early stage (i.e. Pre-A and Series A), compared to the US where 57 percent of 2015 venture investments were made in early stage companies.

From our experience operating on the ground, we observe companies with fewer options and a potential gap in growth stage funding, especially Series B and C, which are crucial in taking a company from proving product-market fit to achieving scale successfully.

B Capital is headquartered in Singapore, where Eduardo resides. It recently invested in the series B round of Ninja Van, a logistics startup also from Singapore.