iSeed SEA fund launches with backing from Snapdeal founder, AngelList

ISeed, an India micro-fund created by AngelList India CEO Utsav Somani in May, announced the launch of iSeed SEA. The micro-fund targets the Southeast Asian market and is backed by the founders of startups and VCs such as Naval Ravikant, AngelList’s founder and chairman, Kunal Bahl, Snapdeal founder and CEO, and Jonathan Swanson, Thumbtack’s founder and chairman.

Snapdeal co-founder and CEO Kunal Bahl / Photo credit: Snapdeal

Other investors include AngelList partner Jake Zeller and Deepak Shahdadpuri, DSG Consumer Partners’ managing director.

The micro-fund, which will be headed by managing partner Wing Vasiksiri with the help of AngelList’s Somani, looks to fund ambitious startups across Southeast Asia at the earliest possible stages. It’s likely to invest in 10 to 15 startups over the next year, with an average check size of US$100,000 to US$250,000.

The seed fund will have a particular focus on startups in Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, and Thailand and will be sector-agnostic.

The main goal for iSeed SEA is to partner with great founders across the region and act as a bridge to get more investors and operators from the US or India to get actively involved in the Southeast Asian ecosystem.

The fund also created a “Knowledge Council,” which consists of a group of world-class operators who will run private workshops for their portfolio companies. This council includes Sriram Krishnan, ex-product head at Twitter, Prasanna Sankar, co-founder of Rippling, Sahil Lavingia, founder of Gumroad, and Anne Dwane, founder of Village Global, amongst others.

See also: Confidence in SE Asian startups remains strong as funding tumbles, says VC

What is the purpose of the iSeed SEA fund? “To partner with ambitious founders across SEA at the earliest possible stages. All of our limited partners are founders, investors, and high net worth individuals in the US or India. This differentiates us from other funds,” Vasiksiri told Tech in Asia.

With a population of over 670 million across 11 countries, Southeast Asia has seen 13 unicorns emerge over the past few years and is a fast-growing tech ecosystem.

What challenge is it looking to solve? “There is a lack of seed funding in the region. We also want to act as a bridge to bring knowledge and capital from developed tech ecosystems in the US and India to Southeast Asia,” Vasiksiri said.

Having seen a gap, most of the seed funds in the region have now grown to cater to pre-series A and series A rounds of funding, he adds.

Why Southeast Asia? With mobile subscription rates exceeding levels in China, the US, and India and having over 350 million active internet users, the region provides a greenfield opportunity for new startups. These firms expect that these factors will snowball and lead to more startup creation and want to take advantage of this.

“Southeast Asia is currently home to 13 unicorns, early funds have seen incredible multiples from investing in these companies, and Bain & Company predicts that by 2024, the number of unicorns will double to more than 20,” Vasiksiri noted.