Innoven Capital closes inaugural Vietnam deals with Tiki, UP Co-working

Innoven Capital, a venture lending firm backed by Temasek and United Overseas Bank Group, has provided retail company Tiki.vn and UP Co-working with less dilutive loan capital, marking its first pair of deals in Vietnam.

Photo credit: Innoven Capital

The company said that it will continue to focus on opportunities in the country, where it is currently working on a few more deals.

Chin Chao, Innoven Capital’s Southeast Asia chief, said that the firm has been actively exploring opportunities in Vietnam since it started operations in the region in 2016, with a US$200 million commitment from Temasek and UOB. Recently, it received additional US$200 million in capital from the two companies to further expand into Asia’s venture debt space.

“With growing investor interest in startups in Southeast Asia, we see more and more companies and founders in the region, particularly in Vietnam, wanting to use less dilutive loan capital to accelerate expansion,” he added.

Innoven looks to continue expanding its footprint in Southeast Asia and grow its portfolio, which currently includes companies such as Akulaku, Swiggy, Oyo Rooms, Byju’s, Deskera, Pomelo, and RedDoorz.

One of its most recent moves in the region is its participation in a US$7.6 million seed round for Indonesian logistics startup Kargo, which also saw participation from Uber founder and ex-CEO Travis Kalanick.