Monk’s Hill closes second Southeast Asia fund at $100m

Singapore-based VC firm Monk’s Hill Ventures has closed its second Southeast Asia fund at US$100 million to focus on series A opportunities in the region.

Peng T. Ong, managing partner at Monk’s Hill Ventures / Photo credit: Monk’s Hill

The company said in a LinkedIn post that it welcomed an expanded base of limited partners for Fund II, bringing in a group of global and diverse investors such as US-based endowments and foundations, sovereign funds, insurance companies, corporates, and family offices.

Temasek, which is an LP in the company’s first fund, is also a main investor in the second fund, according to Venture Capital Journal, which first reported about the development. It’s also looking to launch a separate opportunity fund.

Kuo-Yi Lim and Peng T. Ong, the managing partners of Fund I, will continue to lead the new fund.

Monk’s Hill plans to continue investing in founders aiming to address sizable market opportunities in tech, specifically at the early stage. “We focus on investing in founders with a plan to scale up profitably in major economies including Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines,” a spokesperson for Monk’s Hill told Tech in Asia.

Monk’s Hill also said it has already deployed some of Fund II’s capital, investing in Indonesian business-to-business restaurant supply marketplace Stoqo, Singapore-based talent recruitment and career discovery platform Glints, and project collaboration app Padlet.

The company said it did not have a target size for the fund, but set a hard cap of US$150 million in a 2018 SEC filing.

In comparison, Monk’s Hill raised US$80 million for its first Southeast Asia fund, which invested between US$1 million and US$3 million into series A and B startups in the region, as well as in Silicon Valley. It previously injected funds into logistics provider Ninja Van, on-demand warehouse service provider Waresix, and English learning app ELSA.

“Today, our Fund I portfolio companies are performing strongly with healthy revenues and margins,” the company said. Monk’s Hill has backed over 20 startups to date.