Startup funding: Japanese venture capital fund Incubate Fund Asia, which invests across sectors primarily in seed-stage rounds, on Thursday announced the first close of their third fund with a target corpus of $50 Million (around Rs 416 crores). The fund’s India-focused entity, rebranded as Incubate Fund Asia to enhance focus on pre-seed and seed-stage startups in India and Southeast Asia, will deploy capital for early-stage investments and also for follow-on investments in startups.
The fund targets around 20 startups in its third fund’s portfolio and will invest only 40 per cent of its total investible corpus to create the portfolio while the remaining amount will be used to invest again in startups showcasing high growth.
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Incubate Fund has a global presence with offices in Tokyo, Singapore, Bangalore, Mumbai, São Paulo, and Mountain View and investments in companies including Captain Fresh, Yulu, ShopKirana, Plum etc. The fund undertook rebranding for its broader vision and extensive outreach within the Asian startup ecosystem. The Incubate Fund Asia was founded and has been led by Nao Murakami, Founder and General Partner of the fund with support from Incubate Fund’s Japan team.
“Our mission is to empower startups and fuel innovation across Asia. With the target fund closure of $50 million, we will be ready to significantly enhance our support to emerging ventures, driving sustainable growth and innovation. Incubate Fund Asia remains deeply committed to its vision of nurturing innovation and catalyzing the growth of startups, ultimately contributing to the development of a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem across Asia,” said Nao Murakami, Founder and General Partner, Incubate Fund Asia.
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The fund has backed 27 Indian companies across B2B, B2C, supply chain and consumer tech segments across both Tier 1 and Tier 2 markets with $500K to $1.5 million average deal size. It expanded to India in 2016 and started Incubate Fund India which was rebranded recently.