San Francisco-based Patamar Capital wants to raise US$150 million in a new fund, expecting to reach US$70 million at first close in September.
Formerly known as Unitus Impact, Patamar Capital currently manages about US$45 million, investing in 16 companies, mainly in Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, India and China.
“But we’re almost running out, so we’re raising funds, targeting US$150 million in total… [and so] we might be able to get into Series B as well,” Patamar Associate Ellen Nio told CompassList.
Patamar has focused on Series A financing so far, with some seed investments funneled through its accelerator programs.
For its next fund, Patamar is seeking fintech companies to bolster its portfolio. According to Nio, Patamar looks for companies with valuations that “make sense”. “When you compare the valuation of some companies here [in Indonesia] against companies with similar booking values in the Philippines, the ones here can be valued more than 10 times higher, which we think doesn’t make sense,” she said.
She said the firm is also looking at startups from Myanmar and Cambodia.
“And we’re trying to learn from China as well. We think that Southeast Asian startups might go through similar things that their Chinese counterparts have in the past,” she said.
Patamar was established by Geoff “Chester” Woolley, veteran VC investor and founding member of India’s largest microfinance bank SKS Microfinance (now known as Bharat Financial Inclusion).
The VC firm scored a major exit in Indonesia in December 2017 when one of their portfolio companies, e-commerce platform for lower-income groups Mapan, was acquired by the country’s largest ride-hailing startup Go-Jek. Mapan’s CEO, Aldi Haryopratomo, is now the CEO of Go-Jek’s cashless payment arm, Go-Pay.
The portfolio of the impact investor includes mClinica, an online platform for pharmacies, and jobs marketplace Kalibrr in the Philippines; Topica, the largest edtech company in Vietnam; and microBenefits, a Chinese startup facilitating loyalty programs for blue-collar workers.
Last year, Patamar started a fund dedicated to women-led SMEs in Southeast Asia. The “Investing in Women” Fund was established in partnership with the Australian government’s Investing in Women initiative.
