South Korean asset management firm and internet company form a $1bn joint fund with Vietnamese venture capital fund.
VinaCapital Ventures, the technology investment arm of VinaCapital, announced on June 10 the formation of a strategic partnership with Mirae Asset Global Investments and Naver Asia Growth Fund to create a $1 billion joint fund.
Speaking at the Vietnam Venture Summit in Hanoi, Mr. Tran Nhat Khanh, a Partner at VinaCapital Ventures, said that Mirae Asset, one of the world’s leading asset managers, with more than $375 billion in assets under management, would invest in VinaCapital Ventures. The terms were not disclosed. Meanwhile, Naver, which operates the most-used search engine in South Korea, will work with VinaCapital Ventures and its portfolio companies to help it grow and potentially expand beyond Vietnam.
“We are excited to collaborate with Mirae Asset and Naver not simply for the financial investment but for the opportunity to access experience and technologies that will help our investee companies reach their potential,” Mr. Khanh added. “Naver, which operates a variety of online businesses including the popular LINE messaging app, is well-positioned to help Vietnamese startups crack overseas markets such as South Korea, Japan, and beyond.”
“We are delighted to partner with VinaCapital, which is one of the pioneering venture capital investors in Vietnam,” said Mr. Lee Choonghwan, Head of Outbound Investment at Mirae Asset Capital, which is the General Partner of the fund. “We share their belief that the opportunities in this country are enormous, and we look forward to working with them and their investees to achieve even greater success.”
VinaCapital Ventures announced in March the appointment of Dr. Philipp Rösler, former German Vice Chancellor, as Chairman of its Advisory Board, as well as two new investments, in digital e-gifting platform UrBox and Wee Digital, a fintech making digital banking safer and more intuitive, for an undisclosed sum.
VinaCapital launched VinaCapital Ventures last year, a $100 million technology holding company and also started its first investments, in Logivan and FastGo, two tech-enabled startups providing solutions for Vietnam’s transportation and logistics markets.
Source: Vneconomictimes