Fintech-focused VC 1982 Ventures secures $12.5m first close of maiden fund

1982 Ventures, a Singapore-based early-stage venture capital firm that invests in fintech startups in Southeast Asia, has announced the first close of its maiden venture fund at $12.5 million.

The seed-stage venture fund, which targets to raise a total corpus of $15 million, has already attracted commitments from a mix of institutional investors, local and global family offices, and HNWIs.

Among those that have committed to the fund are US fintech unicorn Carta, Genting Group, US fund of funds First Close Partners and Rally Cap, and Indonesian family office Trihill.

The firm is looking to invest in a total of 30 startups primarily in the fintech sector across Southeast Asia, with a core focus on Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, and the Philippines. It also seeks to invest opportunistically in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

So far, the firm has invested in 10 startups mostly in the fintech space.

Its portfolio includes Indonesian open banking player Brick, Vietnamese retail investment platform Infina, home financing proptech Homebase, Singaporean automated financial data platform Bluesheets, and Southeast Asia’s first earned wage access platform Wagely.

1982 Ventures co-founder and managing partner Herston Elton Powers said seed-stage fintech in Southeast Asia is in a “generation of opportunity”.

Southeast Asian fintech startups represent more than $10 billion in unrealised value, with 100 projected fintech exits in the coming years, according to a report cited by the VC firm.

“Our position as the only seed fund exclusively focused on fintech in the region has benefited our ability to source investments. In other markets such as the US, China, Europe, Brazil, fintech companies are amongst the most valuable VC-backed companies,” Powers earlier told DealStreetAsia.

Powers predicted that the next set of Southeast Asian unicorns will likely emerge from the fintech space.

The firm expects to announce the final close of its first seed fund soon and is only open for investment from strategic investors to participate in a “greenshoe option” as the fund is already oversubscribed ahead of its final close, according to the announcement.